KANNUR: As the captain of Santosh Trophy-winning team of Kerala, Bineesh Kiran knows well how to start a move and complete it successfully by assisting it. The man who had held the defence of Kerala for four consecutive years with grit and courage had assisted many times so that his partners could net the ball. Now, after hanging his boots, he assists his wife Shaija Bineesh in another field, to open a new path, in Kannur. A stage for the aspirants and aficionados of dance - India Dance Allianze.
The fourth edition of IDA dance fest started in Kannur on Saturday with a sterling performance of renowned danseuse Janaki Rangarajan, a disciple of Padma Subramanyam, at Jawahar Library auditorium. The festival was inaugurated by K V Sumesh, MLA. Collector S Chandrasekhar was the chief guest.
"We have been planning it for some time, since the lifting of Covid curbs," said Shaija. A performing artist and a disciple of Janaki Rangarajan in Bharatanatyam, Shaija exudes confidence that the festival would definitely leave a significant impact on the art lovers of Kannur. "After my marriage, I spent a few years in Thiruvananthapuram where people always have enough opportunities to watch and enjoy performances of great artists. In Kannur, one would not get many opportunities to watch the performances of great artists, especially in dance," she said.
A former 'Nritha Prathibha' in Kannur University youth festival, Shaija's approach and attitude towards dance have changed so much since then. "Even when I was participating in the university competitions, I was not that much crazy about the results. I had always yearned about giving a serious performance. As I came back to Kannur from Thiruvananthapuram, what I missed most is the evenings in which great artists had graced the stages with their performances," she said.
Luckily, she has Bineesh as her partner. The couple has planned a dance festival in which various forms of serious dance would be performed in Kannur. For three consecutive years, they conducted the festival with the support of the art-loving fraternity of Kannur. "When we start speaking seriously about dance and mention names of artists known to only serious art lovers, sponsors hesitated to endorse our programmes," said Bineesh, who works as superintendent, KSEB, Kannur. "But, still, a few people have come up, appreciating our efforts," he said.
The outbreak of Covid had put a break on the journey. But, now after a gap of two years, IDA has come up with a three-day festival. On Sunday, Sujatha Mohapatra will present Odissi dance and on Monday, the concluding day of the festival, Amit Kinchi and Subi Johri will present a Kathak duet.
"It is not easy to conduct a dance festival as there will not be many takers as in a programme featuring film stars. But, we are determined to take the mission forward as we are confident that at least one student will benefit and a spark would be created through this attempt," said Shaija, who runs a dance institution in Kannur. "We can't change the perception of all the people with one festival. We are confident that this would definitely leave an impact on dance lovers," said Shaija. The couple has three children, Aryan, Arshavin and Yamika.