SRISHTI 2020

Rules of Competition

• 1st place: Rs 5,000
• 2nd place: Rs 3,000
• 3rd place: Rs 2,000

• Bollywood and western music will not be permitted
• Wearing traditional costume is optional.
• No extra points will be given for costume & make-up
• Last date for Registration: 30th November 2020 (Monday)
• Registration Fees: Rs. 100/- per person
• Judges decision will be final.

SRISHTI- 2020: The Experience

“Karmanye Vᾱdhikᾱraste, Mᾱ Phaleśu Kadᾱchana….” – “You have a right to perform your prescribed duty, but you are not entitled to the fruits of your action…”

It was around the beginning of September 2020, when I was just walking down the street back home from a local purchase; a thought suddenly struck me…why not introduce a Classical Dance Competition with a Difference?? A competition for the young, beginner students of Indian Classical Dance who rarely get a platform to showcase their learnings. Having been in the field for more than 35yrs., I do not remember a stage, wherein I saw little students perform the basic steps or Adavus (as they are called); except in the Annual Function of an Institute. So why not??

I furthered this thought by sharing & discussing it with my husband and two of my close friends / students. They were convinced it could be a good initiative and probably the first of its kind. Hence, we proceeded, with further inputs and ideas from my family, friends, teachers, etc. I decided to launch it on Oct. 28^th 2020 – my older niece’s 21^st birthday, who, on Dec. 21^st 2018 decided to join the heavenly angels too early in life. Thus, was launched “SRISHTI – Annual Dance Competition with a Difference”.

Having worked with the Special Children community for over a decade, I included in the competition a separate group for Children with Differential Abilities, wherein they could showcase Indian Classical Dance or Indian Classical Folk dance forms. Unfortunately, due to this lockdown phase, it became difficult even for the schools to contact families of these children individually with regard to the competition. Hence, this part of the competition did not materialise this year.

Anyways, NRITYASAMARPANAM launched SRISHTI as planned on 28^th Oct. 2020. The competition to be held on 19^th & 20^th Dec. 2020. (20^th for the Special Children, that didn’t work out this year). I still wasn’t sure if this would truly happen. Not many know me in this field. I’ve never gone out of the way to advertise myself as a teacher / performer. Will the other teachers trust me to register their students? Everything was in question. But I strongly believe in one thing that our sacred text the Bhagavad Geeta says….. “Karmanye Vᾱdhikᾱraste, Mᾱ Phaleśu Kadᾱchana ….” – “You have a right to perform your prescribed duty, but you are not entitled to the fruits of your action…” With this thought in mind, I proceeded, of course with the help and support of several others.

To my surprise, by the last date of registration – 30^th Nov. 2020, I had 42 registrations in the Classical Dance category. All children between the age group of 7-14yrs. as prescribed in the rules of the competition. I cannot thank the Gurus enough, some known to me, some unknown; who trusted me to register their students. Forever, I’m indebted to them. This included not just students from my hometown Mumbai, but students from other cities and States – Pune, Kerala, Bangalore, etc.

As scheduled, the competition commenced on 19^th Dec. 2020 with my Guru Dr. Malati Agneswaran (Dance Consultant & Choreographer) and Smt. Sangeeta Adith Kumar (Founder – Sangeeta Dance Academy, Chennai) as judges for the Senior (11-14yrs.) and Junior (7-10yrs.) groups respectively. Considering the current pandemic situation, the competition was conducted virtually on Zoom. In spite of a few technical issues, we still managed to keep up to the scheduled time for each group. I would like to attribute this success solely to the judges as well as the participants for strictly adhering to the timings prescribed.

I fail to put into words, the feeling of a day filled with witnessing young students perform Nritta and basic Abhinaya pieces from the conventional repertoire of Indian Classical Dance (mainly Bharata Natyam and Kathak). The effort and effect of dedicated practice was clearly evident in their performances. I extend my heartfelt Congratulations to the winners as well as each and every participant of NRITYASAMARPANAM – SRISHTI (2020)

My gratitude to – Guru Smt. Vidhya Venkateswar – Natanapriya Academy of Dance & Music, Mumbai), Guru Smt. Chitra Warrier (Abhishree Nritya Sadan, Bengaluru), Guru Smt. Shivangi Nirgun (Fine Arts Academy, Mumbai), Guru Smt. Kala Srinivasan (Shanmukha Arts), Guru Smt. Pratibha Jagannathan (Pratigraha Natyalaya), Guru Smt. Rituu Maneek (Ritus Studios Performing Arts Institute), Guru Smt. Neethi Nair (Annapoorna Nrithyodaya, Pune), Guru Smt. Lakshmi Chakyar (SiLa Performing Arts, Kerala), Guru Kum. Devika Venkatasubramanian (Shivaranjani Nrityalayam, Mumbai), Guru Arzoo Raheja (Gems International School, Karnal).

Looking forward to seeing more wonderful performances in the coming year.

Rumya Natraj

Founder – Nrityasamarpanam

DESERVING WINNERS- SRISHTI 2020

Junior Group Winners	Senior Group Winners