Krishnamayookham Festival: Young and energetic dancers captivate audience

NAGPUR: Young and energetic dancers captivated the audience with their suave moves as the 2nd edition of 3-day Krishnamayookham Dance Festival got off to a rollicking start at Kannawar Hall, Annasaheb Gundewar College, Chhaoni, on Friday. The event is being jointly organized by Shreekrishna Cultural Foundation and South Central Zone Culture Centre (SCZCC).

Inaugurating the festival, director of SCZCC Deepak Khirwadkar highlighted how difficult it is to organize such festivals and praised the festival director and the students of Shreekrishna Nrithalayam for their dedicated efforts.

The inaugural dance was performed by Shreekrishna Nrithalayam’s seven girl students who beautifully performed Pushpanjali, a reverent dance full of synchronization.

A total of five dances were performed on the first day. The first was by Atanu Das from West Bengal, who performed Bharatanatyam. Das’ first song was ‘Ranjanimala’, an ode to Devi while his next was ‘Shankar Shri Giri Naad Praboghe’, a Hindi bhajan on Lord Shiva. Das wowed the audience with exquisite moves and brilliant expressions.

The next was Karishmita Kashyap from Assam. Performing Sattriya, her dance was a melodic and soothing piece. Her song reminded one of the sprawling green tea gardens of Assam and Kashyap matched it with her grace and poise.

Raju Mishra of West Bengal gave an Odissi performance. His Odia song ‘Nauchanti range Shri Hari’ is the story of Lord Krishna performing a tandav out of happiness. Under the tutelage of his Guru Monalisa Ghosh, Mishra’s performance was an energetic and spectacular sigh to behold.

Kushal Bhattacharya from West Bengal performed Kathak. He gave two performances, first Saraswati Vandana and later Krishna bhajan. Kushal divided his second act into three parts — first detailed Krishna in his childhood with his mother Yashoda, second was about his adolescent where he played with the Gopis, and third was about Draupadi’s ‘Chir haran’.

Priyanka Abhyankar, who hails from Nagpur, also performed Kathak. Her Ganpati Vandana on ‘Shendur Laal Chadayo’ caught the imagination of the audience.

Talking about the festival, Abhyankar said, ‘Such festivals are a chance for all dancers to meet and interact with people from other states, as well as witness their dance forms. They’re an amalgamation of various Indian dance forms, and a rare happening in the city.”

The programme was preceded by the cultural harmony competition which saw a variety of participants perform musical and dance numbers.