Mudra Festival begins on Tuesday

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The eighth edition of the Mudra Festival, hosted by Vyloppilli Samskrithi Bhavan and organised by the Department of Culture, would open here on Tuesday. Performances by renowned artists, demonstrations and seminars by scholars would be part of the eighth edition. The official inauguration would be conducted at 5.30 pm on Tuesday at the Vyloppilli Samskriti Bhavan by Minister for Culture K C Joseph.The function will be presided over by Minister for Tourism A P Anilkumar. Guru Durga Charan Ranbir and Kalamandalam Kshemavathy would jointly light the lamp at the function.The evening would be lighted up by a performance of Kalamandalam Kshemavathy. She is the recipient of various state and national awards, including the Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi award for Bharatanatyam and Kerala Kalamandalam award for Mohiniyattam.It would be followed by a performance of Rahul Acharya, an Odissi dancer who had started learning the dance form at the age of four under the tutelage of Durga Charan Ranbir.Kalamandalam Hymavathy and Ashimbandhu Bhattacharjee would perform on the second day, October 26.Hymavathy has many solo performances to her credit in addition to various performances under the banner of Kerala Kalamandalam. Ashimbandhu is a Kathak maestro, who combines the softness and subtlety of the Lucknow Gharana and rhythmic vigour of Jaipur Gharana in his performances.On October 27, Sushama Ranganathan, who is an exponent in Bharatanatyam and who follows the Balasaraswati tradition, would stage her performance. She was trained in Sanskrit drama and has performed in dance dramas in prestigious festivals, including Kalidas festival at Ujjain. Uma Thapasyananda, who is a Bharatanatyam performer, would give her performance after that.Jaikishore Mosalikanti and Padmavani, his wife and disciple, would perform as a Kuchipudi duo on October 28. Jaikishore began his career as a dancer at the age of seven and his body of work has been highly appreciated by critics. Padmavani is also an accomplished dancer in her own right.Alarmel Valli, Bharatanatyam dancer, would also perform the same evening. Alarmel Valli has been conferred the Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan. She was also presented with the Kalaimamani award by the Tamil Nadu Government.A Lakshman, Bharatanatyam dancer and Ananda Shankar Jayant, Bharatanatyam and contemporary dancer would perform on October 29. Ananda has been honoured with Padma Shri in 2007. There will be classes and seminars in the morning and afternoon hours led by the performers and scholars.Mudra Festival would conclude on October 29.