Vasundhara Performing Arts Centre (VPAC) Trust, Mysuru, has been conducting four main festivals in a year for the last 33 years. Pallavotsava is conducted to encourage young and upcoming artistes from different parts of India, between the age group of 15 to 35 years. This Festival is open for all Indian Classical art forms. This year’s festival will be held from Sept.25 to 29 at Sri Nadabrahma Sangeetha Sabha, JLB Road, from 6 pm to 9 pm.

The festival will be inaugurated by Guru Nandini Eswer on Sept.25. K.V. Murthy will preside over the programme. Dr. Vasundhara Doraswamy and Rtn. Uday Kumar will grace the occasion.

Young talented Chaitrika, disciple of Dr. R.N. Srilatha, will present Karnatak Vocal Concert. This will be followed by Margam presentation by the artistes of VPAC. Sanmargam is a unique form of Vasundhara Bani which usually begins with Melaprapthi followed by different dance pieces and ends with Tillana. More than 35 senior disciples of Vasundhara amma will be seen on stage.

Sept.26

Odissi by Dipsi Pattanayak

Dipsi Pattanayak is from Bhubaneswar. She is a disciple of Guru Pitambar Biswal. She performs in late Guru Debaprasad dance style. She has procured Visharad Pratham from Akhila Bharatiya Gandharva Mahavidyalaya and is a PG student from Utkal University. She has been awarded honours such as Jyothi awards, natyanrithyamani. She has been awared with Junior National Scholarship from HRD Ministry. She is a B-Grade artiste in Doordarshan Kendra. She has performed in various festivals across India. To name a few are Konark Festival, Department of Culture, Govt. of Odisha, Rajgiri Festival, Patna, Mukteshwar Festival.

Kuchipudi by Samyuktha Matsa

Samyuktha Matsa has been trained under Chavali Bala Tripura Sundari. She has completed her certificate course from Telugu University. She has performed at several events across India and abroad. Natyanjali series, cultural celebrations at ISRO and BARC, Temple of Fine Arts in Malaysia and at Biodiversity Conference in Hyderabad are her notable performances. She has performed in key roles in Rukmini Kalyanam, Ramayanam, Ksheerasagaramadhanam and Chandalika Dance Drama productions.

Sept.27

Bharatanatyam by Veena Upadhya

Veenaupadhya is a Bharatanatyam artiste under senior Guru Vid. Kodavurmadhava Rao, and Vid. Bhramari Shivaprakash and international fame dance artiste Dr. Vasundhara Doraswamy.

She has completed her bharatanatyam PG and is also trained in Kalaripayattu by expert Belrajsony of Kerala. Along with her Guru, she has performed in various National/ State-level Dance Festivals like Khajuraho, Bhopal, Konark Festivals and so on. She has performed in a Kannada TV serial ‘Raghavendra Vaibhava.’ She has also choreographed and presented her own dance-drama ‘Sri Shreesha Leelotsava.’ She has her own institution ‘Veena Nrutya Kala Kendra’ at Hassan.

Odissi by Lopamudra Jena

Lopamudra Jena is an Odissi dancer trained under Guru Anil Kumar Lenka and Meera Das. He is a B-grade artiste of Prashar Bharathi, Bhubaneswar and empanelled artiste by ICCR. She has performed in various national and international festivals such as Dhauli Festival, Konark Festival, International Dance Festival etc.

Sept.28

Kuchipudi by Penukonda Anjali

Penukonda Anjali is a Kuchipudi artiste who is showcasing her talent since 10 years under the guidance of Guru Pasamurthy Mruthyumjaya Sharma. She has completed Diploma in Kuchipudi and is a recipient of senior CCRT Scholarship by Ministry of Culture. She has received many awards like Natyamanjari, Nrutyapriya, Natya Bharathi Ugadi Puraskar, Anandabalarathna. She has given many international performances in Poland, Europe and Columbo.

Mohiniyattam by Sathya Jayadeva

Sathya Jayadeva is originally from Kayamkulam, Kerala. She has a certification in contemporary and movement practices from Attakalari Center of Movement Arts. Besides training under Guru Sreedevi Unni, Sathya has also completed her Mohiniyattam arangetram in 2018. Sathya has performed in several renowned events such as Indian International Dance Festival, All Women World Arts Festival and Natiya Brahmotsava.

Sept.29

Sitar Duet  by V. Varija and H.M. Ajit

They are the disciples of Saroj Mukherjee under Guru-Shishya Parampara of Indore Beenkar Gharana (Jafferkhani Bajaj innovated by Ustad Halim Jaffer Khan himself).

Bharatanatyam by Dr. Padmasri N. Kashyap

She is learning Bharatanatyam under the tutelage of Dr. Vasundhara Doraswamy since an early age of 5 years. She has completed her Vidwat in Bharatanatyam in the year 2014. She has also completed her Rangapravesha. Padmasri is one of the faculty member in VPAC and Kalandhika, Mysuru. She has given more than 50 performances in India and abroad. Apart from dancing, she also has a degree in Ayurvedic Medicine from Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences.

She has performed for Chigurusanje Pallavotsava, Parangatotsava and Vasundhararotsava, Grameena Dasara, Pravasi Bharatiya Divas, Pravaah at Jodhpur, 50th year celebration of Raveendra Kalakshetra, Bengaluru, Krishna Ghana Sabha,Mysuru, Mt. Abu for National Summit of Brahma Kumari Samaj, Mysore Palace for Dasara, Yogini Mahotsav, Jalakanteshwara and Lakshmi Narayani Temple, Vellore, etc.

Kathak by Mitha Vijay

Mitha Vinay is one of the young and talented Kathak dancers from Hyderabad. She has been trained in Kathak for more than 18 years under the able tutelage of ‘Karnataka Kalashri’ Guru Nandini Mehta and Guru Murali Mohan, from Bengaluru.

Currently, she is training under Guru Durga Arya Krueger, who is the prime disciple of Pt. Birju Maharajji to further polish her nuances in the style of Lucknow Gharana.Trained as a solo dancer, Mitha has given innumerable performances in the most prestigious places across India, United States of America, Canada and other South Asian countries. She is a graded artiste of the National Doordarshan. Her performances are a combination of grace and rhythm. She marks her performances with high energy and a youthful charm.

The whole festival is conducted with live orchestra only. VPAC is the only organisation which is being successfully conducting such a festival from last 33 years showcasing more  than 500 artistes across the globe from all the Indian classical music and dance forms. Entry to the festival is free.

By Devanampriya