Dance Ballet By Students Of Arpana Dance Academy: Events in Hyderabad

REVIEW FOR DANCE BALLET BY STUDENTS...

SICA has always brought you the best artistes from India. This time, however, it's not the same - it is bringing the best from outside, too. Today, it's a ballet written and composed in California.

The South-Indian Cultural Association (SICA) is organising a dance festival at Ravindra Bharathi, from 2nd to 4th July. The 3-day festival will have dance performances from renowned dancers like Meenakshi Chittaranjan, Ramya Harishankar,Sathvika Ranganathan and P B Pallavi.

Today, the second day, students from the Arpana Dance Academy of USA will perform a dance ballet titled "Ganga - Life As A River". The ballet is a thematic production by the founding director of Arpana Dance Academy Ramya Harishankar. The presentation centers around river Ganga as a Mother, Goddess, Wife, and as Life itself.

South-California based Arpana Dance Company (ADC) has had the honor of performing in the US, Europe and India under the guidance of Ramya Harishankar. The company has 15 full-length productions to its credit.

Ramya Harishankar trained in Bharatanatyam under late Swamimalai K Rajaratnam who followed the traditional Vazhuvoor style and was renowned for his musical and choreography skills, and under Kalanidhi Narayanan, one of the finest exponents and teachers of the art of Abhinaya, the art of expressing emotions. With over two decades of training, Harishankar combines the elegance, grace and suppleness of the Vazhavoor School with the distinctive ability to express all shades of emotion with sensitivity and intuition.

SICA was founded in 1959 by Dewan Bahadur Aramuda Iyengar, the Finance Minister of Hyderabad's Nizam and a great patron of Carnatic music. The association has since organised more than 1,000 concerts. It has provided a basic platform for upcoming artistes like U P Raju and Nagamani, Mandolin Srinivas and the Malladi Brothers. It conducts workshops, felicitates artistes, and provides both moral and financial support to upcoming artistes. Dr S Chakravarthy, IAS, former Chief Secretary to the Govt. Of AP, is the current President of the association, and R Chakrapani is the General Secretary.

The entry to the concert is by invitations for members - members of the general public need to buy donor passes of Rs. 25 or Rs. 50 per head. Please contact V Ramachandran at 92461-61420 for further details.