This two-day Indian dance festival features a worthy list of performers of classical forms including kathak, bharata natyam, and mohiniyattam. The lineup on Aug. 15 spotlights one of the top bharata-natyam dancer-choreographers working today, the dramatically acute Rama Vaidyanathan. A younger generation is represented by Rahul Acharya, a young male dancer specializing in kathak, a rhythmically complex form from the north, and Vijayalakshmi, a dynamic performer who is expanding the range of mohiniyattam, which originated in the coastal region of Kerala. Both Acharya and Vijayalakshmi perform again the following evening at La Mama, along with a U.K.-based dancer, Kamala Devam, who merges modern dance and bharata natyam, and a local bharata-natyam ensemble, Malini Srinivasan and Dancers. See iaac.us for details. |