Nishagandhi to come alive with dance, music

The best of Indian classical dance and music will unfold at the Nishagandhi open air auditorium on the sprawling premises of the Kanakakkunnu Palace here as curtain goes up for the prestigious Nishagandhi Festival on Sunday.

Celebrated artistes from across the country will perform at the festival, to be organised by Kerala Tourism. As other venues on the palace premises are hosting events in connection with the Grand Kerala Shopping Festival, the other regular features of the festival such as folk dance festival, crafts bazar, food festival and ethnic plant and flower show will not be organised this time.

Seven-day fete

The seven-day festival will begin with ‘Naman,’ a specially choreographed show combining five classical dance forms. Led by Jayaprabha Menon (Mohiniyattom), Malti Shyam (Kathak), Kavita Dwibedi (Odissi), Priya Venkataraman (Bharatanatyam) and Bimbavati Devi (Manipuri) will perform at the 30-minute show. This will be followed by Mohiniyattom presentation by Aswathy Jayaram (actor Parvathy) and Kathak by Ranan India, Kolkata, and Vikram Iyengar.

On the next six days, the festival will begin with ‘Melam,’ followed by dance and music performances by upcoming talents of Kerala. Kathakali performances will also be held on all the days.

A percussion ensemble led by ‘Ghatam’ Karthick S. and group and Mohiniyattom by Smitha Rajan and group will be held on January 21.

Kuchipudi by Amrita Lahiri and Odissi by Sharmila Biswas and group from Kolkata will be staged on January 22.

On January 23, Urmila Sathyanarayanan’s solo Bharatanatyam performance, and ‘Meditative Ensemble’ by Pandit Ramesh Narayan will be held. ‘Styles Amalgamated,’ a fusion music performance on January 24, will be led by K. Krishna Kumar and Binni Krishnakunar.

Odissi by Aloka Kanungo and Manipuri by Amusana Devi and group will be staged on January 25. The festival will conclude with Ghazal by Penaz Masani on January 26.