Bridging gaps through dance

Art and culture truly erase borders and in an attempt to further build bridges between NRI dancers and the country, Naatyasamgraha  Chamber of Performing Arts hosted a two-day dance festival — Naatya Yatra.

Geetha Ganesan, Bharatanatyam dancer and secretary of the organisation says that the idea was simple. “We wanted to bring dancers, who have been taking classical dance forms to the world, under one roof. Since they are helping the community, this festival is our way of thanking them.”

The second edition of the festival started on Saturday. “Last year after our first show, a lot of artists were excited about performing with us, so after shortlisting a few we chose four artists,” adds Geetha.

Day one saw Odissi-dancer Sandhya Manohar and 16-year-old Bharatanatyam dancer Apoorva Rajesh enthrall the audience. Sandhya who performed the Dashamahavidya segment is from Malaysia. “This performance is one of the most powerful ones. Here, we show the ten avatars of Shakti,” says Sandhya who has been performing Odissi since the past 10-years. For Apoorva, the experience has been amazing. Based in Denver, Colorado, USA, she was thrilled to be performing here. “Being the youngest dancer on this stage is a privilege. I get to meet such established artistes and it is also a great learning experience for me. The feedback and the reaction to my performance has been great,” she says.