Nrityarupa, a mosaic of six traditional dance forms of India, marked the inauguration of the six-day Festival of India in Latin America on Saturday in Peruvian capital Lima.
Bharatanatyam, Kathakali, Kathak, Odissi, Chhau and Manipuri dancers came together in the presence of Vice-President Hamid Ansari and his Peruvian counterpart Marisol Espinoza at Sala Inca Auditorium. The festival will move on to Cuba on October 29.
Coordinated by the Union Ministry of Culture and involving the Sangeet Natak Academy and the Sahitya Academy, the festival seeks to capture the unity and diversity of the various dance forms. “It offers a glimpse of the great mosaic of cultures that constitutes the Indian nation, and demonstrates in a creative, kinetic form their dynamics in relation to each other,” Union Culture Secretary Ravindra Singh said at the inauguration.
ADVERTISEMENT
Earlier, Mr. Ansari sought to highlight the importance of culture in India’s external relations: “Because we have much to share with the world, and other countries are very happy to share our cultural repertoire.”