Manipuri Dance By Bimbavati Devi: Events in Hyderabad

REVIEW FOR MANIPURI DANCE BY BIMBAVATI...

If you don't know what Thang Ta is, well, Bimbavati Devi does. If you are on her good side, you will get to see only her dancing repertoire.

The Kathak Kala Kshetra, in association with the Department of Culture, is organising The Deccan Dance Festival from 6th to 8th March, at Ravindra Bharathi. The 3-day festival will feature some of the best classical dancers of the country, like Susmita Chatterjee, Bimbavati Devi, Pallavi Krishnan, Meenakshi Chitranjan, Dr Sobha Naidu and Sujata Mahapatra, sharing the stage.

Today, the inaugural day, Bimbavati Devi will present a recital of Manipuri dance. Bimbavati Devi, daughter of renowned classical Manipuri dancers Guru Bipin Singh and Kalavati Devi, was initiated into the world of dance and music at a very young age. Besides dancing, she has also undergone training in pung (Manipuri mridang) playing and Thang Ta (Manipuri martial art).

As a solo artiste and as a performing artiste of Manipuri Nartanalaya, one of the pioneer institutions of Manipuri dance in the country founded by her parents and the well-known Jhaveri sisters, she has performed in various prestigious dance programs and festivals of India and abroad.

The performances at the Khajuraho Festival, the Konark Festival, the Swami Haridas Sangeet Sammelan, the Vrindavan Sharadotsav, the Uday Shankar Festival, the Nishagandhi Festival, the Vishwa Banga Sammelan, the Ghungroo Festival, the Temple Festival, the Dances of India Festival, the India International Centre (IIC - New Delhi), the India Habitat Centre (New Delhi), the Asia Festival in Helsinki (Finland), the Nehru Center in London (England), the Banga Sammelan in Lowell, the Festival of India organized by the Asian Dance and Music Program, and the University of Massachusetts, are some of her highlights.

Organised workshops and lecture demonstrations at the North Dakota State University, the University of Massachusetts, and the Lotus Studio in NY (USA); at Toronto, Edmonton and Calgary (Canada); the program and workshop organized by the National Aesthetics Society in Singapore, and the workshop at National University of Singapore are among her other appearances.

She is a recipient of the Junior and Senior National Scholarship in Manipuri Dance from the Department of Culture, Govt. of India; the Shringar Mani conferred by the Sur Singar Samsad, Mumbai; the Nandita Kripalini Award from the West Bengal State Academy of Dance, Drama, Music and Visual Arts, Govt. of West Bengal; the Empanelled Artiste honor of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR); and the Sanskriti Award given by Sheila Dikshit, the Chief Minister of Delhi, on behalf of the prestigious Sanskriti Foundation, New Delhi.

Kathak Kala Kshetra was started by Pandit Anju Babu, a Kathak dancer, choreographer and percussionist, in 1980. He himself was a popular dancer, having performed in countries like USA, France, England and Japan. Pandit Babu teaches many students in this institute, and has even conducted international training programs with Anjali Papa, Director of the Anjali Centre of Houston, where he trained many Indian and American children in Kathak.

The entry to the festival is free. For further details, please contact 98492-59133.