Legendary Indian dancer in Uganda for classical Indian dance festival

Lakshmi Parthasarathy Athreya, a renowned Indian dancer will grace the debut Bharathnatyan classical Dance Festival in Uganda.

Athreya who jetted into the country last evening with a team of five performers, is set to perform to an audience comprising mainly members of the Indian community in Ugandan at the two-day event starting 7:00pm at the Kampala Parents School auditorium in Naguru, Kampala.

Ruhakana Rugunda, the Prime Minister of Uganda, is expected as chief guest, alongside the Indian High commissioner, among other dignitaries from government and the Indian community.

The dance festival is organized by Tamil Sangam Uganda in association with the High Commission of India and Indian Council for Cultural Relations.

 
Meerasa Saleem, the chairman of Tamil Sangam Uganda, the host of the festival, says that Athreya has been brought in because her famed aptitude for the Bharathnatyam classical dance and to showcase this cherished culture from Southern India to the Ugandan community.

"She is legendary. We expect her and the team to put on a thrilling show for the over 400 guests at the dinner," Saleem says of the artist who has performed since 1984.

Traditionally, Bharathnatyam has been a solo dance that was performed exclusively by women, and expressed Hindu religious themes and spiritual ideas.

After tonight's show, the troupe will proceed to Kakira Auditorium in Jinja to stage their second show tomorrow.