Ask a young dancer what a festival slot feels like and you’ll hear about minutes. Ten, maybe 15, barely enough to shake off the nerves. Youth Dance Fest by Swarna Natyalaya School of Indian Dance hands every performer a full hour instead with 12 performers in all, some flying in from Kolkata and Mysore among other cities.
Organiser Sri Nidhi Rajbharath co-runs the school with her mother and guru Sudha Swarnalakshmi, and has spent months working through applications. Response was overwhelming, so the first edition stays deliberately lean. Her pitch is simple. “Unlike conventional dance programmes, we wanted to keep this exclusive to the youth.”
An hour is a big ask, and she knows it. “While this is a challenging feat, we also note that this is where we wanted to make the difference from regular performances, where the challenge pushes the performer towards exploring their art in depth.” Every dancer leaves with a certificate and a memento, but she’s just as keen on the friendships, “a community where they can connect with talented peers coming from across India.”
We speak with Vanshika Sudarshan, one of the performers. She’s a Bharatanatyam dancer and performing arts educator at The School of Raya. “I remember falling in love with it almost instantly after my very first class,” she says of starting at five. “I would dance everywhere and all the time, and as I grew up, Bharatanatyam grew with me.” Dance became “my safe space, and eventually, my home.”
Her solo margam draws on choreography by Guru Rama Vaidyanathan, taught to her by Guru Rohini Dhananjaya. Devi Stuti brings power and intensity. Momu Jupara is a playful scene between Yashoda and little Kanha, with something deeper humming underneath the mischief.
As a first-edition performer, she hopes to be “part of the foundation of something that could grow into so much more.”
Free entry. On October 2 at 11 am and October 4 at 6 pm onwards. At Medai-The Stage, Alwarpet.
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