If there’s ever a good time to meet kathak dancer Uma Sharma, it’s the month of January, when she’s the happiest. As she presents the annual showcase of classical music and dance, titled Swami Haridas Tansen Sangeet Nritya Mahotsav, her energy doubles and her smile broadens at every mention of it. As she makes the last few calls to confirm artiste participation, she tells us about how every year, she tries to do her best in the promotion of long-established genres of the performing arts.
For the last 13 years, she’s been putting up a successful show with the numbers in the audience only swelling. “These festivals help in keeping our traditions alive, and spread our traditional heritage through a cultural renaissance and resuscitation of the musical ethos,” she says.
You’ll see the stage fill itself with a creative confluence with artistes such as Pt Ajoy Chakrabarty (vocals), Ustad Shujaat Khan (sitar), Ashwini Bhide Deshpande (vocal), Pt Hariprasad Chaurasia (flute), Pt Vishwa Mohan Bhatt (Mohan veena), Anoushka Shankar (sitar), Pt Chhannulal Mishra (vocal), Pt Ajoy Chakrabarty (vocals), Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, Amaan Ali Khan and Ayaan Ali Khan (sarod) and others. “This is the first time that we’re bringing the next generation of artistes in this festival,” she says.
This will hopefully get patrons to encourage their children to experience the arts. If that happens, Sharma’s purpose would be wonderfully fulfilled.
Jaunary 8- 11 at Shankar Lal Hall, Modern School, Barakhamba Road, at 6 pm