Samakala dance festival begins

Veteran dancers and young artistes from all over the country will perform in the second edition of Samakala dance festival that begins today (11th to 13th June, 2013 at 6:30pm).

The three-day dance festival will have performances by renowned contemporary dancers of India, who have carefully combined the vocabulary of several dance forms to create their own style.

It is organised by the Odisha Sangeet Natak Akademi & state tourism and culture department. Six dancers and choreographers of national and international repute will be taking part in the festival.

Padmini Chettur from Chennai will perform the opening act. A trained Bharatnatyam dancer, her company has showcased productions in many cities across the world such as Paris, Brussels and Seoul. Calcutta-based artiste Ashavari Majumdar will be the second performer of the inaugural evening. The dancer will present an unconventional tale in contemporary dance. Picking elements of Kathak, Ashavari will depict mythological character Surpanakha in a new light.

The second day’s performance will begin with the performance of internationally acclaimed dancer and choreographer Anita Ratnam. She will present two compositions ‘Avani’ and ‘Sita’. Her performance will be followed by Astad Deboo’s technical virtuosity.

On the final day, Bharatnatyam exponent and choreographer Navetej Johar will present Dravya kaya.

“The objective of organising a contemporary dance fest is to collate the various nuances and vocabularies of different classical and western dance forms. Contemporary ideas in dance crept in with the evolution of different dance styles to form a more expressive unconventional form of dance,” said Chitta Ranjan Mallia, secretary of Odisha Sangeet Natak Akademi.