Mysuru: ‘Mahishasura Mardini’, Chhau dance ballet presented by a group of 15 artistes led by Parikshit Mahato enthralled the audience on inaugural day of five-day SNA Fellows and Awardees Festival of Music and Dance organised by Sangeet Natak Akademi (SNA), New Delhi, in association with Karnataka State Dr. Gangubai Hangal (KSGH) Music and Performing Arts University, Mysuru, on the occasion of World Dance Day at Vijnana Bhavan, Manasagangothri, yesterday.

The Chhau dance team also presented stories from Ramayana, Mahabharata and other mythological events much to the delight of performing arts connoisseurs in the auditorium.

Earlier, the Fest was inaugurated by renowned Veena exponent Prof. R. Visweswaran. Speaking on the occasion, he said that Sangeet Natak Akademi Award was considered to be the most prominent awards among all in the Indian cultural diaspora and expressed his happiness over the Akademi organising the Music and Dance Festival in Mysuru.

Later, addressing the gathering, Bharatanatyam exponent and guru Dr. Lalitha Srinivasan remembered the day in 1984 when ‘Nupura’, the dance institute run by her, had organised similar Dance Festival which continued for three decades.

“Such programmes should be organised on a regular basis as it would help people,” she said.

University Vice-Chancellor Prof. Nagesh V. Bettakote said it was only through education that arts could be saved for future.

Stating that the University had been working towards passing the legacy of arts to future generations, Prof. Nagesh Bettakote said that about 12,000 students had appeared for various examinations conducted by the University and added the more such programmes would be introduced in the future to promote arts.

“When we think about Indian music, it is always Hindustani music that comes to mind. However, Karnatak music also has a long history,” he said and urged SNA to extend its support to all forms of arts without prioritising only a few.

The inaugural event was followed by veena recital by Prof. Visweswaran. SNA Joint Director Raghu, University Registrar (Evaluation) Prof. M.G. Manjunath, Finance Officer K.S. Rekha, Programme Officer Shilpa Nagaraj and others were present.

Events on May 1

11 am-11.30 am: Pusthakam Ramaa (Bengaluru) – Music for Dance; 11.40 am-12.10 pm: Sapam Kullabi Singh (Manipur) – Nata Pung; 4 pm-4.30 pm: Subramaniam Sekhar – Creative & Experimental Music; 4.40 pm-5.10 pm: Urmila Sathyanarayanan – Bharatanatyam;  5.20 pm-5.50 pm: Prakash Dumpeti – Periniattam; 6 pm-6.30 pm: Jagdish Sundarlal Gangani – Kathak.

Events on May 2

11 am-11.30 am: Sitaram Singh (Patna) – Sugam Sangeet; 11.40 am-12.10 pm: L.V. Gangadhara Sastry (Hyderabad) – Sugam Sangeet; 12.20 pm-12.50 pm: Bhaben Borbayan – Sattriya; 4 pm-4.30 pm: Manda Sudharani (Visakhapatnam) – Karnatak Vocal; 4.40 pm-5.10 pm: Vinod Kumar Dwivedi (Kanpur) – Dhrupad Vocal; 5.20 pm-5.50 pm: Latasana Devi – Manipuri; 6 pm- 6.30 pm: Snehaprava Samantaray – Odissi; 6.40 pm-7.10 pm: Margi Vijayakumar – Kathakali; 7.20 pm-7.50 pm: Nalini & Kamalini – Kathak.