ABHAI launches online dance festival. First recital to be webcast on Oct.2

To provide performing opportunities to young classical dancers at a time when the sabha halls in Chennai are shut and live recitals are not encouraged due to pandemic regulations, the Association for Bharatanatyam Artistes of India (ABHAI) based in Alwarpet is hosting a  series of dance recitals recorded recently and webcast.

This initiative is in collaboration with Sangam Festival, Princeton, New Jersey, USA.

Themed ‘ Natya Sanyuj – Connecting the Arts’, the first concert will be webcast on Oct.2, 9 pm IST on ABHAI’s Facebook and YouTube channels.

It features young dancer-twin sisters Mayura and Hamsa Balagurunathan, daughters of dancer-guru V. Balagurunathan who runs Krishnanjali Academy in Chennai.

Says senior dancer and teacher Roja Kannan who heads ABHAI, “Since live concerts have been suspended for over five months we decided it was time to arrange for a live recital series in Chennai without an audience, record them and webcast each in a series.”

The first concert was performed and recorded at R R Sabha, Mylapore.  This dance series is supported by Sangam Festival and dancer-teacher Bala Devi Chandrasekar, USA. Chella Videos is handling the recording of the concerts.

Ever since the pandemic set in here, ABHAI has raised funds amounting to lakhs of rupees and given funds to artistes who had dire needs and needed urgent financial aid. This campaign to collect funds continues.

The ABHAI contact – abhaichennai@gmail.com