If you are interested in performing arts, especially dance, and if you have not been to the exhibition currently underway in the open spaces of IHC, Lodhi Road, then you are missing something! You cannot afford to give this exhibition a go by. It inspires even the uninitiated.

SPANDAN Festival of Performing Arts 2016 brings yet again an eclectic collection of fabulous captures of Indian classical dance forms, but with a difference. The theme of this year’s exhibition is, “Tribute to Iconic Institutions, Movements and Legendary Gurus”. You get a peek into the journey of the iconic institutions and the life within. Many photographs have been displayed publicly for the first time ever in the history of these institutions.

R. Sreenivasan, the creator of the festival, which is into its fourth edition, too is one of a kind. How many technologists and alumnus of IIM and that too, a well known entrepreneur, do you come across excelling in the world of arts? Sreeni, a co-founder of CL Educate, while being busy in the corporate board rooms as well as traveling around the country motivating the youth in the universities, feeds his soul in the spaces of performing arts in the evenings. He is an accomplished photographer of dance apart from being a dancer, painter and designer.

For this year’s edition of Spandan, Sreeni digs deep into the archives of the Iconic institutions and photographers to bolster his own exclusive captures. The institutions covered are –

a. Kathak Kendra for Kathak (Thanks to Sangeet Natak Akademi)
b. Kalamandalam for Mohiniattam,Kathakali,Koodiyattam (Thanks to KK Gopalakrishnan)
c. Kalakshertra for Bharatanatyam (Thanks to Kalkshetra Archives)
d. Gotipua gurukuls and Srjan for Odissi (Thanks to Sunny Lamba and Srjan)
e. Kuchipudi Village for Kuchipudi (Thanks to Nartanam and Madhavi Puranam)
f. Sattras of Majuli for Sattriya (Thanks to Avinash Pasricha ji and Sunny Lamba)
g. JN Manipur Dance Academy (Thanks to SNA and JNMDA)

Every institution comes alive in the exhibition, with a vibrancy that these photographs have managed to capture. It is a treat to the soul.

Also the exhibition pays tribute to the movement of SPICMACAY for its yeoman service with panels of nation’s stalwarts of Music, Dance, Theatre, Puppetry, Folk etc and the volunteers who contribute to keep the flame of culture alive. The frames portray the spirit of facilitating the children to discover the mysticism embedded within every art form.

“SPANDAN venerates the human spirit, stoking pursuits to unravel the infinite potential within.”

As tribute to Legends, special issues Nartanam on Dr. Kapila Vatsyayan, Dr. Padma Subrahmaniam and Sri Avinash Pasricha will be released on May 2nd, 7 pm at Amaltas Hall, India Habitat Centre, by Prof. Lokesh Chandra, scholar and President ICCR. Noted danseuse Rama Vaidyanathan with her Bharatanatyam pays tributes to the legends.

The festival culminates with an evening of World Dance on May 26th in Stein Auditorium. While the exhibition is all about celebrating the icons and legends, the dance evening is about celebrating the future. The evening will feature brilliant young Odissi danseuse Arushi Mudgal, promising young male Bharatanatyam dancer Suhail Bhan, a talented Manipuri duo and a mélange of modern world dance forms all performed by young upcoming dancers.

The exhibition is on till May 10th. You can catch up with Sreeni at the venue.