By Shymhari Chakra
The stage is set for the inauguration of the 11th annual Pragjyoti International Dance Festival (PIDF) at the Sri Sri Madhavadeva International Auditorium of Srimanta Sankaradeva Kalakshetra in Assam’s capital city of Guwahati on Saturday.
The two-day event is being hosted by Kalpa, a socio-cultural organisation of Guwahati, founded and headed by the young and acclaimed Sattriya dancer and scholar Anwesa Mahanta, recipient of the coveted Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Prativa Puraskar of the nation.
The first festival of its kind for the entire North-East, it was conceptualised by Anwesa, the festival’s founder-director. “As a young dancer, I had realised the need for more platforms for our numerous dance traditions and dancers as well. Moreover, I was keen to invite more and more artistes to visit my homeland of Assam and experience its rich cultural heritage. Thus was born PIDF a decade ago,” she shared.
Besides the capital city of Guwahati, the festival has travelled across cities in Assam including the fabulous Majuli Island.
The inaugural evening would kick off with Pung Cholam – performance by the dancing drummers – by artistes of the famed Jawaharlal Nehru Manipuri Dance Academy from Imphal. It would be followed by solo Bharatanatyam performance by noted Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar awardee Lakshmi Parthasarathy Athreya from Chennai and Kathak recital by New Delhi based Sangita Chatterjee.
The artistes scheduled to perform during the concluding evening include Odissi dancer Vinod Kevin Bachan from the West Indies, Mohiniattam by renowned scholar, practitioner and Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Prativa Puraskar awardee Methil Devika from Kerala and Sattriya by host Anwesa Mahanta.
With a thrust on arts education and awareness, PIDF hosts a series of interactive sessions, lecture demonstrations and talks during the festivals involving the artistes, scholars, critics and arts-promoters. Continuing with the series, PIDF in collaboration with Gauhati University and Assam Down Town University has planned several sessions, Anwesa informed.
New Delhi based scholar and columnist Arshiya Sethi would deliver an illustrated talk on “Tightly Plaited: Relationship between Literature, Dance and Indian Dramaturgy” on Friday at 11 am in the Department of English at Gauhati University. The session would further have screening of a documentary film on Sattriya dance followed by a discussion with two of Sattriya’s globally known maestros – Nrityacharya Jatin Goswami (Sangeet Natak Akademi Ratna and Padmashri awardee) and Bayanacharya Ghanakanta Bora (Padmashri and Sangeet Natak Akademi awardee). The session will be moderated by noted scholar Pradip Jyoti Mahanta. There will also be an interactive talk on “Sattriya’s Challenges in Enlarging Geographies” by Arshiya Sethi.
Similarly, the concluding day of the festival would have a lecture demonstration session at 10 am at Assam Down Town University while the evening session would have a panel discussion at the performance auditorium on “Pay and Perform: A Banal Trend in Indian Classical Dance Communities; Challenges & Perspectives” by Ashok Jain, Anita Sharma, Marami Medhi, Meernanda Borthakur and Shrinkhla Sahai.
The festival this year is being supported by Srimanta Sankardeva Kalakshetra, Kri Foundation of New Delhi, Sangeet Natak Akademi, Oil India Limited, State Bank of India, Indian Oil, Gauhati University, Assam Down Town University, Life’s Purple and The News Mill, acknowledged the hosts.
