Monsoon dance festival titled “Purushaakaram: The Male In Bharatanatyam” was held at the India International Centre on July 16-17. What made the third edition of the festival interesting were the performances by male dancers instead of the female dancers as is generally the norm. Titled “Purushaakaram: The Male in Bharatanatyam,” the festival saw four of India’s critically acclaimed and world renowned Bharatanatyam dancers on stage.Learning under dance-maestro Prof C.V. Chandrashekhar and Smt Narmada, Praveen Kumar opened the festival with a performance on July 16. Praveen, an A-grade artiste with the national broadcaster Doordarshan and also empanelled in the list of performing artistes of classical dance for the Indian cultural missions and festivals abroad by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), adheres to the traditional classical style of the dance form from the state of Tamil Nadu. He is also a recipient of the noted “Ustad Bismilla Khan Yuva Purskar” for 2010, awarded by the Sangeet Natak Akademi, New Delhi. He runs a dance school in Bangalore, called Chitkala School of Dance.On the same evening, Chennai-based dancer Renjith Babu who is also a disciple of Prof. C.V. Chandrashekhar presented another hour-long performance. Babu has been practicing Bharatanatyam since the age of five and was a recipient of the ‘Outstanding Artiste’ scholarship for advanced training in the dance form. “The Dhananjayas,” a very popular production by Prof. Chandrashekhar has featured Renjith as its principal dancer. He also has to his credit, lead roles in productions of Malathi Iyengar of the Rangoli Foundation, L.A., USA and Cleveland Cultural Alliance, Ohio, USA.On July 17, Chennai-based dancer S. Vijay Kumar and Delhi-based dancer Lokesh Bhardwaj performed consecutively from 6 pm to 8 pm. Vijay, who has been learning Bharatanatyam for the past 16 years, has also been awarded with numerous awards and honours including the “All India Best Dancer” in 2003 and the “Young Achievers Award” from Yuva Shakthi in 2008. To top it, he is also a mridangam player and a singer.Lokesh Bhardwaj, on the other hand, is considered one of the finest young male dancers the country has. He owes it to his training under the renowned Indian Bharatanatyam guru, Justin McCarthy. He has been the principal dancer in McCarthy’s productions since 2003. Growing up in Mathura (Uttar Pradesh), he learned not just Bharatanatyam but martial arts, theatre, tabla and music as well. He has also trained in modern dance from the Contemporary Dance School in London.Follow @ARTINFOIndia
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