Kathak brings Curtains Down on Old Fort Dance Festival

New Delhi, Oct 12, 2015:  After five days of breathtakingly beautiful performances showcasing India’s most loved classical dance forms, the Old Fort Dance Festival ended today with a memorable performance by legendary Kathak exponent Pandit Birju Maharaj, and his group of dancers.

One of the most noted exponents of Kathak, Pandit Birju Maharaj has received numerous accolades over the years including Padma Vibhushan, Sangeet Natak Academi Award and the prestigious Kalidas Samman.

Presented by the Sahitya Kala Parishad & Department of Art, Culture & Languages, Government of Delhi, the Old Fort Dance Festival was loved and enjoyed by the people of Delhi who turned up in large numbers to witness the performances.

Over five days, the audience of dance lovers in the capital witnessed brilliantly choreographed performances in Mohiniyattam, Bharatnatyam, Kuchipudi, Odishi and Kathak, with the majestic ruins of Delhi’s Purana Qila providing a fine ambience to this unique festival celebrating India’s classical dance forms.

“The repertoire of Indian classical dances represents centuries of culture and tradition that has been preserved and sustained by generations of devoted exponents and earnest artists. Across the globe, Indian classical dance forms are appreciated and loved by dance lovers. Such festivals help extend the reach of classical dance forms to not just connoisseurs of dance but also to common people,” says Pandit Birju Maharaj.

On the sidelines of the festival, critically acclaimed artist Manav Gupta displayed his latest installation – a waterfront of Ganga made out of chilams and diyas which are elements of nature. He has been working since long to create public art sculptures that generate concern towards sustainability. “This innovative art practice with potter’s clay (chilams and diyas) represents the tool as a means of getting intoxicated with the rain of love and also explores sustainable development,” said Mr. Gupta.

The five-day festival of choreographies in classical dance forms saw participation from legendary dance artists and their groups in multiple dance forms including Kuchipudi exponents Bharati Shivaji, Raja and Radha Reddy; veteran Odissi exponent and Padma Shri Madhvi Mudgal; Bharati Shivaji & Group who performed Mohiniyattam; and noted Bharatnatyam exponent Leela Samson and her group.

“The idea behind the Old Delhi Dance Festival to juxtapose cultural heritage with structural heritage was a wonderful concept. The Purana Qila presents a poignant background to the performance of India’s most notable classical dance forms, some of whom originated centuries back in ancient and medieval times,” says Ms Leela Samson.

Read the rest of this entry

A ‘hand-full’ of beauty: At this year’s Dandiya nights, make your hennaed hands the most striking

Dr Ranjan Upadhyaya, Dermatologist, Desmoderm skin clinic, Delhi
It is a centuries-old tradition of decking up your hands with patterns of deftly crafted artistic designs but it never fails to excite.

The sight of a henna cone is always attractive for a woman and festivals are just the right excuse to display your beautifully patterned hands.

While you do everything to make sure your henna color turns out to be the darkest -- applying clove oil and lemon –what about the hands themselves?

Why not make your hands the most beautiful part of your body before colored patterns leave them all the more striking.

Mostly for women, their face their only skincare focus with all their beauty regimen revolving around it.

No wonder, hands often become the most prominent giveaways when it comes to betraying your age or displaying the damage caused on skin due to daily wear and tear.

The hands are parts of the body that we expose to a lot of wear and tear, by frequent use of soap & detergents and exposing to sun light.

These stresses contribute to skin dryness when the natural fat in the skin barrier is diminished. And while we take care of the needs of our face, we only seldom extend our regimen to the hands.

This year, as you gear up to celebrate Navratri, get all decked up in a lehnga- chunni with henna on your palms, and dance to the tunes of Garba and Dandiya, make sure your hands look beautiful like never before. A session with Restylane Vital skinboosters can give perfect beauty radiance to your hands.

“Women often come to us expressing displeasure at the way their hands look. Even when their faces are radiant as ever, their hands would look dull, pale and wrinkled with veins protruding out. While a regular regime of manicure would be needed every two months and would consume time, a brief session with Restylane Vital skinboosters would give wonderful results, replenishing the lost beauty of the hands from within. What more, the impact of the procedure lasts for almost a year.

Using microinjections, stabilized hyaluronic acid is implanted into the outer layers of the skin and works naturally to hydrate the skin from within.

Restylane Vital Skinboosters is a new age therapy that moisturizes the skin from within and replenished the lost reserves of moisture as hyaluronic acid is a hydrophilic substance that attracts water and helps retain moisture into the skin.

This not only makes the hands look younger, but also more beautiful and bright. It diminishes appearance of veins, improves skin tone and luster, restores hydrobalance and increases skin elasticity.

Experts say men and women often ignore their hands and neck, when it comes to their beauty regimes. Often we even fail to follow the basic minimum routine of moisturizer and sunscreen when it comes to hands.

The skin on the back of your hands is different from the skin in the palm of your hands. There are no hair follicles in the palm of your hands and the skin is thicker, which makes the skin on the underside more resistant to wear and tear. However, this is not so for the back of the hands, which start looking aged and wrinkled earlier.

“As the trend of looking young and beautiful spreads, women today are inarguably becoming more concerned about their hands. Some are extremely particular about ensuring regular manicure routines to push the signs of ageing, others are open to cosmetic procedures to reverse the signs. Unlike the face, making hands look younger is more difficult given the thinness of the skin at the back of the hands. However, a session with Restylane Vital can drastically change the way your hands look. Especially when you are preparing to flaunt a beautiful finger ring or henna.

When used on the face, Restylane Vital can bring your lost glow back and give your skin a perfect hydrated look. The loss of hyaluronic acid is one of the most important causes of wear and tear and lack of elasticity that our skin shows. Once replenished into the skin, it works just the way it would work naturally to bring glow and radiance back to your face.

Read the rest of this entry

Abhishek Sinha wins Boogie Woogie Kids Championship

The show that enthralled viewers across the country and created a fresh dance legacy, a journey which started with 16 contestants who came from across India has now come to an end as India’s original dance show gets its next big dancing sensation.

After three months of rigorous competition and hard work, Jamshedpur’s Abhishek Sinha was crowned the winner byone and only Amitabh Bachchan himself.

The finale was a visual spectacle of sorts with JackkyBhagnani, VarunDhawan, NargisFakhri, Ileana D’çruz, Anu Malik and ShreyasTalpade setting the stage on fire with their scintillating performances.

The Boogie Woogie Kids Champion, Abhishek Sinha, received the coveted Boogie Woogie winner’s trophy along with a cheque of Rs. 1 lakh sponsored by Horlicks and grand prize money of Rs. 10 lakhs by Sony Entertainment Television.
 
The grand finale saw the homecoming of the most loved contestants of the season Urgen, Preetjyot, Bebechanaand Harmi who entertained the viewers with special performances along with electrifying performances by judgeJaavedJaaferi and host Sargun Mehta.

Ecstatic and overwhelmed with his win, Abhishek Sinha said, “I still can’t believe that I won the coveted trophy. It still seems like a dream.

I am thrilled at having been chosen the Boogie Woogie Kids Champion. All I can say is a big heartfelt thank you to the judges and the choreographers for loving me and helping me achieve my dream."

Read the rest of this entry

Star studded Boogie Woogie finale

The Grand finale of Boogie Woogie is going to be a star studded affair with Bollywood big wigs making an appearance on the show.

To start with, shehanshah of bollywood Amitabh Bachchan will amplify the grandeur of the occasion with his enigmatic persona. The legendary actor will shake a leg with the Top 5 dancing sensations on a medley of his hit songs. Big B will also be seen on the show promoting his movie Bhootnath returns. He will also announce the winner of Boogie Woogie Kids Championship.

The entertainment doesn’t stop here! Main Tera Hero stars Varun Dhawan, Ileana D’cruz and Nargis Fakhri will also make an appearance on the show and will be enthralled to see the adrenaline pumping performances. He will also match steps with the contestants on his hit number ‘Palat’.

Shreyas Talpade, Jaccky Bhagnani and Anu Malik will also take the entertainment quotient of the finale to a notch higher with their scintillating performances.

Get ready for a star studded finale of Boogie Woogie this Sunday, March 30, 8:30pm only on Sony Entertainment Television

Read the rest of this entry