Shaniwarwada dance and music festival to be held on February 21

Times of India: The eighth edition of the Shaniwarwada dance and music festival, to be held on February 21 and 22, will pay tribute to noted Kathak exponent Rohini Bhate, who passed away last year. The festival will open with a dance by Bhate’s students who will perform some of her favourite compositions.

“She lit the lamp at last year’s festival, and it is ironic that we are paying tribute to her this time, but that is the way her memory should be honoured,” said chairperson Sabina Sanghvi, addressing a press conference in the city on Tuesday.
Sanghvi said that the festival had been started with the idea of encouraging dance schools and local talent in the city.

“We thought there was a need to promote local talent, but not enough people would turn up to watch, hence we decided to bring in some national performers as well. While the first day will have local talent, the second day will have a well-known performer,” she added. Also present at the conference were actor Jackie Shroff, a member of the festival panel and members Neelam Seolekar, Varsha Chordia and Jayshree Shahade.

On February 21, the Rohini Bhate and Shama Bhate dance schools will perform and Barkha Sharma, dancer and wife of santoor player Rahul Sharma, will make her debut appearance with a ‘Ganesh Vandana’ in the Mohiniattam style. “Rahul Sharma will also perform a santoor recital,” Sanghvi said.

On the second day of the festival, Bharat Natyam dancer and national award-winner Shobhana Chandrakumar will perform the dance ballet ‘Maya Raavan’ with 30 other artistes. “I saw ‘Maya Raavan’ in Mumbai and it was a treat to watch, so I suggested that Shobhana bring it to the festival in Pune,” said Shroff.

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Also see:

• November 24, 2009 -- ‘Parikramaa’, a two-day dance and music festival, will be held in the city (0)
• June 25, 2009 -- Naadroop will present a programme on Kathak exponent Rohini Bhate (0)
• December 29, 2008 -- New Year’s Eve Party Guide (0)
• November 26, 2008 -- Dance festival on the occassion of Sucheta Chapekar’s birthday (0)
• November 20, 2008 -- Sawai Gandharva 2008 (18)