3 Indian Performing Arts Festivals to look forward to in 2017

1. Ragasthan Music Festival

What: Ragasthan is a three-day desert camping music festival held in Rajasthan, India. The festival provides an experience of camping in the deserts of Jaisalmer, combined with multiple genres of music played on four stages, film, art, photography and various outdoor activities such as paintball, sand-surfing and zorbing. Music on the four main stages runs concurrently: the Morio stage features artists and acts from the pop, rock and alternative rock genre; the Ammara stage features electronic and dub-step music; the Olun stage features world music, fusion, folk and classical musicians; and the Open Mic stage features singer-songwriter bands and artists.

Where: Khurdi, Jaisalmer, Rajasthan

When: November

www.ragasthan.com

2. NCPA Centrestage

What: Sarted in 2010, the Centrestage Festival is a one-of- a-kind 10-day theatre event that showcases premiering plays in four languages. Accompanying the main programme are anciliary events like workshops, outdoor performances and films. The first edition of the Festival had 12 plays and the second edition has 15, including two international productions. In year three, there were 16 plays, including two international productions. This Festival is now the focal point of theatre activity in Mumbai, when new and established groups write and design plays for Centrestage. Several of the plays that premiered at this Festival went on to win awards, get invited to other prestigious festivals and launched successful careers. Plays like Akvarious’s The Interview and Baghdad Wedding, Aarambh’s Aaj Rang Hai and Preth, Aasakta’s Tichi 17 Prakarne, Samanvay’s Punashcha Honeymoon, Orchid Room Experiment’s Bombay Talkies, Dharmendra Gohil Productions’ Meera and Black Out, Awishkar’s Bayaa Daar Ughad and have been winning rave reviews and awards.

Where: Mumbai, India

When: November/December

www.ncpamumbai.com/festival/ncpa-centrestage

3. Soorya Dance Festival

What: Soorya Dance Festival is a portrayal of cultural heritage of the region as well as of India. This festival is prearranged by Soorya Stage and Film Society, one of the largest cultural societies in Asia. The dance festival is matchless in a way as it presents different forms of classical dance like Kathak, Odissi, Manipuri, Bharathanatyam, Kathakali, Kuchipudi and Mohiniyattam. Soorya Dance Festival has gathered popularity among the audience as it also displays classical music renditions, instrumental music as well as jugal bandhi by popular artists. Famous artistes participate in the dance festival. Eminent dancers and musicians from all over India participate in this festival. The audience can witness the performances by Padma Subramaniam, Alarmel Valli, Chitra Viswesvaran, Lakshmi Gopalaswami, Rajendra-Nirupama and musicians such as Ustad Allah Rakha, Amjad Ali Khan, Bismillah Khan, Zakir Husain, Balamuralikrishna, Bhimsen Joshi. The artists have graced the festival and thus the Soorya Dance Festival achieved success as among the best few. Another dance and music festival is also organized which is considered among the Soorya Dance Festival. It is also held in November every year to find out young talents. This festival aims at artistes paying tribute to their Gurus.

Where: Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India

When: October

www.sooryaindia.com

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