A performance by Odissi exponent Sharmila Biswas. Picture by UB Photos

Feb. 11: It promises to be a treat for the connoisseurs of classical dance. The four-day Festival of Dance, christened Nritya Sangam, will be held at the Pragjyoti ITA complex from tomorrow. All the eight major Indian dance forms will be performed there.

Being organised by the Sangeet Natak Akademi for the first time in the city, the dance forms that will be performed include Bharatnatyam, Odissi, Mohiniattam, Kuchipudi, Sattriya, Manipuri, Kathak and Kathakali.

Sonal Mansingh, chairperson of the Akademi and a Padma Vibhusan recipient, will inaugurate the festival.

Assam governor Lt Gen. (retd) Ajay Singh will grace the occasion as chief guest with Krishna Singh, the guest of honour. Entry to the festival is free.

?The festival is significant as local dancers will get a chance to witness all the dance forms. Otherwise, we have to watch television,? said Sattriya dance exponent Sharodi Saikia. The dancers include Urmila Sathyanarayana of Chennai, who will perform Bharatanatyam, Kalamandalam Kshemavathy of Trissur who will perform Mohiniattam, Sharodi Saikia herself, who will perform Sattriya, while Prerana Shrimali will perform Kathak.

The other exponents include Aruna Mohanty of Bhubaneswar (Odissi), Jaya Rama Rao and Vanashree Rao (Kuchipudi), W. Lokendrajit Singh, P. Lakshmi Devi and N. Amusana Devi (Manipuri) and Sadanam Balakrishnan (Kathakali).

?We hope to host similar festivals in the future. These would be an eye-opener for budding dancers here as they will get to know the changes taking place in the technical aspects of various major Indian dance forms,? Saikia added.

The city-based Sangeeta Nritya Akademi has organised a series of Odissi dances for budding artistes on the same day. The occasion is its 15th annual day celebrations and the venue is the District Library auditorium.

Children of age groups five to 18 will perform eight items of Odissi dance.

Sangeeta Hazarika, who is in charge of the Akademi, said this is an annual programme where the students get an opportunity to perform in front of the audience.

?This is a sort of examination for the students who are undergoing training at the Akademi and an opportunity for them to gain experience,? Hazarika said. Fifty-nine students of the Akademi will perform at the programme.