Dancejatre, a yearly dance fair organised by Shambhavi School of Dance, is one of its kind in the country. “Unlike dance festivals, scope of a fair is greater.
Along with evening performances by seasoned dance troupes, competitions, stalls, seminars and workshops related to different dance forms are also conducted,” says Prateeksha Kashi, head of the organising team, Dancejatre.
Acclaimed Kuchipudi danseuse and director of Shambhavi dance school, Vyjayanthi Kashi reveals, “the primary objective of beginning this fair seven years ago was to create a sense of sharing among dancers which unfortunately has not been cultivated in the dance fraternity.” Vyjanyanthi feels dancers often tend to reside in their own wells missing the opportunity of improvising further. “This would not only impoverish them but would also limit the scope of evolution of dance itself,” she adds.
“Festivals are all about performing. They do not present a space for interaction. After the performance, we are not sure what we have provided the audience to take back home and common people hardly get the chance to ask questions.”
These lacunas and more have led Vyjayanthi to think of a different event which would be longer, livelier and easier for everyone to engage with.
She intends, “including common people who otherwise are disconnected from the art circles will in the long run build a generation of curious and sensitive audience as they get to understand and appreciate the nuances of dance forms.”
What’s in it?
Eminent experts in the fields of Indian and Western Classical dance offer workshops that cater to budding artistes and as well to people who are not yet initiated in to learning dance.
- The fair, scheduled to be on January 27 and 28, begins at 10.30 am and goes on till about 8.30 pm. Workshops and competitions go on simultaneously at different platforms till 5.30 pm after which evening performances by well-known ensembles take over. Workshops are given by accomplished artistes like Padmini Ravi, Arun Kumar, Deepak Mazumdar, Sneha Kappanna, Shrividya Muralidhar and others.
- Evening performances begin at 6 pm. Students of Radha Sridhar present a Bharatanatyam performance at 6 pm on January 27. It is followed by ‘Hridaybhavna’, a creative dance ballet by Hritaal Dance Centre, Kolkatta. There will be an Odissi rendition by Ratikant Mohapatra and Srijan from Bhuvaneshwar. The day will end with a fashion show that begins at 7.45 pm.
- The evening show on the second day begins with performances by winning teams of group competitions. Thereafter, Rajendra Gangani and his team will present a Kathak production. Shambhavi dance school’s Kuchipudi production, ‘Dharmaayana’ will be staged at 7.15 p.m. Praveen Kumar’s Chithkala ensemble will present a Bharatanatyam rendition, ‘Nruthyollasa’ at 8 pm.
- The registrations to various dance competitions close on January 25. Teams interested to register for the competitions call 9886687559 or send an email to dancejatreindia@gmail.com. The venue for the fair, Shankara Cultural Sanctum, Kanakpura Road, Bangalore, is close to Yelachenahalli metro station. For more information, visit www.dancejathre.com.
Competitions will be held under four different categories – Group and Solo performances (junior and senior levels). Winners of group dance (senior) category will be allowed to perform on the main stage on the second day whereas, solo winners (seniors) will get the chance to perform in the monthly festival ‘Celebrate Dance Series’ at Shambhavi dance school, Kengeri.
Competitions are not restricted to only dance schools but open to dance groups belonging to school, college and IT companies. “Winners of previous years are now recognised dancers. Thus, this competition has also been responsible in churning out the best,” she claims.
Stalls are put up by dancers, costume and jewellery designers, dance photographers, musicians, folk artistes, and scholars. “This is to attract and provide opportunity to artistes who can carve their own specialized niches in the field of dance,” she says.
Highlight of the fair is ‘Fashion Show’ where dancers showcase their diverse costumes, ornaments and hair-dos. “Costumes of all dance forms have undergone change with time and modification in the nature of movement.
The show is kept to witness this evolution in dance attire,” remarks Vyjayanthi. “The show inspires to further innovate dance wear,” adds Prateeksha.
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“Objectives are plenty and enormous. They might not be realised so soon. However, this is a step towards it” and as a senior dancer Vyjayanthi wishes to contribute her bit to the field of dance in ways that go a long way in churning interest towards various aspects of dance.
