It takes a footapping VillAGE...

The city will indeed be having a ball this weekend as a community dance initiative, fondly called The VillAGE will be bringing together a gamut of performances from across the country. With the sole purpose of showcasing their art and uniting under one roof as lovers of dance, 22 teams will be putting on a mega show! Every dance form is art, and can be appreciated under one platform. The artistes believe in proving just this as they support the cause of unity. Arati Sunawala, choreographer and dancer who will be speaking at the event says, “There is a very big dance community in Bengaluru and the stuff that happens here with regard to performances is very exciting. I think there is a lot of respect as well.

Art grows when we share it and I love the concept of The VillAGE, as when you think of a child you say that it takes a village to raise a child. I think for all of us, dance is our first love, and if we come together as a community to do something for dance, we will inspire, support and create different connections through it.”
The initiative was conceptualised by city-based artiste Anirudh Roy who was clear on his intent to give back to the community through the performing arts. His excitement knows no bounds, “Over the past 10 years, we have noticed that different dance styles were evolving into different communities. It remained separate, and there seems to be hostility. By bringing them all together under one roof, I thought that we would be able to appreciate each other’s dance forms.

The initiative seeks to inspire people by bringing together artistes to create a bond as one community. The VillAGE symbolises this by showing that we are all from the same place and are under one hut. Art is a form of expression and if these expressions don’t change or uplift the society, then I don’t see the point. It is a great responsibility, and we hope that this will be an opportunity for young performers to see the bigger picture.”

As individual communities and teams, performers don’t often get a platform to celebrate dance as organising shows comes with a price. Deepthi Shetty, a belly dance choreographer who runs her own dance company adds, “We will be putting together a belly dance fusion feast themed on love to the tunes of a song from the Tamil hit Roja. Getting all this talent to come under one roof for people to witness what artistes are doing these days is a nice step forward. Everybody is running their own dance companies or performing but you don’t have a platform or space to perform in, as it gets really expensive to showcase their work. As artistes we are looking forward to this as such an opportunity comes once in a year.”

— The event will take place today (November 25) at Alliance Francaise De Bangalore from 4.30 pm to 6.30 pm and 7.30 pm to 9.30 pm.