The evening belonged to the students of Attakkalari, Centre for Movement Arts, who had successfully completed their diploma course. The highlight of the evening was presentation of their performance work for a select audience at the JSS Auditorium. The various pieces showcased the importance of Indian bodily movements through the expression of dance. “Not many parents allow their children to take up dance as a career and this evening is the organisation’s way of thanking the parents for believing in their children’s talent,” said Sujatha Goel, a teacher of Attakkalari.

The ceremony started with a small invocation piece by the Bharatanatyam students. This was followed by three more pieces, allaripu, jathiswaram and thillana, which had a lot of Kalakshetra technique used in its choreography. The evening also included a contemporary dance piece by the members of Community Dance Class. What was really interesting was the fact that the group included both international as well as national students coming from all walks of life.

The first piece performed by them was called Mercury, which was mainly put together by the students themselves. This was followed by a contemporary jazz routine and the jazz ballet on old film music. It was a huge hit among the audience as it took them through the various eras of Indian movies.

The graduating students then created a small memoir of their times together with a mini slide show and a dance piece depicting the various emotions that they shared together as a team.

 As part of their project in the UK, the students had choreographed a short-piece called Swathma which was performed for the first time in the City.

The students also demonstrated some of the basic styles of Kalaripayattu which they learnt as part of their course.

The evening concluded with the graduation certificates being given away by Anmol Vellani, executive director of India Foundation for the Arts.