FOOTLOOSE

The right moves
It was an evening to remember,as Malvika Sarukkai performed at the ongoing Chandigarh Arts and Heritage Festival on Sunday evening. A firm believer in the continuity of the Indian classical tradition,Malavika presents Bharatanatyam as a vibrant and meaningful dance form of today to audiences across the world and has been performing since the last two-and-a-half decades. Having started training at the age of seven under Guru Kalyanasundaram of the Tanjavur School and Guru Rajaratnam of the Vazhuvoor School,the dancer studied abhinaya with Guru Kalanidhi Narayanan and the Odissi dance style with Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra and Guru Ramani Jena. Spontaneous,personal,yet rooted in tradition,is how every moment of her performance is. Malavika’s exceptional artistry was featured in the BBC / WNET television documentary ‘Dancing’,a nine-hour series on world dance and a film Samarpanam,commissioned by the Government of India,has been made on her life and work. Closely associated with Malavika’s dance career is Saroja Kamakshi,who works with her as creative collaborator in the areas of conceptualization and presentation.

Bhakti to Shakti
City-based dancer Suchitra Mitra has been invited by the North Zone Cultural Centre to choreograph folk dances from all over India as part of the ongoing Chandigarh Heritage Festival. The theme of this choreography is ‘Bhakti to Shakti’. As many as 400 artistes have come to the city to be a part of this show that will start with an ‘aarti’ and move on to a slow Assamese folk dance followed by a more vigorous dance from Madhya Pradesh. Viewers will get to see,through the medium of dance,the various cycles of life. This show will be held on March 31 at 7 pm at the Sector 17 Plaza.