Four-day dance festival Nrityotsav got underway in Gangtok on Saturday. Governor Shriniwas Patil inaugurated the festival at Manan Kendra auditorium. Renowned dancers of the country will enthrall the audience in the festival.
The festival is being organised by Sangeet Natak Akademi, National Academy of Music, Dance and Drama, New Delhi, in collaboration with Cultural Affairs and Heritage Department, Sikkim.
Talking to NE NOW Sangeet Natak Akademi dance division head, Helen Acharya said the festival will have the performances by national level dancers who are the recipients of the prestigious Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar. All artists have been accompanied by their musicians and will be performing with the live music and orchestra.
The festival will have performances of Bharatanatyam by Uma Sathyanarayanan from Chennai, Sattriya by Mridusmita Das and Seujpriya Borthakur from Guwahati, Chhau by Satish Kumar Modak from Seraikella, Manipuri by Sijagurumayum Nimita Devi and P Bilash Singh from Imphal, Kuchipudi by Boby Chakraborty from Udaipur, Kathakali by Kalamandalam Pradeep Kumar from Palakkad, Odissi by Lingaraj Pradhan from Bhubaneswar, Kathak by Monisa Nayak and Gauri Diwakar from Delhi and Kutiyattam by Sangeeth Chakyar from Thrissur.
Acharya said Nrityotsav, the dance festival by renowned dancers of the country has been held for the first time in Sikkim. She added that the festival was also a platform for dancers from different parts of the country to perform together. She further added that an aim of the festival was also to promote different forms of dances in all corners of the country. She said the Akademi was always ready to promote local groups and artists of Sikkim.
The festival has also targeted to encourage local youths and artists to move ahead in their field and to take up their field professionally OSD of cultural affairs and heritage department Jagdish Sharma said. He informed that local artists and groups of the state have been invited for the festival. He also appeals the people to be the part of this national-level event in the state.