Heart for art

 Dancers across the world are going have an extended celebration of  International Dance Day, with Natya & STEM Dance Kampni coming up with a digital dance conference.
Syed Sallauddin Pasha
Syed Sallauddin Pasha

BENGALURU:  Dancers across the world are going have an extended celebration of  International Dance Day, with Natya & STEM Dance Kampni coming up with a digital dance conference. Scheduled to take place on May 1 and 2, the two-day Dr Maya Rao Kathak & Choreography Conference is going to be streamed during 6-8 pm on the Facebook page of the dance company. 

“I had always looked at a conferences in the context of commerce or technology, so I thought why not create a conference in the memory of Dr Maya Rao, who has been a pioneer in the field of dance. It started last year with a day-long festival and brilliant minds from the field of dance came together,” Madhu Nataraj, the director of the organisation, says, talking about her mother and dance guru. But this year, due to the COVID-19 situation, the conference faced a block. However, having learnt from her mother that any kind of adverse situation can be turned to one’s advantage, she decided to go digital this year.

The conference features performances and talks by internationally renowned artistes like Anita Ratnam, Aditi Mangaladas, Rajiv Menon, Mahesh Dattani, Lynne Fernandes and more from the fields of dance, design, theatre and filmmaking. “We will also be talking about digitisation in the field of dance. If digital is the new normal, then dancers too have to be well aware of it.

We have people like Rajiv Menon helping create that grandeur for online live performance,” adds Nataraj, who will also be presenting a piece. Also a part of the showcase is a  special film, Dancing Wheels Choreographing for the Handi-capable, by Syed Sallauddin Pasha, the founder and artistic director of Ability Unlimited, a therapeutic dance theatre on wheelchairs in India. 

One of the highlights of the show, emphasises Nataraj, is raising awareness for the poverty-stricken folk and ritualistic performers of rural Karnataka. The event will also involve collecting funds for them. “These artistes are also like daily wage workers. They sing and dance to make their ends meet. If this pandemic continues, then our next generation won’t get a chance to know about them,” says Nataraj.

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