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 ICCR promotes young talent - Vijay Shanker e-mail: vijaydance@gmail.com August 17, 2024 The 41st successful year of Every Friday Cultural Evening program is celebrated with several performances with the main intention of promoting young talented classical dancers. The programme is organised by Indian Council of Cultural Relations (ICCR), Department of Kannada and Culture, Department of Youth Empowerment and Sports, Federation of International Students and Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan. The programme was held on 21st June, at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan in Bangalore.  Karthik Gowda Karthik Gowda is a talented Bharatanatyam dancer based in Bangalore. He initially was trained under Guru Bhavani Ramanathan and is now seeking guidance from Dr Vidyalakshmi. He commenced his performance with a Tanjore Quartet composition Kautuvam, followed with a Keerthana in praise of Lord Murugan "Ka Va Va", a composition of Papanasam Sivan, incorporating the valour and the glory of the Lord, whose "vahana" is the peacock. It was pleasing to watch Karthik dancing with vibrancy and clarity of movements. A composition in praise of Lord Shiva "Adum daivam arulva" by Kameshwaran describing the power and the cosmic dance of Lord Shiva as "Nataraja", the varied stylized movements and the poses were well executed, revealing his command over the Bharatanatyam technique. Besides the brief Javali, Karthik concluded his performance with a Thillana that further proved his passion for dancing, as he danced with effortless ease and precision. In the recorded orchestral presentation, singer D Srivatsa stood out for his commendable soulful rendering, nattuvangam was by Sharath T Suryanarayan, mridangam by Vinay Nagaraj and flute by Shashank. If Karthik continues to dance with the same amount of zeal and passion, he can aspire to be among the main ranks of dancers.  Anagha Raghunath In the same platform on 28th June, Anagha Raghunath presented a vivacious Bharatanatyam performance. Anagha commenced her performance with Shiva Stuti that incorporated the episode of Markandeya, his devotion for Lord Shiva and being saved from the clutches of Lord Yama. Anagha has a charming stage presence and she executed this episode with fine abhinaya and powerful movements, which was further noticed in another number "Kapalini Dayalini Uma Pati" in praise of Goddess Parvati. The piece-de-resistance of the evening was the impeccable rendering of the number "Shri Krishna Kamalanatho" that portrayed the varied facets of the life of Lord Krishna, his birth, Poothana Moksham, Dashaavataram and ultimately Geetopadesham in which Krishna induces Arjuna to fight against "adharma" in order to restore peace and prosperity in the society. The popular Telugu number "Brocheva" in praise of Lord Rama and the Shivaranjini Thillana devoted to goddess Mookambika were the concluding numbers, creating a fine impression. It was sad that the audience turnout was quite limited. ICCR zonal director Pardeep Kumar said, "We have different associations teaming with us but hardly anybody turns up. I suppose I should make it mandatory for their presence. It is quite disheartening for the dancers to see such a thin audience. I am planning to have two performers in a day, so that there would be better audience and there are many young dancers in the waiting".  Vijay Shankar is a Kuchipudi and Kathakali exponent, teacher, bilingual journalist, arts critic and actor. |
