For the fourth edition of this rich cultural festival, Mandala Arts and culture is proud to present India’s odissi premiere danseuse Sujata Mohapatra, daughter-in-law of the “legendary” pioneer and master of the odissi classical dance style, Padma Vibushan guru Kelucharan Mohapatra. Sujata will also be offering an odissi master class. The festival will kick off with a bharata natyam double-bill featuring two of the best bharata natyam dancers of their generation: female dancer Navia Natarajan, and male dancer Bhavajan Kumar. Aside from their brilliant techniques, these two dancers bring a fresh, new approach to their bharata natyam presentation. For the festival’s upcoming youth dance series, the north Indian kathak dance style will be showcased with Parul Gupta from Toronto, and the Nritya Manjari kathak dancers from Vancouver.

MANDALA ARTS AND CULTURE is a Vancouver Based Company dedicated to producing, developing and presenting the classical dance forms of India, supporting the artistic vision of director Jai Govinda. Mandala equally exist to create a legacy of excellence for bharata natyam by training students through the Jai Govinda Dance Academy, by giving them a platform to perform, share and possibly train other students.

Mandala encourages and provides opportunities for the presentation and reinterpretation of the traditional forms into contemporary context. It also encourages and provides opportunities for local, national and international collaborations and exchanges. It is committed to introducing the dance forms to diverse audiences by taking the complex and nuanced forms of dance and making them accessible through presentations, workshops, lecture and demonstrations.

This festival is made possible with the generous support of The BC Arts Council, The City of Vancouver, Vancouver Foundation, BC Gaming, Hamber Foundation, Banyen Books & Sound and the Georgia Straight. We sincerely thank them for their continued support.

Our fourth festival is one not to be missed and features a broad range of three classical dance styles and performances and workshops by international, national and local artists. All the events will be held at the Scotiabank Dance Centre.