Rajiv Malik, HPI Correspondent,
NEW DELHI, INDIA, October 24, 2004: When the mercury begins to fall but the nights are not too cold, it is time for the Indian capital to wake up to the cultural season. But it is perhaps also the right season to remind the residents of the national capital about their heritage and their responsibility to keep alive traditions that have kept Indian culture alive for over 5,000 years. Among the best reminders of India’s ancient heritage and culture are its historic monuments which continue to attract tourists and provide a safe haven to get away from the day’s toils and troubles. But when these monuments play host to cultural events, then they gain added value. The event has been defined as- “A dialogue of Indian classical dance with Heritage monument.”
As in previous years, one of the oldest and still among the most beautiful monuments in the capital, the Purana Quila, is once again going to play host to Ananya, the Annual Purana Quila Dance Festival that virtually marks the beginning of the festive season. According to Shri Sanjeev Bhargava, a well-known cultural impresario, the conceiver and designer of this unique festival and the head of the cultural organization Seher, this unique Festival of Indian Classical Dance is being held this year from October 26 to 30 and will highlight a different dance form each evening, using site-specific choreography that showcases both the monument as well as the dance form. With imaginative lighting and settings, the event is a magical experience that is a must for anybody visiting or living in Delhi.
Highlighting the vibrancy of contemporary creativity and showcasing artistes who have kept the ancient traditions alive, the festival this year brings well known Raja and Radha Reddy who will be performing Kuchipudi along with their 20 accompanists. They will be followed by the extremely talented Dr. Neena Prasad and troupe from Kerala who will perform Mohiniattam, the innovative and contemporary Sharmila Biswas and her troupe from Kolkata will present Odissi, Bharatnatyam would be performed by Dr. V P Dhananjayan and troupe from Chennai, and the ever-popular Kumudini Lakhia and troupe from Gujarat will give a Kathak performance .
“Ananya thus aims to put into sharp focus the plurality of approaches that contemporary classical dancers embody in their work and is therefore a festival of vital creativity and innovation,” maintains Sanjeev Bhargava. The Festival has been organized by the Department of Tourism, Government of India, the Government of the National Capital Territory and its Delhi Tourism, and the cultural organization Seher. It is supported by the Ministry of Culture, Government of India. And with the zeal of the present government in the National Capital Territory to develop Delhi as a cultural hub, the entry to Ananya, like other Seher events – is free. To ensure there is no damage to the Heritage monuments, the car park will be at a distance, and pollution-free battery buses will transport enthusiasts back and forth throughout the evenings during the events.
In an informal interaction with HPI Sanjeev, said, “The budget for the whole program is US$91,000. Most of it is coming from the government. The advantage of governmental funding is that they appreciate that the main objective is to promote the classical dance forms and deserving artists. Whereas if the funding comes from private sector, they judge the program only by the number of audience. Now for instance to see the Mohiniattam it is possible that only 400 people turn up. The government will appreciate the quality audience of 400 and no questions are raised. Whereas the private sponsors could label it as a flop show.” According to Saneev, to promote the Indian culture in the youth, special arrangements are being made to pick up and drop back the youth from some of the select colleges of Delhi University.
Sanjeev’s future plans include organizing a “young dancers festival.” He said, “The fact is that the dancers in the age bracket of 50’s to 60’s are already established but there is no platform to offer a platform to the dancers in the age brackets 20’s to 40’s.” Sharing his experience about the media, Sanjeev said, “Unfortunately, the media does not give the due space to the classical dance and music programs and focuses more on the late night glamorous parties. One of our media sponsors, a leading daily of New Delhi, did not publish the picture of an artist last year because they thought the picture was not glamorous enough and the artist not so photogenic to be splashed on their color pages.”