Unique Performance Melds Classical Bharatnatyam Dance with Japanese Ikebana

To mark its golden jubilee celebrations (1967-2017), the All India Kitchen Garden Association presentedDancer (Padmashri) Geeta Chandran in a unique performance on the theme HEAVEN-EARTH-US. The performance was presented at the Stein Auditorium at the India Habitat Centre on 5 May 2017.

Based on classical principles of Ikebana (the sacred Japanese art of arranging flowers), Geeta Chandran created a thrilling performance that integrated her classical dance with the creation of Ikebana.

Speaking of her latest collaboration with Ohara Masters Indira Mishra and Syama Balbir, Geeta Chandran said that the performance was a coming together of two classical art forms both with strict grammar and a shared understanding of nature.

In her unique dance specially created for the occasion, even as the Ikebana Masters gave the finishing flourishes to their opus arrangement, Geeta's dance soared to the cadence of classical music.

Mrs. Kyoko Jaishankar (wife of the Foreign Secretary of India) felicitated all the artists at the conclusion of the performance.

Bella Gupta, Secretary or the All India Kitchen Garden Association told the house-full audience in New Delhi that the Association had never imagined that such searing beauty was possible in a classical performance.

A polymath artist, Geeta Chandran is celebrated not only for her deep and composite understanding of the art of Bharatanatyam, but also for her Carnatic music (she is a trained and accomplished vocalist), her work in television, video and film, theatre, choreography, dance education, dance activism and dance-issue journalism.

Photo: Sarabjit Singh Dhillon