REVIEW / REPORT

Shri Mudra National Dance Festival

- Vijay Shanker
e-mail: vijaydance@gmail.com

November 11, 2026

Chitra Arts Foundation, Ernakulam, Kerala, founded by Mohiniattam exponent Chitra Sukumaran presented the Shri Mudra National Dance Festival 2026, a celebration of India's rich and diverse classical and traditional dance heritage. The festival was held for two days on October 3rd and 4th at Chavara auditorium in Ernakulam. The festival explored together some of the most distinguished performers and awardees, showcasing the vibrant and beautiful tradition of Bharatanatyam, Mohiniattam, Kathak, Kuchipudi and Thappetagullu (folk dance from Andhra Pradesh), and from different regions of India.

Some of the leading performers of the festival were Prathibha Prahlad, Dr Kala Krishna, Dr Vasundhara Doraswamy. The festival is a fine combination of established names and upcoming artistes. The festival chairman is BR Vikram Kumar (Vishakapatnam), festival director Chitra Sukumaran and the festival co-ordinator is Vandana Nair.

Nishreya Varalakshmi

The invocatory dance and Pibare Rama Rasam was performed by the Parashakti group, followed by a brief solo Bharatanatyam performance by Soumya Gopalan. The show stealers of the first day's performance, featuring young dancers was the three talented dancers who mesmerised the audience with the popular snake dance "Adu Pambe, Vilayadu Pambe", executed with striking and gliding movements. The surprising act was the balance in different poses while standing on the earthen pot without falling down. They are the students of Guru Sirajuddin from Vadakkara, who is particularly popular for his masterpiece Snake Dance. The dancer from Chennai who made a fine mark with her sparkling performance was KS Nishreya Varalakshmi, daughter and disciple of Guru Kesavaraja Balakrishnan of Sri Jayakrishna Arts Abode, who performed Pada Varnam "Rupamu juchi", composed by Muthuswamy Dikshitar in Sanskrit, choreographed by Mylapore Gowriammal and further enhanced by Dr Rukmini Devi Arundale.

Prathibha Prahlad

After the melodious Carnatic vocal recital by Dr MJ Nandini with numbers like Rama Janardhana and Aliveni enthu chaidu, Prathibha Prahlad ascended the stage with a warm applause, commencing her commendable Bharatanatyam performance with "Swagatham Krishna". The Gopis warmly welcome Lord Krishna in Vrindavan, as they are eagerly waiting to see him and they all rejoice at his magnificent presence. Prathibha next interpreted the intimate relationship between Radha and Krishna in the ashtapadi "Kuru yadu nandana". She concluded her brilliant performance with Adi Shankaracharya's Pancha Akshara Shlokam "Nagendra Haraya Trilochanaya" in praise of the magnificent and powerful Lord Shiva.

Dr Kala Krishna

It was after a long time that I could witness the exquisite and elegant Andhra Natyam performance by Dr Kala Krishna, disciple of the great mentor Dr Nataraja Ramakrishna. Satyabhama is introduced as the shy heroine but later is transformed into Swadina Patika as she controls her lover and chases him with her long plait of hair. Meanwhile, as she is pierced by the arrows of Kamadeva, she goes through varied and intense emotional states of love. It was interesting to watch the seasoned dancer, going through the various stages of love with subtlety and natural grace. Prior to the performance Kala Krishna announced that the Nava Janardhana Parijatham dance drama used to be performed for nine nights in the Krishna temples in the Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh. What is performed these days is a concise version of it.

Nine dancers from Nellai Natyalaya group performed Om Ganapati namah and Pahi Jag Janani in praise of the universal mother and goddess. It was quite gratifying to watch these dancers, dancing with devotion and commitment. Singer Raju Narayanan and his son Aniruddh regaled the audience with Carnatic music singing "Saraswati Namostute" and other numbers.

Dr Vasundhara Doraswamy

Dr Vasundhara Doraswamy (Mysore) and her group of talented dancers were among the best performers of the festival. They commenced their immaculate performance with Melaprapti and Poorvaranga exposing highlights of Ramayana in quick succession, creating a great impact on the audience. The piece-de-resistance of the evening was the demonstration of various asanas pertaining to Surya Namaskaar (salutations to Lord Surya), based on the research work of Dr Vasundhara known as 'Natya Yoga Darshini'. The grand finale number was the number 'Soundarya Durga' while paying salutations to Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva and concluding the number with chants like Om Rudraya Namah and Om Vishnu Devaya Namah.

Over a dozen male folk dancers, attired in shorts with their traditional look danced the rhythmic and acrobatic dance from Andhra Pradesh known as Tappetagullu. With heavy dancing bells on their feet and drums attached to their torso, they moved in fine harmony and precision, creating a great impression with their vibrant performance. It was amazing to watch them dancing and maintaining the fine rhythm on the drums simultaneously.

Sandhya Manoj

Malaysia based Odissi exponent Sandhya Manoj rendered an engrossing women centric thematic performance known as 'Dasha Mahavidya' portraying varied goddesses like Tara, Tripura Sundari, Bhairavi, Matangi, Kamala etc. The presentation explored the multi facets, attributes and manifestations of the different types of goddesses. Sandhya Manoj is indeed a devoted and powerful performer. On the whole, it was quite an interesting festival with multiple performances in different styles.

Vijay Shankar is a Kuchipudi and Kathakali exponent, teacher, bilingual journalist, arts critic and actor.