Dvi Dance Festival - DVI II

 When I saw the invite from Gangadhar to the dance event I was very impressed - the entry pass was priced at 499/- I instantly decided to attend the dance program because there is so much apprehension about pricing dance programs - and we would discuss it in the Arts Management class on pricing strategies, marketing strategies for dance programs. I had to go and buy tickets if nothing else to encourage the idea. (And take another friend along so we could buy more tickets!)

Pritam Das performing 'Marga' 

Dvi is a dance festival conceived and arranged by Sravya, who was Gangadhar's batchmate at the Masters in Performing Arts course, Department of Dance, University of Hyderabad where I taught the Arts Management course. I have been to another of Sravya's events a year or two ago, a workshop by a famous artist and I know Sravya does this job of organising and pricing events well. 

Gangadhar performing 'Lahari'

The second version of Dvi Dance Festival (Dvi II) was on March 2, 2025 at the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan auditorium, Basheerbagh. I just about made it to the event, bought tickets and seated myself. The hall was pretty full which is a tribute to the marketing skills of the organiser. Sravya anchored the show very well, structured it well, kept it simple and kept the artistes and the audiences ahead. 

Two performers were on stage that evening - Pritam Das and Sai Venkata Gangadhar. 

Pritam and Gangadhar

Pritam Das is a Bharatanatyam exponent, an accomplished artist who has performed in various festivals such as Spirit of Youth Festival, HCL Concert Series, Mid Year Dance Festival etc. He is the recipient of awards such as Gutty Vasu Memorial Prize, MN Subramanian Memorial Prize among others. He trained under Smt Rama Vaidyanathan, is a Doordarshan Grade A artist and is empanelled in Spic Macay.

Sai Venkata Gangadhar trained for 16 years under his Guru Smt Sandhya Raju, performed in many dance festivals such as Nritya Pratibha Festival, Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre, in stages across Italy for Diwali last year etc. He has a Masters in Performing Arts degree from the University of Hyderabad. He is much accomplished artist and as Sravya said, one of the most promising artists we have today. His journey is that much more incredible as he overcame a serious illness and came back to give such a robust and rousing performance full of strength, power and grace.   

To begin with, Pritam performed an item called 'Marga' which was about the path to the ultimate, the individual seeking the ultimate truth. Gangadhar then performed an item called 'Lahari' the waves of Kuchipudi, and then they both performed a stunning jugalbandi which deservedly received a standing ovation. I thoroughly enjoyed the evening and am looking for many more such.

I met several of my students at the show - Siva, Seenaiah, Chetaniya, Radhika, Lakshmi, Anju and others. Meeting them was such a nice feeling. More importantly seeing the auditorium fill up with almost 200+ people was brilliant. 

Pritam, Sravya and Gangadhar

I am so happy for Sravya for creating these stages for artistes like her and Pritam and Gangadhar and pulling it off in style. Sravya herself is an accomplished Kuchipudi dancer who trained under Smt Sreelatha Prasad, a CCRT scholarship holder, gold medalist at NIFT, Hyderabad, where she studied design, winner of the Nataraja Ramakrishna gold medal at the Master in Performing Arts course and a double JRF scholarship holder among the many achievements of hers. 

I am thrilled to see artists like Sravya creating spaces which are bringing back audiences to watch classical dance and at the same time give artists stages to perform with the right audiences. Sravya managed to bring in a sponsor too and it is wonderful to see how corporate houses are also encouraging arts. Her event management skills are wonderful and she should take up more such events and market them - she is really good at this. Truth is that we do need more such who take it upon themselves to create these spaces instead of depending on others to provide. So big congratulations to you Sravya.     

Here's wishing Dvi Dance Festival many more wonderful programs to come in the future and wishing Sravya, her team, Pritam and Gangadhar all success in their future endeavours. One way to make me attend is to ticket it!