The city on Friday saw the inauguration of the three-day All Women World Folk Arts Festival. Pegged as a first of its kind, the arts festival was launched at the Ravindra Kalakshetra by KA Dayananda, director, department of Kannada & culture and actor and classical dancer Lakshmi Gopalaswamy.

Not just a man’s domain:

Setting the evening on an energetic note were folk dance performances by all women groups. This included a Dollu Kunitha performance by M Sujatha Murthy and ensemble and Kaikottikali performance by the Monisha Arts Dance ensemble. “The reason we chose to focus on women’s folk dances is because there’s a stereotypical thought that folk dances and music are a men’s-only arts. By getting all women performers and groups to perform, we hope to dispel this myth,” said Srivatsa, managing trustee of International Arts and Cultural Foundation that’ s organiz ing the festival.

Talking about what’s in store for interested viewers on Saturday, he said, “There’s a workshop on Hejje Kunitha that will be held at the Maharani’s College in the morning. The highlight of the day will be a musical performance in the evening by Gangamma Keshavamurthy at Kalagrama in Malathahalli.She will be presenting a very rare form of folk songs called Hase Hadu – these are wedding songs that are sung by the (Havyaka) community and what’s really unique is that these songs are passed down by word of mouth and have never been recorded. On Sunday, we again have an all-woman’s group that will perform folk music on classical instruments such as the ghatam, morsing and the mrudangam.”

While the festival has just begun, Srivatsa said the dates for the next year have already been set: The festival will be held on January 27, 28, 29, 2017. This is to facilitate easy travelling for international dance groups,” he said.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Bangalore / TNN / January 23rd, 2015