Nrithya-Upahaar is an international festival of classical Indian dance curated by Upahaar School of Dance, held in London. The main purpose of the festival is to bring together local and international artists in order to preserve and promote classical dance forms. It started in 2013 and has been growing larger ever since. Artists come from within the country and all around the world to perform during these celebrations. This year’s festival is co-funded by Arts Council England and supported by Akademi, SAMA Arts, The Bhavan & Beeja.
Nrithya-Upahaar 2019 will showcase some of the best artists in their field. Amongst them, will be the accomplished Nangiyar Koothu (Koodiyattam) dancer, Kapila Venu, one of the foremost disciples of the legendary maestro Guru Ammanur Kuttan Chakyar; Odissi artist Sujata Mohapatra, daughter-in-law and disciple of the late Guru Padma Vibhushan Kelucharan Mohapatra; Renjith and Vijna, a dancing duo who are among the foremost young talents in the field of Bharatanatyam today, well-known Kathak artists – Saloni Saraf and Raheem Mir; the popular Bharatanatyam artist Divya Kasturi; talented Kuchipudi artist Payal Ramchandani and finally Mohiniattam artists from Upahaar School of Dance – Pallavi Anand, Daniella Zak Varghese, Rani Shenoy, Piya Varma and Guru. Shalini Shivashankar.
Day 1:
4:30pm – 5:15pm: Payal Ramchandani – Kuchipudi
5:15pm – 6:00pm: Upahaar – Mohiniattam
6:30pm – 7:55pm: Renjith & Vijna – Bharatanatyam
8pm – 8:30pm: Q&A / Panel discussion
Supported by Arts Council England, Akademi, Sama Arts, The Bhavan, Vesara.
