Dance Festivals: carnival of art and the past

Dance is an art form that generally refers to movement of the body, usually rhythmic and to music, used as a form of expression, social interaction or presented in a spiritual or presentation setting. Watching a dance performance in the set of creatively carved and magnificently lit temples and monuments is a bizarre experience.

India is home to various beautiful dance forms that attract people not only from different parts of India but also across the world. Seeing various dance forms, styles, costumes, on one stage is a mesmerizing experience and can be seen in Dance Festival held every year. The various forms of Dance Styles can be experienced in the upcoming events of dance Festival. Here goes a list of this:

• KHAJURAHO DANCE FESTIVAL 

Khajuraho in Madhya Pradesh is well-known for its enchanting temples and sculptures build in 250-1050 AD during the Chandela Dynasty. These scultupres very beautifully convey various postures of love and dance in a complete outstanding manner.Khajuraho Dance festival is held every year in the month of February, and is organized by kala parishad, under the Madhya Pradesh government, where artists all across the world come to showcase their talent and be a part of this grand event. The live performances take place at the open-air hall in frontage of Lord Shiva’s Vishwanatha Temple and Sun God’s Chitragupta Temple located amid the Western group of temples.

• KONARK DANCE AND MUSIC FESTIVAL

Every year, in the month of February, Konark, Orissa organizes wonderful Konark Dance & Music Festival. This great festival of music and dance is a invention of the Sangeet Natak Akademi awardee Odissi promoter, Gangadhar Pradhan. This festival is celebrated since 1986, and was brought into form by Padmashree Guru Gangadhar Pradhan.the festival is celebrated in an Open air auditorium, Natamandir, near the Konark Temple. The Konark Dance & Music Festival celebrated every year brings together classical dancers and musicians from all over India representing various dance forms (Kathak, Kathakali, Kuchipudi, etc) and music gharanas (Gwalior Gharana, Agra Gharana, etc at one platform. Konark is the World Heritage Site .

• THE NATYANJALI FESTIVAL, CHIDAMBARAM

Fêted every year in the month of February, Natyanji  Festival, is celebrated to give ovation to  the dancing expertise lord shiva, who in our INDIAN mythology is popularly known as “LORD OF DANCE”. All the events are held at Chidambaram in Tamil Nadu. The temple bears striking metaphorical engraved pillars, with illustration of Lord Nataraja in 108 poses of Bharatanatyam classical dance. The five-day Chidambaram festival is in cooperation organized by the Natyanjali Trust in association with the departments of tourism of the state and the Centre. The festival aims at conveying the message of ‘Unity in Diversity’ through the language of melody and dance.Natyanjali festival remarks its beginning on the occasion of Maha Shivratri

• ELEPHANTA FESTIVAL

,Maharashtra Tourist Development Corporation along with the Tata Consultancy Services organizes this festival as a accolade to Indian classical dance and heritage art forms. The legendary Elephanta Caves, provides a stunning background to the festival which begins with the staging of the vibrant ‘Koli’ fisher folks dance. The Elephanta Festival is a mark of respect to classical performers and a step  to popularize Indian classical dance and heritage art forms, that are somewhere lagging behind. A renowned world heritage site, Elephanta forms a stunning environment for India’s leading artists as they charm you with their music and dance skills. TCS in corporation with MTDC is associated with the Elephanta festival.

• PATTADAKAL DANCE FESTIVAL (CHALUKYA UTSAV)

Celebrated in the month of January, it  is an annual dance and music festival organized at Pattadakal in north Karnataka.Pattadakal is place that has a historical importance since the time of chalukyas.The Pattadakal Dance Festival is an annual event organized by the Government of Karnataka in the month of January. Pattadakal is admired for a numeral of temples devoted to Lord Shiva. Out of these temples, about ten temples boast of both North Indian as well as South Indian design. The Pattadakal Dance Festival celebrates the splendor of these beautiful temples. Well-known dancers from all over the country participate in this festival.

• KALINGA MAHOTSAV 

Kalinga Mahotsav or the National Festival of Martial Dance celebrates the energetic martial art of India through dance and music. Kalinga Mahotsav or the National Festival of Martial Dance is notable to mark the triumph of peace over war. In spirit, the Kalinga Mahotsav pays mark of respect to the Buddhist viewpoint of winning people’s heart through Dharma than conquering land by force. Lasts for around two days, Kalinga Mahotsav attracts Martial art Performers from all over India.

The energy of the dance performances along with the gracefulness of the precise movements and powerful body language marks the beauty of this Mahotsav.

• KUTIYATTAM

Kutiyattam or Koodiyattam, which means ‘acting together’, is a type of Sanskrit word .This is the original classical dramatic art form of and has been extremely praised as a work of art of the Oral and insubstantial Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO. Traditionally, the main musical instruments used in Koodiyattam are mizhavu, kuzhitalam, etakka, kurumkuzhal and sankhu. Mizhavu, the most prominent of these, is a percussion instrument that is played by a person of the Ambalavas Nambiar caste, accompanied by Nangyaramma playing the kuzhithalam.

• MAMALLAPURAM DANCE FESTIVAL

These event witnesses’ performances on the Indian classical dances such as the Bharat Natyam, Kuchipudi, Kathak, Mohiniattam, Odissi and Kathakali.The well-known people from their respected fields gather for this cultural event that is also promoted by the Tamil Nadu Tourism Department as one of the major cultural attraction of this part of India. Mamallapuram Dance Festival is organized during the months of January and February in the city of Mahabalipuram in Tamil Nadu.  This four week Mamallapuram Dance Festival is held at the setting of Arjuna’s reparation, a bass-relief sculpted on the face of two enormous adjacent rocks, in Mamallapuram. The magnificent backdrop that is provided by the Pallava Rock Sculptures provides an artistic touch to this cultural dance festival.