Legendary performers to wow Chennai on international dance day

CHENNAI: To mark

International Dance Day

on April 29, Utsav Music, in association with The Times of India and

Krishna Gana Sabha

, has been celebrating the doyens of classical dance by conferring on them the title ‘Utsav Nritya Ratna’ every year. This year, the title will be bestowed on legendary Bharatanatyam exponent C V Chandrasekhar.

Bharatanatyam dancer, scholar and academician Chandrasekhar began his career in 1947 when there were hardly any male

classical dancers

on the scene. Over the years, the title has been bestowed on Vyjayanthimala Bali, Padma Subrahmanyam, The Dhananjayans, Chitra Viswanathan and Lakshmi Viswanathan. The celebrations have brought together artists of various classical dance forms on a single stage.

The performances this year include Bharatanatyam by Priyadarshini Govind, Kuchipudi by Bhavana Reddy and Kathak by Sanjukta Sinha, who is also

Sangeet Natak Akademi

’s

Yuva Puraskar

awardee from Ahmedabad. Priyadarshini Govind, one of the most celebrated Bharatanatyam dancers today, has been trained under stalwarts such as S K Rajarathnam Pillai and Kalanidhi Narayanan. Bhavana Reddy is an acclaimed Delhi-based Kuchipudi dancer with a career spanning over two decades. As one of India’s leading Kathak dancers, Sanjukta Sinha has performed solo, in ensembles as well as in collaborations with leading international names.

The event will be held at Krishna Gana Sabha at 6.30pm. Complimentary invites will be available at The Times of India office,

Kochar Towers

, 19 Venkatanarayana Road, T Nagar, on a first come, first served basis from 10am to 6pm.