Venue: India Habitat Centre

This July we had the privilege to watch three great performers on stage – back to back. Navtej Johar, Ambika Panikar and Aditi Mangaldas. The occasion was the 15^th anniversary launch of the book “Attendance” – An year book on dance. The dance journal is edited, compiled and published by critic and historian Ashish Mohan Khokar.

The show started with a small video clip showing the launch of first edition of “Attendance” and its journey over the years. After that the book was launched by Dr. Karan Singh.

This was followed by first performance of the evening – Bharatnatyam by Navtej Johar. Navtej has created his own trade mark style of dancing. He uses this classical dance form and adds a contemporary twist to it to create a performance that mesmerizes the audience.

Ambika Panikar’s Odissi dance performance was Odissi as we know it… No experiments… No trying to make a statement. Dance for the sake of dance. Very enjoyable for the lay viewer who does not have much idea about the nuances of this classical dance form.

Aditi Mangaldas’ Kathak was the last performance of the evening. She performed with a group of musicians. Just like her costume, her classical dance was also a modern day version of an ancient dance form.

All the performances were thoroughly praiseworthy.