5,000 dancers to perform in Chennai on Tamil New Year

On April 14, Tamil New Year, 5,000 dancers from all over India and even from abroad, will gather in Chennai to attempt a feat with the hope of entering the Guinness Book Of World Records. The event, titled Bharatham 5000, will have these dancers staging a performance in front of an audience that will include eminent danseuse Padma Subrahmanyam, film personalities and other VIPs in the city. “The performance will be choreographed by Adhirsta Balan, a Dindugal-based dance master, and will be approximately for 30 minutes. The dancers will be dancing to a musical piece that has been structured with 30 couplets (10 each from the three sections) taken from the Thirukkural,” reveals V Lakshmanan, director of Lakshman-Shruti orchestra, who are behind this effort. The participants, he adds, comprise professional dancers and also dance students. “We have provided them with a 26-minute DVD, which has the moves that Adhirsta Balan has choreographed. They are rehearsing the moves separately or in groups and will assemble in Chennai a day or two before this performance,” he says.The event will take place on a sprawling 50,000 sq ft ground at Vel’s University, Pallavaram, and separate viewing galleries will be set up for the Guinness judges, the special guests, the press and the audience. Each dancer will be dancing on a 4x4 sq ft mat that will be provided at the event. “This is our way of taking this art form to our youngsters,” signs off Lakshmanan.