Lalit Arpan Festival brings together theatre and music

Based on the spirit of plurality, the 16th edition of Lalit Arpan will bring theatrical elements for the first time to the festival with Dastangoi and musical play performances.
Beginning today, Lalit Arpan festival will be held at Stein Auditorium, India Habitat Centre here for two days.
The festival will see several well-known national and international artistes like Bharatnatyam dancer Radha Anjali, Kathak dancer Sanchita Abrol, and tabla and pakhawaj artistes Gangani Parivar.
Along with the classical performers, for the first time, the festival will also host "Dastan Goi" by Sunil Mehra and Askari Naqvi, musical play "Zafar: Ek Shayer-Ek Badshah" by Zakia Zaheer, Syeda Hameed and Rene Singh on the second day.

"This year's festival exemplifies the spirit of Indian philosophy which, in the field of arts, is visibly practiced. Therefore, it is a tribute to the spirit of plurality that is exemplified in the Vedic verse 'ekam sat viprah bahuda vadanti'.
"It is from here that the festival is dedicated as an 'Ode to Bahuda'. We were having the theatrical element for the first time with classical theatrical genre of Dastangoi and a musical play, in addition to classical dance and music," Shovana Narayan, famous Kathak dancer and organiser of the event, said.

The festival will open with a Bharatnatyam performance, based on Hindu mythological text Mahabharata, by a team led by dancer Radha Anjali.

"In my dance performance I will embody Shantanu and Ganga, Yudhisthira, Draupadi and Krishna. My dance group will take the part of Shakuni, Indra and Yama. Quite a lot of different personalities but we enjoy the characters, their feelings and emotions though it is quite challenging too.
"Telling of the story as well as projections of movies and images are also used as a part of performance. Though the Mahabharata is an old epic it has relevance today: Nature is cursed, women are fitting for their rights, war is on. Each story has a connection to today's world," she said.