Meet the woman who made Kala Utsav in Gurugram a reality

Vani Madhav, a South City 1 resident, is an acclaimed Odissi dancer who has performed at many prestigious venues across the country. Madhav, who began dancing at the age of five, said, “Odissi is a temple dance. The bhangas or the movements are derived from the temple carvings and statues, and when performed on stage appears enchanting.”

Madhav, who is originally from Odisha, made Gurugram her home many years ago. She said that she often goes to Delhi, both as an audience as well as to perform, but hopes that someday people from Delhi will come to Gurugram to watch cultural shows and events here. With this hope, she founded the Gurgaon Kala Utsav in 2017, a two-day festival where proponents of classical dance and music perform.

For this year’s Kala Utsav, at Rangboomi open air theatre in sector 29, classical violinist Sharat Chandra Srivastava will perform the opening act on Saturday, which will be followed with Bharatnatyam performance by Rashmi Agarwal, Kathak by Shobhna Jha, Ghumurua folk dance from Odisha, and Haryanvi folk dance.

On Sunday , the first performance is a flute recital by Pt. Chetan Joshi followed by Odissi dance performance by Padmashri Geeta Mahalik, Sarod recital by Tarun Chandra Kalita and group and the final performance by Kathak proponent Kavita Thakur.

First Published: Mar 15, 2019 04:01 IST