18/11/2024
And its a wrap up for the Autumn-winter term 2024...
An absolutely eventful, action packed and crazily busy few months for our dancers starting with ISTD Classical Indian Dance Faculty 's wonderful platform Misrana platform on 06th October at The Venue MK , where our senior dancers presented 'Pranayaa' and our Youth Dance Company collaborated with dancers from Dancing Nikita Company to present, 'Contours'.
On Sun, 20th Oct, our junior Youth Dance Company, participated in the vibrant Thatcham Thrives Gala for the first time, organised by brilliant Sonia Brown. We couldn't have asked for a better youth dance platform and our young dancers were absolutely thrilled to be a part of it. Thank you Sonia for putting this together.
On Sat, 26th Oct, our Artistic Director, Anuradha Chaturvedi presented a preview of her new work Saket: In Quest of Transcendental Rama... at the 'The Stories from Ramanaya' event organised by senior dancer, Kathak Guru and Artistic Director of Centre for Indian Classical Dance (CICD), Nilima Devi MBE at Curve Theatre, Leicester . Thank you Nilima ji, for this opportunity, we are truly grateful.
This led to the BIGGEST event in our calendar, much awaited, '24, on 09th Nov at Norden Farm Centre for the Arts . Avartan'24 is a culmination of the hard work, dedication, commitment and passionate love for dance, by not just our students, dancers and teacher, but also a slew of volunteers, parents and community of people committed to making it a success year after year.
We would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to our guest Artists and Company, Pallavi Anand, who mesmerized everyone with her deeply nuanced performance and Upahaar School of Dance Dance Company and Shalini Shivashankar ji, for their breath-taking presentation and artistry. You made our evening truly special. Thank you for sharing your work with us.
We would also like to thank all the lovely performers of Arambh Kathak Pathshala and their Guru Richa Srivastava, your energy and charm lit up the stage.
A big applause to our senior dancers, Deeya Dasgupta, Gargi Bhide, Mruga Naniwadekar, Ira Agarkar, Getriya Appari and Ria Gore, who have been managing their University schedules alongside their dance practice with the same passion and commitment as always. Well done ladies, you truly light up the stage with your energy and passion and inspire all the young ones to never give up on their love for dance.
Well done to our Junior Youth Dance Company, that is finally stepping up and finding their own voice. Keep dancing and keep the light of learning alive with in you always!
Thank you and well done to our young dancers and adult community dancers. What a sparkling performance indeed, your energy and enthusiasm is really contagious.
We are immensely grateful to all the wonderful and brilliant artists who have contributed to putting together stunning musical compositions that underpin our choreographic works especially, - legendry Ustad Gulshan Bharti, Pundit Vikas Mishra , Hriday Desai , Arjit Agarwal and Prakhar Pandey, we are truly blessed to have artists of your calibre, talent and artistry who have created magical scores and compositions for us throughout the years.
Thank you so much Ethnicity Shruti , for making sure we are always dressed to perfection and creating the fabulous array of costumes for all our dancers.
We will never be able to manage without a committed and super organised group of volunteers, who have perfected the art of managing the craziness and are the force to be reckoned with -
Thank You Mallika Dasgupta for giving words to our works and being a sounding board to all our artistic ideas.
Thank you Hemangi Bhide, Aparna Sharma, Aditi Agarkar, Vishaka Joshi and Aarya Anbhanandan, you ladies were the island of calm and cool, in the frenzy of the backstage, keeping together our flock of dancers, schedule and sanity under your tight control. We have no words to express how grateful we are, for your support and help, year after year.
Biggest ever thanks to one of our Founders Saurabh Seth, we don't often acknowledge enough, the silent support that comes from the quarters that hold everything together, be a sounding board during troubles and when required turn into master sleuth when our large critical costume packages goes AWOL during transit, a week before the big day. Your persistence, kindness and support are a biggest source of strength and truly special, especially during these sad times when you have suffered a grave personal loss.
The final event that concluded the term was Diwali Glow at OVADA Gallery on Sat 16th Nov, where our Junior Youth Dance Company presented their signature choreography Angika, followed by the trio of Anuradha Chaturvedi, Gargi Bhide and Selvameena Sivaprakash, presenting Saket for the final time this year to an enthusiastic audience. Thank you so much Mita Vaghela for inviting us.
We are delighted to share all the special moments through a selection of images as captured by the lens of our official photographer Alexander Clovis for Avartan'24, James Hudson for Misrana and friends and family of the dancers.
