Bengaluru: One of the few festivals held in Bengaluru to promote classical dance forms and provide a platform to budding and experienced artistes, 5th Kadambari Utsav is all set to entertain the art lovers at Seva Sadan auditorium, Malleswaram on Saturday, August 26, 10.30am.
Organised by Kadambari School of Odissi Dance, founded by noted Odissi dancer Karishma Ahuja, the festival will have a bouquet of scintillating performances to be presented by the senior and junior disciples of Karishma Ahuja and guest artistes.
This year, the festival’s guest performers are eminent Kathak dancer Guru Smt Keka Sinha from Mumbai, who is the founder and director of Kalapi Centre for Performing Arts and Ching-Han, Weng, a talented Odissi dancer from Taiwan.
They apart, Karishma and her disciples will present some of the finest choreographies of Odissi doyen Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra and his son and disciple Guru Ratikanta Mohapatra.
It is pertinent to mention here that Karishma, a graded artiste of Doordarshan, is trained in Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra style of Odissi ddance
She is presently undergoing advanced training in Odissi dance under the watchful eyes of Guru Ratikant Mohapatra and Guru Rajashree Praharaj. She has also honed her skill under the guidance of Guru Sharmila Mukerjee.
She has performed as a soloist and in group at various dance festivals, private, corporate and public events across the nation and abroad as well.
This talented dancer has won several awards and accolades. In 2017, she was conferred the award ‘Nritya Kanaka Prabha Samman’ at the International Indian Classical Dance and Music festival, Bangalore. The other awards include the ‘Kalamani’ Award in 2019 by the Hosur Natyanjali Foundation and the ‘Tarang Ratna’ Award for accomplished artists in 2022. In 2021, She was recognized among Top 100 Iconic Artists and Educators of the year by the Rhythms Group, Mumbai. She freelances as a Performing Artist and Odissi Dance Instructor.
She established the Kadambari School of Odissi Dance in 2017, with an intention to provide quality training to learners. The school has branches in Bangalore and Chennai.
Under the guidance of Karishma, students of Kadambari School of Odissi Dance have performed at prestigious dance festivals at the District, State and National Levels and have also received awards and recognition at several competitive platforms. The school has a performing unit, ‘The Kadambari Dance Ensemble’, which regularly performs at private, corporate and public events.
Kadambari Utsav is an initiative of the Kadambari School Of Odissi dance, commenced in 2019 with an aim to give impetus to established and upcoming artistes from various Indian classical art forms.
