2,100 dance their way into Guinness Book pages

KOLHAPUR: There were a few anxious moments for the audience after the 12-minute Bharatnatyam performance by as many as 2,100 dancers came to an end. The wait was worth as the Guinness Book of World Records observer announced the results - the dancers have set a new record for the maximum number of people performing the classical dance form together.
Sanyogita Patil and her 2,099 Bharatnatyam dancers, aged between five and 40, danced their way to the pages of the coveted book of records here at the Shahu stadium on Saturday in Kolhapur.
Last year, 1,290 Bharatnatyam dancers, aged between 3 and 45 years, had in Lucknow city performed together and carved their name in the Limca Book of Records.
On Saturday, the Shahu stadium was packed to its capacity to witness the rare feat planned by Sanyogita Patil's Tapasya Siddhi Kala Academy.
Patil, a Bharatnatyam dancer-teacher and lead performer of the event, told TOI, "I would like to thank my guru and all my friends and supporters from various parts of the country. The feat achieved is all of ours and not of an individual. We will look forward to smash our own record in future."
Patil said she had thought of arranging some 6,666 dancers for the Guinness Book of World Records two years ago, but then they were short of manpower.
"Two years ago, we tweaked the plan a bit and decided to achieve that feat in step wise manner. We have now decided to achieve the feat by going slow and steady with 2,000 dancers at a time," she added.
Patil thanked the organisers and volunteers from Bharati Vidyapeeth, city based college and other from youth groups which offered their volunteering services at the event to make it successful.