The National Asian Indian Dance Convention 2005 was held from July 22 – July 24, 2005 at the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex, Texas, USA. It marked the 10th anniversary of the Indian Cultural Heritage Foundation and the 25th anniversary of the inception of the Arathi School of Dance founded by US based well known Bharatanatyam dancer, Revathi Satyu.
This event in North America brought together Indian classical dance styles and different Western dance styles under one roof. A scholarship for Bharatanatyam under the auspices of the Dallas Dance Council, Texas was also established on this occasion.
The event saw the presence of renowned luminaries in the dance field. Chennai based veteran actress-dancer Vyjayanthimala Bali inaugurated the Convention by lighting the traditional lamp. She described Bharatanatyam as a very ancient and spiritual art form. She demonstrated the correct stances that should be adopted by aspiring dancers.
She also delighted the Saturday morning audience with her Abhinaya through a slokam on Krishna.
Also participating in the Convention were senior artistes like Kamala Lakshminarayanan from New York, Shanta and V. P. Dhananjayan from Chennai, Padmini Ravi from Bangalore and Dr. Leslie Friedman from California.
Guru V.P. Dhananjayan enthralled the audience with clips from his choreography of Rudyard Kipling’s 'Jungle Book' which showcased the coming together of two classical styles - Bharatanatyam and the Western Ballet. Some years ago, this production traveled the length and breadth of North America with over 150 performances to its credit.
The young Kamala, who took South India by storm in the yester years, held the audience spellbound with her performance. Her performance of the 'Shabdam' demonstrated the famous Vazhuvoor dance style.
Dr. Leslie Friedman, a Stanford historian, Fulbright scholar and renowned ballet dancer presented some of her own choreographed pieces and spoke of the influence of Indian dance in the presentation of some of her items.
The Friday and Saturday mornings were devoted to an hour of Yogercize ‘Jaagruthi’, combining Yoga, dance and aerobics put together and conducted by Padmini Ravi for the benefit of students of dance followed by master classes, lectures and workshops. More than one hundred young dance aspirants had registered for the master classes and lectures. About 2500 local residents from the Dallas – Fort Worth Metroplex, and another 500 out-of-town guests participated in the convention.
The evening recitals were well received too. The shows commenced with 14 students of the Arathi School of Dance presenting a Pushpanjali followed by 'Vatapi Ganapathim Bhaje' choreographed by Revathi Satyu. This was followed by pieces from Dallas Black Dance Theatre, Daniel De Cordoba’s Flamenco, Sandunga (Rhumba) and Hip Hop. Six dance schools from Dallas and Fort Worth joined together to present 'Sohum' – realizing Krishna, mind, body and soul - choreographed by the different schools and woven together by Padmini Ravi from Bangalore.
Well known artistes from Chennai, Priyadarshini Govind and Shobana were featured on July 23. In her Bharatanatyam recital, Priyadarsini Govind presented three items including Papanasam Sivan's Natakurinji Varnam on Shiva. Shobana ventured into something resembling Isadora Duncan, drawing on Vivaldi's 'Four Seasons'.
The Bangalore based dance couple Nirupama and Rajendra whirled with ballet-like fluidity in their Kathak recital.
The Angahara Dance School of Ramaa Bharadvaj from California presented a puppet and folk tale from the Panchatantra, that delighted the children and adults alike.
The last day was devoted to presentations from dance schools from Texas and Arizona. Ratna Kumar's Anjali School, Houston, presented 'Sri Krishna Parijatham' and Arathi School of India, Dances, of Phoenix headed by Asha Gopal presented a folk, dance-theatre production, 'Saakshi' on the Environment; and The Arathi School of Indian Dance, San Antonio, headed by Rajam Ramamurthy, performed Dasavataram. The final item was a Mangalam, presented by Revathi Satyu and members of the Alumni of the Arathi School of Dance, Dallas, TX.
The various performances, lecture demonstrations, and classes captured the range of cross-cultural influences and mirrored the deep interest of the community in art, in the US.
For more info, contact, E-mail: pn.srikant@comcast.net
Photographs by Amitava Sarkar, Austin, TX
