NCPA Pravaha Dance Festival 2024 – Day 1

A journey through Kuchipudi Yakshaganam – Kuchipudi by Sreelakshmy Govardhanan
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Jaya Jaya Deva Hare – Manipuri by Bimbavati Devi & Troupe

Sreelakshmy Govardhanan is a Kuchipudi artiste and disciple of Pasumarthy Rattiah Sarma, a maestro in Kuchipudi Yakshagana. She has also trained under Vyjayanthi Kashi and Manju Barggavee. She has been a recipient of many titles and honours such as Kalashree from Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi, Binfield Endowment from Narada Gana Sabha, Bharatham Yuva Kalakar, Singar Mani and Nalanda Nritya Nipuna, to name a few. She is an empanelled artiste in the Indian Council for Cultural Relations’ (ICCR) ‘Established’ category and a graded artiste of Doordarshan. Govardhanan has performed at prestigious venues in India and abroad. She is the Founder and Director of Avanthika Space for Dance, a platform dedicated to learning, performance and research.

Bimbavati Devi, the daughter of renowned classical Manipuri dance exponents, Bipin Singh and Kalavati Devi, had an early initiation into the world of dance and music. She has undergone training in pung (Manipuri mridang) playing and the basics of Thang-ta (Manipuri martial art). As a soloist and performing artiste of Manipuri Nartanalaya, one of the pioneering institutions of Manipuri dance in India founded by her parents and the renowned Jhaveri sisters, Devi has performed in various prestigious dance programmes and festivals in India and abroad.

Devi will be presenting Jaya Jaya Deva Hare, consisting of several choreographic pieces which are mainly inspired by verses from the Bhagavat Purana, shlokas on Krishna and Vishnu from various Vaishnava treatises and the archetypal Manipuri ritualistic performing traditions that embellish the land throughout the year. Conceptualised and choreographed by Devi, these dances are the culmination of her passion and devotion. For millennia now Krishna has been revered as the ultimate saviour. He proclaimed that whenever there is an ominous probability of good being trampled by evil, he will appear to destroy the evil with his power. His bhaktas were thus repeatedly saved as he took various forms to save this earth from impending doom and establish dharma.

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