New York's Longest-Running Dance Festival To Mark Indian Independence Day

New York City's longest-running public dance festival will commemorate India's Independence Day on August 15 by hosting an array of cultural performances focusing on the essence of 'Shakti' -- the female divine energy.

The 44th Annual Battery Dance Festival, which brings together diverse dance companies from around the world, will run from August 12-16.

On August 15, marking India's Independence Day, the festival will host 'India Day,' a showcase of 'Shakti - Divine Energy,' a mixed programme featuring dance and cultural performances by global artists, paying homage to the female essence and creativity.

"The last two years we had a very strong focus on 'Purush', male dancers, and this year we have switched it around and we will have a strong focus on 'Shakti, divine energy," Founder and artistic director of Battery Dance, Mr Jonathan Hollander, told PTI in an interview.

The specially curated day will have seven different groups, which will offer their "creative take on the essence of the feminine principle in creativity and in life itself. It's a really important theme for today's world, where there's so much conflict, fracture, and unknowns," Mr Hollander said.

"Mother and the female essence is something that we all can relate to", at times like these, he said.

The India Day Programme is supported through grants from the Consulate General of India in New York and the State Bank of India, New York.  It will feature the Nandanik Dance Troupe from Pittsburgh with choreographer and soloist Mr Subhajit Khush Das from Kolkata in a new production on the Goddess Kali. Other works that will pay tribute to the female essence will be by choreographers Ms Bijayini Satpathy, Ms Maya Kulkarni-Lada Pada, Ms Sonali Skandan, Ms Swathi Gundapuneedi-Atluri, Mr Subhajit Khush Das, Mr Renjith Babu and Ms Malini Srinivasan for dancers and dance companies from Kolkata, Pittsburgh, New Jersey and New York in the styles of Odissi, Bharatanatyam, Kuchipudi, Kathakali, and Mr Uday Shankar.

Emphasising the theme of the 'India Day' performances, Mr Hollander said that on a political and social level, women's rights and respect for women and the way "we all relate to the women in our lives, this is something that can never have too much attention."  With artists from across India and the US coming together for various performances, he underscored that this speaks to the highly skilled and creative Indian Expatriates of the Indian culture in North America.

The Battery Dance Festival is New York City's longest-running free public dance festival, drawing a combined audience of over 12,000 in-person and over 10,000 virtual viewers every year.

"We are all seeking a moment of refreshing ourselves, refreshing our minds," Mr Hollander said, speaking about the message of the festival.

With people consumed with the news every day, many are left wondering, "What is the next crisis or what is the next horror that we're going to see and feel?" he said.

"And when you're sitting at the park, in a community of people that many of whom you don't know, and you are shoulder to shoulder with people of all cultures, ethnicities, ages, I think there's a sense of celebrating human nature and celebrating what we have in common," he added.

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