Our Flagship festivals
Guru Pranam Utsav
Vaishali Kala Kendra has been organising Guru Pranam Utsav for the last 30 years in memory of great Guru Srinath Raut, who dedicated his life proliferating the importance of Odissi as a cultural dance form across India and beyond. Guru Srinath Raut was Jyoti Shrivastava’s first Odissi teacher. Though Guru Srinath Raut left this world 30 years ago, he lives through the work of his students and the affectionate memories cherished by the dance community. His immense dedication towards Odissi and his quest to spread it across in its purest form brought him to Delhi in the early seventies. Guru
Durga Charan Ranbir has been the guiding force for Vaishali after him. Guru Pranam Utsav had presented many eminent artists like Sonal Man Singh, Ramli Ibrahim, Deepti Omcheri Bhalla, Kavita Dwivedi, Aruna Mohanty etc. This festival has the distinction of honouring Oriya Musicians (classical). Odissi music is not yet recognised as a classical art form and we have been struggling to prove it otherwise and establish Oriya music as one of the Indian classical music forms.
Nritya Pravaha
Nritya Pravah was conceptualized to nurture the creativity of budding Odissi dancers. This festival gives the students of Vaishali the freedom to conceptualize and present choreographies across subjects which interest and enrich students, aspirants of arts as well as rasikas (the audiences). This is also a platform for emerging Odissi artists to exhibit their skills and create their own niche and thus creating next generation torchbearers of cultural heritage and traditions of Odissi dance.
Ek Prayaas
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on the performing arts, mirroring its impacts across all arts sectors. Ek Prayaas is our initiative to keep the spirit alive and to provide apoortunities for the young generation to learn about different sections of dance life like aesthetics of dance, art of dance photography and cinematography, Nritya yog, wear and tear from physiotherapists perspective.
