10th edition of Pragjyoti International Dance Festival in November

October 2018; Guwahati: Pragjyoti International Dance Festival (PIDF), an annual classical dance extravaganza organized by Kalpa, a Society for Promotion of Literature, Art, Culture and Social Harmony, is celebrating a decade of its glorious cultural journey this year.

PIDF is an annual classical dance extravaganza to exhibit the wide range of India?s classical dance forms together on one platform and to celebrate the rich heritage of Assam. The 10th edition of Pragjyoti International Dance Festival by Kalpa will be a four-day classical dance extravaganza and will be held in three different places across Assam.

National award winner, Dr. Anwesa Mahanta, a renowned a Sattriya danseuse who is the Festival Director of PIDF said, ?Each and every year we try to reach out to people with various dimensions and perspectives of dance. Dance is a holistic art form encompassing range of expressions. The festival is curated in such a way where each participant both in the form of performer and audience takes back home a rich experience of the heritage of dance.?

The Sattriya danseuse further said, ?With every passing edition, PIDF has taken up socially relevant messages and initiatives to promote our intangible cultural heritage and to provide a global platform to our local art forms. Our effort this year will be concentrated on promoting heritage awareness among our guests and hence build a base for promotion of Assam as a Cultural Tourism hotspot.The festival experience would not only give the performers a platform to share their art form but also give a wider space to interact and see the performances of other art traditions. And audience shall get to see a range of art forms with varied styles of artistic representations.?

On 25th November, 2018, the curtain raiser of 10th PIDF will be held at Madhavadev International Auditorium in Srimanta Sankardev Kalakshetra, Guwahati. The curtain raiser would feature internationally recognized Ananya Dance Theatre, a contemporary Indian dance company based in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota.The group is composed of artists of color who create performances about the lives and dreams of women around the world. The Guwahati edition of the Festival will be in collaboration with the Kri Foundation, Ford Foundation, Ananya Dance Theatre. Another highlight of the Guwahati edition will be the presence of reputed Syrian curator and cultural expert Alma Salem, who will interact with the students of Gauhati University on the situation of Syria and how the artistes are responding artistically. She will also showcase six short dance documentaries. Noted art scholar and Founder of Kri Foundation Dr. Arshiya Sethi says pleasure for me to bring to my 'karmbhoomi' Assam, through Kri Foundation, a very significant art that upholds a critical agenda for out times. I see a global and local valence for the Pragjyoti International dance festival that is celebrating its tenth year this year. That is why Kri Foundation initiated this collaboration in its fifteenth year .Thus it becomes a double celebration.

After the curtain raiser in Guwahati, the PIDF team will travel to Jorhat, where the artistes will have interactions with the school/college students of the city in the morning hours of 27th November. This has remained as one of the significant aspects of the Festival that has been contributing immensely towards creating heritage awareness amidst the new generation. In the evening on the same day, PIDF will showcase the performances by reputed international artistes from Italy and Russia along with many other artistes from various parts of India and local artistes of the region at Jorhat Stadium. The Jorhat edition of the festival has been organized in association with the District Administration, Jorhat and Pratah Bhraman Committee.

The grand finale of the 10th edition of Pragjyoti International Dance Festival will be held at the premier cultural heritage destination of Assam, Majuli. on 28th and 29th November, the beautiful river island will witness performances by classical dancers from all around the world, thus becoming a catalyst in the promotion of social harmony and peace through culture. The festival will be held in association with the Uttar Kamalabari Sattra and District Administration, Majuli, with the support of Sangeet Natak Akademi where captivating performances by kaleidoscope of the nationally and internationally acclaimed artists along with the local artists of the region is bound to leave the audience of Majuli spellbound. The Festival as a whole would be supported by Oil India Limited.

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