Classical dance has developed into a type of dance-drama that is a form of a total theatre. Most of the classical dances enact stories from Hindu mythology. Indian classical dance is an umbrella term for various codified art forms rooted in sacred Hindu musical theatre styles whose theory can be traced back to the Natya Shastra of Bharat Muni. The Natyashastra lays down two aspects of dance, Nritta which means pure dance and Nritya, which is the interpretative dance form.

The students of our University’s main campus and some from other colleges too, got lucky on Friday, the 13th of February, 2015 when they got the opportunity to witness the extravagance of the elaborate and exquisite dance forms of the Indian heritage. On the second day of the Prelims for Anugoonj, the annual cultural fest of GGSIPU, auditions for the Classical Dance, Solo category, were held in the C-Block Seminar Hall. Amidst many spectators and dance enthusiasts, a total of 3 contestants from Zone-1, auditioned for the event. The event witnessed the presence of personalities like Guru Shri Radha Mohan, who has mastered the art of Mohiniattam from renowned Guru Kalamandalam Kalyani Kutti Amma and Bharatnatyam from Guru Govinda Rajan, and has performed in many countries like Greece, Germany, U.S.S.R, New Zealand, Australia and Japan. Talking about the contention, the two external judges and one internal judge evaluated the performances on the basis of rhythm, formations, synchronisation, expression, costumes, make-up, sets and the overall effects their performances had on them. The participants were allowed to have 3 accompanists and the time limit for them to perform was 6+2 minutes. Bollywood music was not allowed. The event was anchored by a student of Vivekanand Institute of Professional Studies, which is an affiliated college of IPU.

The winner of the competition was Ms. Divyapriya. She had performed Bharatnatyam on Carnatic music. The runner up, Avinesh Verma was accompanied by Akshat on Tabla and performed Kathak on a music piece and Tatkar too. Since, Bharatnatyam is a dance deeply rooted in Bhakti, Divyapriya, in her depiction, told the story of Radha who is drawn towards the sound of Krishna’s flute and is searching for him in the woods. All the creatures and animals are mesmerized by his flute and are busy in their own worlds, weaving their own intricacies. All the participants described some kind of a mythological story through their dance forms.