BANGALORE: Artistes, dance connoisseurs, gurus, and art lovers from all over the country came together to celebrate World Dance Day on Sunday, at an event held at Alliance Française. The day long festivities, featured more than 100 noted artistes, who paid tributes to the legendary dancer Mohan Khokar and his work — A collection of dance memory and history.
The Mohan Khokar Dance Collection (MKDC) of India is a comprehensive compilation of history and heritage of Indian dance. It is hailed as one of the largest dance holding by the Lincoln Centre, New York; The Dance Museum, Stockholm; and UNESCO’s Dance Council, Paris. Painstakingly built from the 1930s — much before India became independent or any national institutions were born. The Collection is amazing in its content and scope. The exhibit, titled ‘A Century of Indian Dance: 1901-2000’, was a reference point for all major milestones and trends in the world of Indian dance in the last century and covers all types of dances — classical, contemporary, ritual and folk. It featured a wide range of items documenting the dances of India including books, photos, paper-cuttings, posters, brochures, handbills, banners, drawings, paintings, etchings, costumes, masks, gramophone records, videotapes and numerous knick knacks.
As the largest archival compilation on the dance traditions and its history, it is considered to be an important source material for research and reconstruction.
The Mohan Khokar Dance Collection (MKDC) was originally shown in Delhi in July 2011 sponsored by Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), and travelled to USA, Italy and France. In 2013 plans are afoot for it to go Spain and Germany and to Canada.