Yuva Nartan Utsav - a dance festival celebrating the Youth

Fri 11 Oct 2019

Following the success of Yuva Nartan 2018, Yuva Nartan Utsav 2019 promises to be an equally exhilarating programme which has a brilliant line up of young artists from various regions.

Yuva Nartan Utsav 2019 will be a rare opportunity for Leicester audiences to experience an evening of Indian Classical dance and music. Delve into the mesmerising grace, fluidity and intricacy of Odissi, Kathak, Kuchipudi, Mohiniattam and Bharatanatyam styles. This event embraces youth and provides a platform for young artists to thrive and showcase their talent.

The evening will feature performances by BBC Young Dancer South Asian category winner and Grand finalist, Shree Savani, a Bharatanatyam dancer from Birmingham who has danced with Nupur Arts for 15 years. She will be performing a solo Bharatanatyam piece Hari Tum Haro, which is the intensely powerful story of Draupadi told in the ancient scripture of the Mahabharata. The performance contains many characters which the dancer presents through shifts in physicality and quality of expression. Shree will also be performing in the group piece Ena Kavipadinalum, a story about a poet who is a devotee of Lord Muruga and starts to question his faith after the passing of King Bhojarajan.

Swati Seshadri is a Bharatanatyam dancer and Carnatic vocalist who is one of the six members of Birmingham Dance Hub’s Natya Project. Swati will be starring in a solo Bharatanatyam performance Shyam Tori, choreographed by Smt. Vasanthakumare.

Elena Catalano will be performing the sweet and romantic Odissi piece Leela Nidi Hai, a coming of age show about the fascinating Krishna of Indian mythology. Elena is a founder and Artistic Director of Bhumi and has established herself as one of the most impressive and influential dancers in the UK.

Parbati Chaudhury is a maker-performer-teacher whose practice is grounded in Kathak. Her Kathak performance Utsav is a charming bandish set in teental, weaving in and out of nritta and nritya. Her second solo performance Badarwa is about the reunion with a beloved one sending the nayika into a state of ecstatic relief.

Swati Seshadri, Elena Catalano and Parbati Chaudhury are all London-based artists from ReRooted Dance Collective.

Daniella Zak Varghese started her training in Bharatanatyam, Carnatic Vocal and Violin in 2002 under the guidance of Smt. Vinothini Bharathan. Daniella won the 1st prize at Yuva 2015 and Yuva 2016 and has performed both solo and with Upahaar Ensemble across the UK, in prestigious venues including the Queen’s Gallery, Buckingham Palace and in India. Daniella will be starring in the Mohniattam duet Ganesh Vandhanam, which describes the radiant form of the elephant-headed God, Lord Ganesha.

 Pallavi Anand has trained intensively with Bharatanatyam Gurus such as the Dhananjayans and Bragha Bessel, as well as Mavin Khoo and Seeta Patel, which has molded and shaped her current style. Pallavi has started learning and performing Mohiniattam, presenting several solos, duets and group recitals on various stages in the UK, India, Dubai, Canada and Latvia. Pallavi Anand will be starring alongside Daniella in Ganesh Vandhanam and in their duet Kanaka Mayam.

Nupur Arts Youth Association (NAYA) will also present two dance pieces especially choreographed by renowned Bharatanatyam artist Bhagya Lakshmi and award-winning Kuchipudi artist Arunima Kumar. The NAYA artists include Shreya Vadnerkar, Alisha Vaghela, Sakshi Vaidya, Shree Savani, Nidhi Joshi, Nanditha Raghvan and Deepa Nair from Leicester and Nottingham.

There will be a very special live music performance by Pulkit Sharma from Walsall on the tabla and Saurav Bellary from Birmingham on harmonium.

Tickets are still available for this performance on Sat 19 Oct, 7pm- 9.30pm.

Please call our Box Office on 0116 242 3595 or click here to book your tickets!