HYDERABAD: Redefining the immense beauty of the Ganga River, Kalasagaram hosted a dance ballet on the occasion of its 56th annual cultural festival 2023, held at Keyes High School recently. Bringing life to traditional art forms, this annual fest celebrates music, dance and drama, emphasing the importance of traditional art forms and encouraging young citizens of the twin cities. The dance ballet covered a picturesque description of Ashwamedha Yajna and Gangavatharanam.
“Ours is the oldest music society of the twin cities. We have successfully conducted 56 annual festivals so far,” states N Rama Murthy, Secretary of Kalasagaram, talking about the legacy of the organisation.
“We try to incorporate new ideas and, at the same time, retain our traditional kutcheri system. We have a new executive committee, and therefore we have tried to improve the quality of our program. This is visible through feedback from the audience and artistes.
The selection of artistes is done by the programme committee by consensus and the front-ranking and promising talents are given chance in the festival. Kalasagaram also conducts monthly program at their auditorium in West Marredpally which also features promising talents from the state and other places,” he added.
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Dance maestro Dr Rajeshwari Sainath mesmerised the audience with her exquisite Bharatha Natyam performance, along with her daughter Dr Vaishnavi Sainath on Ganga—the river with soul. This ravishing rendition featured Dr Vaishnavi as goddess ‘Ganga’, who captivated the audience by evoking emotions throughout her performance.
The event commenced with the dancers enacting scenarios from mythology that depict the importance of the river. Followed by a depiction of Lord Krishna romancing with Gopi’s on the bank of the river. Dr Vaishnavi played the role of Lord Krishna in this performance, seamlessly blending expressions with her extraordinary moves.
Subsequent performances continued to centre around Ganga and her journey. From tracing the origin of the river in Gangotri in Uttarakhand, to her merging with the Bay of Bengal-- this performance detailed the journey beautifully with Bharatha Natyam.
Coming to the choreography, Dr Rajeshwari Sainath excellently designed the story in sequence, starting from the origin of Ganga, and gorgeously presented it by the dancers, which helped the audience understand the story plot. In addition, the story stresses the beauty of Ganga while coming from heaven to earth and passing through mountains and forests en route.
The two-hour-long ballet ended with Ganga Aarti by all the dancers as a fitting finale, with a clear message to save Ganga. This performance was an eye-opener for all the audience members. Along with Dr Rajeshwari Sainath and Dr Vaishnavi Sainath, there were 13 other dancers who left the audience spellbound with their performances.