To our gurus, with love

In their seventh installment, Ananya brings back the magic of brand new talent, performing in three classical dance forms, over this weekend

Who ever said the classical arts were out of fashion? If you ever were under the impression that they were, think again, as young Bangalore comes out in thousands, to prove you wrong.

It's never been 'un-cool' in this city to appreciate or practice these age-old arts, and as one encounters the real city, one realises that most achievers have a strict upbringing in at least one of them.
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The remaining, to whom such opportunities have been scarce, these arts often end up being quaint obsessions that will live with them for the rest of their lives. That's what Bangalore is about, after all quaint artsy obsessions.



As a part of this rich cultural repertoire, Ananya, a 15 year old institution based in Malleshwaram, aims at promoting, researching and archiving these arts and their many faces.

The organization runs a library, a performance space and a bi-annual dance festival called Nritya Dhaare.
Nritya Dhaare enters its seventh performance this February and features performances in the Bharatanatyam, Kuchipudi and Kathak styles.

Spread over the coming weekend, the presentation hopes "to give these young talents a chance to perform in front of a larger audience in the presence of their gurus," says R V Raghavendra, managing trustee of Ananya.

Dancing in front of one's guru(s) during a performance is a learning experience and can be equaled to the highest form of 'Rangaarpana' (an art offering) from a shishya (student) to a guru (teacher).

"Each performer will be given a chance to present a set of performances as per their own tastes within a 45 minute duration.

To avoid any inequalities we encourage them to use our own in-house recordings, or recordings that they can bring with them," Raghavendra adds.

"As our main goal is to promote art and its understanding, we keep entry free and also try to the get the word around as much as possible," he adds.

The presentation line-up will include:

Day 1: Saturday, 6 February

Opening performer:
Mithun Shyam
Bharatanatyam
Pieces:
1) Ganesh Sthuthi Narthana Ganapathi
2) Varnam focusing on theThaandava Ranjini raga
3) Devaranama Purandaradaasa, focusing on Prahlada Charitram and
4) Devaranama Kanakadaasa's 'Baaro Krishnaiyya'
Guru: Padmini Ramachandran

Second performer:
Vaibhavi Joshipura Kathak
Guru: Kumudini Lakhia

Third performer:
Hithaishy Surendra Kuchipudi
Guru: Kalaimaamani Uma Muralikrishna

Day 2: Sunday, 7 February

Opening performer:
Priya Raman
Bharatanatyam

Pieces:
1) Pushpaanjali
2) A piece on a Ranganeshwar poem (Marathi poet) based on Priyadarshini Govind's style
3) Padam in Tamil
Gurus: Shubha Dhananjay and Geetha Chandran

Second performer:
Ramya Nagaraj Kathak
Guru: Maya Rao

Third performer:
Radhika Ramanujam
Bharatanatyam
Gurus: Sandhya Kiran and
Kiran Subrahmanyam

At: Sevasadana,
14 Cross, Malleswaram
6 pm, Call: 99809 91110