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 Natya Institute of Kathak and Choreography at Vishwa Nudisiri-Virasat 2013 - Meghna Rao February 4, 2014 Vishwa Nudisiri-Virasat 2013, a cultural festival and literary extravaganza, was organized by the Alva’s Education Foundation (AEF), Moodbidri. Two of the prominent events under the AEF stable Alva’s Nudisiri, a symposium on Kannada language and literature and the Alva’s Virasat, a national festival of culture, was converted into a joint International Symposium this year as the Alva’s Vishwa Nudisiri Virasat. This was conducted from Dec 19 - 22, 2013 at the Vidyagiri Campus in Moodbidri. This year was the 20th edition of Alva's Virasat and the 10th edition of Alva's Nudisiri. Through Nudisiri, the Alva’s team provides a platform where common language and culture is pitched against local language and multi-faceted culture. Here, guidance is provided to the youth on building Kannada for the future. On the other hand, Virasat is a cultural extravaganza and is a vivid display of talents by classical and folk artists both from the country and abroad. Keeping with the above tradition and spirit of the festival, during this year’s Vishwa Nudisiri-Virasat, Natya Institute of Kathak and Choreography performed a classic Guru Dr. Maya Rao choreographed dance rendition of Suvarna Karnataka. This dance drama, commissioned by the Government of Karnataka to be presented during the celebration of the 50th year of the unification of the state, portrays the achievements of the state in different fields like theatre, arts, literature, tourism, sports, etc. This dance drama covered different classical dance forms of India like Kathak, Bharatanatyam and Odissi along with different folk art forms like Kamsale and Kolata, where dancers danced as representations of sculptures from Hampi. A team of 17 dancers performed this one hour dance drama production, which was apt for the Vishwa Nudisiri-Virasat, because of the concept and the atmosphere along with energy of the festival.
This year’s festival was spread over 9 stages with various cultural and literary events ongoing simultaneously. Suvarna Karnataka was performed by the team from Natya on 22nd of December which was also the closing day of the festival where over 8 lakh visitors were expected. The entire Vidyagiri Campus in Moodbidri was converted by the organizers into a mega scale cultural wonderland where large scale representation of colorful and rich Indian dance forms made from wood were placed all over the festival grounds. Along with the Natya Institute of Kathak and Choreography, various other dance and music groups from Manipur, Kolkata, Chennai and Bangalore performed at this year’s event. The back stage was filled with some of the best promoters of dance and music, all sharing the same stage and medium to promote art and culture to the audience. This year’s Vishwa Nudisiri-Virasat festival was indeed a great experience for the team at Natya and we definitely look forward to more performances for this event in the future. Meghna Rao is a member of the STEM Dance Kampni. |
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