‘Catch them young’ seemed to be the message of Chigurusanje, a dance fest for children presented by the Vasundhara Performing Arts Centre (VPAC) at the Jaganmohan Palace Auditorium, Mysore on June 19. For two hours and a half, around three scores of tiny tots in the age group of five to twelve years vied with each other to exhibit their talent honed by their guru Vasundhara Doraswamy. While the younger kids divided into three groups chose to compere the show, the older ones presented the dance numbers of the Bharatanatyam repertoire.
Chigurusanjey is one of the four annual festivals organised by the Vasundhara Performing Arts Centre. Vasundhara Doraswany explained that this was the 19th show to be organised by the VPAC, of which she is the founding director. And most of the children who have participated in this festival series have graduated into professional dancers and teachers now. They are working in different parts of the world.
The three other festivals are Pallavothsav, Natarajothsav and Parangathotsav, featuring artistes from all over India. While Pallavotsav stages up-and-coming dancers, Natarajotsav is exclusively for the male dancers or couples. Veteran artistes of music and dance participate in the Parangathotsav usually held in December. VPAC honours one musician of Karnataka origin during this festival with a title and gold medallion. Dr. Vasundhara hastened to add in this connection that all these festivals are being organised with no support from the government.
And the latest edition of Chigurusanjey - 2004, turned out to be a visual treat for the audience at the Palace auditorium. From Pushpanajali to tillana, the programme featured a regular 'Margam' in Bharatanatyam, with the highlight being the varnam 'Sree Krishna Kamalanatha' in Rithigoula. Accompanying the little dancers were Vasundhara Doraswamy (nattuvangam), Rajeswari Pundit (vocal), R. S. Gopalakrishna Iyer (mridangam), Tandava Murthy (violin) and Suresh Karanth (morsing).
Contact: Vasundhara Performing Arts Centre, No.1, West Cross, Ashoka Road, Mysore - 570 001. Ph:2442359, mobile:9845113154. or to the Managing Trustee:T.R.Harish, off:2442359,Res:2510407
E-mail: vasundharadoraswamy@yahoo.com
Website : www.vasundharadoraswamy.com
