29th April- launch of Odissi and Chhau dancer Ileana Citaristi’s autobiography- “My Journey: A Tale of Two Births” followed by a discussion with Dr. Kapila Vatsyayan, Leela Venkataraman and the author. Illeana concluded the evening with a brief recital. Chief Guest - Shri Jawhar Sircar, CEO Prasar Bharti. World Dance Day event at IIC
30th April- Pt. Birju Maharaj presented the Award for Life Time Contribution to the Arts to Smt. Kamalini Dutt. A Bharat Natyam dancer herself, a tragic accident in which she was burnt, suddenly ended her performance career, but she joined Doordarshan and using her understanding of dance, created a large body of work that depicts rare sensitivity and beauty in dance. All dancers vied to be recorded by her, for they understood that the digital footprint will be the only way that they would be remembered after they had gone. Most of the quality programmes that were created and are today preserved in the Archives of Doordarshan, by far the largest archive on Indian dance in the world, have been made by her. Towards the end of her time in Doordarshan she helped revitalize the Archives Section with a vision for the future, and made it a profit centre. Now retired, she continues to mentor dancers with her fine knowledge of the shastras, poetry and ancient texts. The award was followed by film Critic and former Arts editor of Times of India, Ratnottama Sengupta delivering an illustrated talk on “From Meneka to Mallika: Dance in Indian Films”.