By Alphonse Mendonsa & Wilfred Barboza - Team Mangalorean

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Abu Dhabi November 25, 2009: Under the patronage of Dr. B.R. Shetty, CEO/MD of NMC Group, Soorya India Festival was held at Abu Dhabi Indian School Auditorium.  It was pure classical music and dance program presented by prominent artists especially arrived from India.

The musical festival began at 8pm, was divided into three sessions namely Laya Shakti (An Instrumental Fusion), Bharatnatyam and finally Kathak.

In the first session-- Laya Shakti, Instrumental Fusion was a thrilling magical music presented by three music gurus  Ustad Rashid Mustafa on Tabla, Prem Kumar on Mridangam, and Ustad Nazir Khan on Sarangi accompanied by Fateh Singh on Phakhawaj who treated the audience with their variation compositional genre. Their performance received a huge round of applause from the audience.

Second Session - Bharatnatyam was presented by Miss. Kirti Ramgopal.  She presented three dances starting with Natesh Kauthuvam (on Lord Nataraja), Varnam in praise of Lord Vishnu & Marathi Abhang (An Abhinaya describing love & quarrel between Radha and Krishna. Bharatnatyam, as the name depicts is the combination of BHA- Bhava (Expression), RA- Raga (Music) and TA- Tala (Rhythm) Bharatnatyam is a traditional dance-form known for its grace, purity, tenderness, and sculpturesque poses.  It also contains three main elements Nritta, Nrithya & Natya.  All these characters and elements were perfectly presented by Miss. Kirti Ramgopal and at the end of each dance received a huge round of applause from audience in appreciation of her splendid performance.

The Third Session - Kathak was presented by Mr. Hari & Miss. Chethana.  The duo presented four items namely Shlokan on Lord Shiva, Teen Taal - an item highlighting pure Kathak Technique, Madhur Madhar - a swati tirunal composition on Radha and Krishna, Ghazal by Mirza Ghalits and finally Jugalbandhi - a rhythmic dialogue between the percussion and Kathak dancers.  All four performances were wonderfully presented as it is a fast footwork dance called 16 beet measures and true to its name the dances were once again magical fast footwork and watched by audience in a spellbound silence. 

Their performances were followed by a felicitation of all artists including the Master, the Guru who created this Soorya Festival none other than Mr. Nataraja Soorya Krishnamoorthy.  The floral bouquettes were presented to them in appreciation of their super performance by Mr. Binoy Shetty and Dr. Neema Shetty.

The event was witnessed by prominent dignitaries including Mr. Binoy Shetty & Dr. Neema Shetty (NMC Group), Mr. Sudhir Kumar Shetty (COO-Global-UAE Exchange Centre) Mr. Sarvotham Shetty (President, Karnataka Sangha Abu Dhabi), Mr. Shekar Shetty (Arab Udupi Group) and Sri-Lankan Embassy Officials and many well wishers and guests.

Soorya a stage and film society the biggest cultural society of the World and also the Best run society in the country which was founded by Nataraja Soorya Krishnamoorthy, has its Chapters in all major countries of the world. Soorya aims at dissemination of the rich Indian Culture and achieving "Integration through Culture". Soorya is now heading towards the 35th year of its dedicated service for the cause of promotion of art and culture.

The Soorya India Festival concluded at about 11pm with a promise of presenting another performance next year to Abu Dhabi audience.

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