Chennai-based Prakriti Foundation hosts its biennial Prakriti Excellence in Contem-porary Dance Awards (PECDA) in the city. The awards aim to recognise excellence in the field of contemporary dance. Boasting performances, panel discussions, workshops and more, the festival is a celebration of the genre. The jury for the awards includes renowned choreographers and names from the world of dance such as Rachid Ouram-dane, Melanie Zimmerman, Glyn Roberts and Mark Yeoman. The participants, who have been shortlisted from Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Chhattisgarh, Manipur, Ahmedabad and Bengaluru, will showcase their performances over the weekend. 

The fest, which kicked off on April 18, will also have panel discussions on topics such as Spaces for Safe Play moderated by Vikram Iyengar, and Dancing the Secular hosted by Mandeep Singh Raikhy. Mandeep’s talk will be on themes of secularism and the performance art in the current political climate. “I have been working on a project where I travel the country to research this theme. In the panel, I will further discuss it with other performance artists,” Mandeep says. 

Dancers Snigdha Prabhakar and Ronita Mookerji will take the stage for two unique performances as well. Ronita’s performance explores the concept of stillness and space. She tells us, “My performance is titled Empty Stage. It is a site-specific performance at UB City. That means it explores the site as a creative response. I feel like the canvas is empty and I’m using view of the buildings around me to bring the place alive through movement” 

Until April 24. At venues across the city