Nupura School of Bharatanatyam’s online dance festival takes off

Manu Srinivasan is on a mission to propagating dance virtually

Nupura School of Bharatanatyam will host its annual dance festival — Nitya Nritya. This virtual festival will be held on October 3, 4, 10 and 11.

“Nitya Nritya is a common platform that brings several art forms together. It has established a global footprint as a dance destination for the thoughtful, future looking, young generation of artistes, who are keen to ensure the preservation and revival of our traditional idioms,” says Manu Srinivasan, the secretary of the dance school.

This year, the festival will include dance, lecture demonstrations and talks by eminent dancers who will speak on Indian Classical Dance: The Approaches and Delineations in Understanding and Perspectives.

Dancers such as Praveen Kumar and Vaibhav Arekar (Bharatanatya), Prateeksha Kashi (Kuchupudi), Madhu Nataraj (Kathak), Arushi Mudgal (Odissi), Kapila Venu (Koodiyattam) will be a part of this online event.

Manu, who is the daughter of dancer Dr Lalitha Srinivasan, the founder of the dance school will helm the festival. “The future of our dance and culture is in the hands of the next generation. We need to help these young dancers keep their passion for the art. Nitya Nitya also offers a platform for young dancers to share their vision, preparedness and perspectives for the way forward.”

This is the 32nd edition of the festival according to Manu. “It was started by my mother. She also taught me. I see her as a pioneer in the field of dance. She instituted this festival three decades ago to bring dancers from all over the country on a common platform.”

“This year we are going digital in lecture demonstration mode. The festival is open to any dance patron. We hope youngsters will participate in this festival, especially those who wish to take dance as a profession. As the festival is in the digital format, we hope young people will be able to engage with it.”

Manu believes there are pros and cons to online classes. “We might miss out on teaching the finer nuances online. Digital classes are good because during the lockdown it was the best way to propagate performing arts. We, as teachers too, are coming up with methods to make the process of digital learning better. This platform works best for the abhinaya aspect of dance, discussion, theoretical aspect of dance and the massive reach the medium has.”

For details about the Nitya Nritya visit their FB page - @nupuranityanritya