As it marks its fourth year, Kalamrutha, the annual dance festival by Sankalp Nritya Nirantara, returns to Bengaluru with a thoughtfully curated evening of bharatanatyam. The festival brings together established artistes, emerging voices and an original production by Team Sankalp, continuing its focus on presenting classical dance as both rigorous practice and evolving expression.
Ahead of the festival, we spoke to the trustees — Karthik Gowda HG (president), Rashmi M Hegde (manager), Sindhu Sathyanarayan (treasurer) and Arathi Nair (secretary) — to understand how Kalamrutha has grown into a distinct platform within the city’s classical arts calendar.
“Kalamrutha was envisioned as a space to bring together serious practitioners and thoughtful presentations,” Karthik tells us. “It was important for us to move beyond just putting together performances and instead create an experience where both artistes and rasikas can engage more meaningfully,” he explains.
That approach shapes the festival’s curation as well. This year’s lineup features bharatanatyam artistes Manjari Chandra Pushparaj and Harinie Jeevitha, alongside an original production by Team Sankalp. “We look for artistes who are rooted in tradition but bring their own individuality to the stage,” Rashmi says. “At the same time, presenting our own work allows us to share our evolving voice as a collective,” she adds.
That evolving voice finds expression in Sa – The Eternal Feminine, a thematic production that explores womanhood across different stages of life. “It traces conditioning, societal roles and awakening into Shakti,” Sindhu explains. “We wanted the audience to witness multiple facets — strength, vulnerability and transformation,” she says. Placed alongside traditional pieces such as Jaya Jagadeesha Hare and Varadarajam Upasmahe, the evening moves across registers. “There is a thread that connects them,” Arathi says. “From devotion to introspection, the journey shifts from the external to something more internal and reflective,” she adds.
Beyond performance, the festival extends into learning with NatyaSamvada, a two-day intensive masterclass led by Harinie Jeevitha for intermediate and advanced students. For the trustees, this dual focus is essential. “We want to create spaces not just for performance, but also for dialogue and deeper engagement with the art form,” Karthik notes. As Sankalp continues to build on Kalamrutha each year, that intent remains central. “The idea is to support tradition while allowing room for thoughtful innovation,” Rashmi says.
April 12, 5pm. At ADA Ranga Mandira, JC Road.
Written by Anoushka Kundu
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