The Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA), under its Sanskriti Samvaad Shrinkhala series celebrated the birth centenary of the Bharatnatyam legend Thanjavur Balasaraswati, whose dance was a rendering of a classical dance style from her home state, Tamil Nadu. She has been instrumental in popularising this style of dancing not only in India but also abroad.
The two-day celebrations, ended on Tuesday, included a panel discussion, film screening, lecture demonstration, dance homage and provided an opportunity to the audience to interact with the gurus and exponents from the field of dance.
The panel saw a discussion about the legendary dancer and her art, which was chaired by Ram Bahadur Rai, president, IGNCA and moderated by Dr Sachchidanad Joshi, member secretary. Among others, eminent artists like Dr Sonal Mansingh, Dr Padma Subramanium, Dr Saroja Vaidyanathan and Pt Birju Maharaj were a part of the panel. The session was followed by a performance by Nandini Ramani, who paid a dance homage Padmanjari to her guru Balasarasvati with Sushama Ranganathan, Roja V, Lavanya Ananth and Divyasena Haribabu.
The second day of the celebration saw the screening of Satyajit Ray’s film, Bala. The day concluded with a talk Bala: The consummate musician, on Bala’s contributions in music by musician Charumati Ramachandran.
