The three-day Gurgaon Utsav will begin at the amphitheatre of the Aravalli Biodiversity Park here on November 14. It will feature innovative theatre, dance and music with a strong link to tradition.
The festival will begin with Sufi Kathak dance by Manjari Chaturvedi, accompanied by qawwals from Awadh and the Manganiars tribe from Rajasthan. This performance will explore new frontiers while being grounded in the classical tradition of Kathak and Sufi poetry. The dance performance seeks to explore the feminine in Sufi poetry.
On November 15, the audience will be enthralled by Mahmood Farooqui and Danish Husain, the masterly Dastangoi (story-tellers), weaving the tales of the yore. They will perform the traditional Dastaan-e-Mehtaab and a part of Mantoiyat — the story of Saadat Hasan Manto.
Farooqui said: “We are delighted to participate in the Gurgaon Utsav and to present an unseen glimpse of Manto.”
The festival will conclude with Susmit Sen Chronicles, a musical band playing original music from Susmit’s latest album “Ocean to Ocean”. They have invited him to sing some of their compositions with them. The album was recently released and is Susmit’s tribute to his home crowd — he lives and works in Gurgaon.
Gurgaon Utsav is presented by the Arts and Literature Foundation in association with the Municipal Corporation of Gurgaon and the Department of Cultural Affairs, Government of Haryana. Entrance to the festival will be free.
