KNMA Dance Festival

Love has many voices.

It is the longing of a lover, the surrender of a devotee, the dedication of a student, the imagination of a poet, the call of a song. Across India, love in its many forms has been inseparable from dance, music, poetry and mythology, expressed through various languages and traditions.

The KNMA Dance Festival curated by Leela Samson brings together senior and emerging artists across classical, folk and ritual forms, featuring specially commissioned works that bring artists of different styles together in new explorations. Through movement, rhythm, gesture, language and narrative, the four-day festival brings to the stage the many ways in which we are called to love.

Day 1 of the KNMA Dance Festival opens with an evening of rhythm, desire and divine love. Beginning with Chenda Melam, a vibrant traditional percussion ensemble from Kerala, the programme continues with Anaṅga Raṅga, a celebration of love in its many forms across languages and dance traditions by some of the most eminent dancers of the country, and concludes with Ānanda-līlā, a Maharaas presentation exploring the sacred dance of Krishna and the Gopis.

Day 2 of the KNMA Dance Festival brings together stories of devotion, romance and spiritual transformation. The evening is unveiled by Śubhārambha, an excerpt from the Manipuri Sankirtana tradition. The programme continues with three performances – Śṛṅgāra-mañjarī, inspired by the timeless story of Nala and Damayanti, Prema Darpaṇa, drawn from Aśvaghoṣa’s Saundarānanda-kāvya, and Anurāgam, a presentation that celebrates love as the rasa from which all emotions emerge.

Day 3 of the KNMA Dance Festival explores love through friendship, romance, devotion and longing. The programme includes Kādal, an excerpt from Subhadrā-kalyāṅam, which reflects on sibling bonds, friendship and romantic love; Milan, a choreographic interpretation of the life and poetry of the nineteenth-century Punjabi mystic Piro; and Anurākti, a contemporary work inspired by Akka Mahadevi’s vachana that contemplates a love beyond worldly attachment.

The final day of the KNMA Dance Festival turns towards devotion, surrender and transcendence. The evening features 4 performances – Bhakti, a presentation of Kathivanoor Veeran Theyyam rooted in a legendary love story from Kerala; Praṇidhāna, based on Sant Janabai’s devotion to Lord Panduranga; Raṅg Rūḥānī, which explores the relationship between Amir Khusrau and Nizamuddin Auliya; and Basanta Anurāga, a celebration of Krishna through the moods of spring, love, longing and enchantment.