10th National Dance Festival at Ahmedabad - Dr Sunil Kothari

By a fortuitous circumstance during my visit to Gujarat both at Baroda and Ahmedabad, I was lucky to attend and review two major dance festivals Nritya Parva and 11th Kathak Nritya Sangeet Mahotsav at both the cities.
It was Kathak exponents, husband and wife team of Maulik Shah and Ishira Parikh, who introduced me to Chandan Thakore, Bharatanatyam exponent, teacher and choreographer. I was delighted to meet him and learn a lot about Nrityabharati institute established by his mother, the well known guru Elakshi Thakore....

Chandan invited me to attend the 10th National Dance Festival (Feb 18 – 21) at Samutkarsha, near Prahlad Nagar. The venue accommodates nearly a thousand people. With a large stage with black backdrop and better viewing facilities and commendable sound system and lighting, the performances by participating dancers were engaging.  On the opening night, in Naari choreographed by Chandan, young dancers dwelt upon the theme of women through ages. From Vedic age, women of eminence like Gargi and others, have been respected for not only their beauty but also intelligence. Praising them the journey of women through ages has been quite fascinating. Woman as mother, wife, friend, playing several roles is indeed Shakti. The feminine principle was well emphasized.  

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