49th edition of ‘Khajuraho Dance Festival’ begins
BHOPAL / The 49th edition of the ‘Khajuraho Dance Festival-2023 was on Monday kicked off by Lok Sabha MP from the Khajuraho constituency, V D Sharma’. The festival will end on February 26.
Khajuraho, a group of temples is a UNESCO World Heritage site known for its majestic temples and elaborate sculptures constructed on Nagara-style architecture and ornamented with aesthetics.
On this occasion, Madhya Pradesh State Rupankar Art Awards were given to the various artists who come from the state and have performed well in various fields of arts by the guests, Lok Sabha MP and BJP’s state chief Sharma, collector of Chhatarpur Sandeep GR and Aditi Kumar Tripath, director of Culture of the state government. An exhibition of artefacts has also been organised at the venue. Amit Sinha, Sameeksha Rathore, Dharmendra Mewadi, Prem Kumar Singh, Man Singh Vyam etc. were felicitated with the award.
The seven-day festival is being organised by the Ustad Allauddin Khan Music and Arts Academy with joint efforts of the Department of Tourism, Archaeological Survey of India, World Dance Alliance and the District Administration Chhatarpur.
Significantly, the first Culture Working Group meeting of G20 under the Presidency of India will also be held in Khajuraho, from 23-25 February.
During the dance festival, art exhibitions of various countries including India, Art-Mart, dialogue between artists and artisans and a fair of traditions and skills along with terracotta and ceramic national exhibitions will be major attractions.
Bharatnatyam will be performed by Janki Rangrajan, whereas the Bharatnatyam-Kathak duet will be presented by Dhirendra Tiwari and Aprajita Sharma, and Prachee Sharma will perform Kathak on the day first.
The performance of Sreelakshmy Govardhanan (Kuchipudi), Maithil Devika and troupe (Mohiniattam) and Vaibhav Aarekar and troupe (Bharatnatyam), Prateesha Suresh (Satriya dance), Himanshee Katragadda and Arathi Nair (Kuchipudi -Bharatanatyam duet) and Kadamb Centre for Dance (Kathak group) will be held on February 21-22.
Group dance of Odissi by Ramli Ibrahim and troupe, Kathak by Sanjukta Sinha and Tejaswani Sathe and troupe, Kathakali by Akash Malik and Rudra Prasad Rai, Odissi by Shashwati Garai Ghosh and Kathak-Bharatnatyam by Bala Vishwanath and Praful Singh Gehlot will be presented on February 23-24.
Janani Murali’s Bharatanatyam, Vyjayanthi Kashi and Sathi’s Kuchipudi group dance, Nivedita Pandya and Soumya Bose’s Kathak Odissi duet and Gajendra Kumar Panda-Tridhara’s Odissi group dance will be held on February 25.
The festival will end with Mohiniyattam by Gopika Verma, Arupa Lahiri and troupe with Bharatnatyam, Bharatnatyam and Odissi dance by Pushpita Mishra and troupe.
