Fundraising dance for wisdom

Power-team: The vibrance of two combined dance forms

MAHAMAYA, a combination of bharatanatyam and odissi styles, featuring Datin Seri Umayal Eswaran and Nritta Ganeshi, drew spectacular response from audiences over two days.

Vijayaratnam Foundation, in collaboration with Kalpana Dance Theatre, presented Mahamaya to raise funds for Taarana, a school for children with special learning needs.

Staged at Kompleks Tan Sri Jeffrey Cheah in USJ 1, Subang Jaya, the 120-minute Mahamaya featured two principal dancers renowned in their work of art.

Umayal, who is also chairman of Vijayaratnam Foundation, presented the bharatanatyam performance in her rare, mature and dignified style, while Nritta illuminated the stage with her grace and radiance through the soft and pristine style of odissi.

The audiences were also enthralled by the choreographic works led by P.T. Narendran from Chennai and Leena Mohanty from Orissa.

The full cast and crew of ‘Mahamaya’.

Leading two live orchestras were the world-renowned O.S. Arun and Orissa’s Dheeraj Kumar Mohapatra.

Through the programme, the foundation aimed to gather more generous donors and individuals to help Taarana reach out to children with special educational needs.

Taarana has a reputation for excellence and is an invaluable resource for special needs children due to the level of care and expertise it offers.

However, the school is limited in terms of financial strength to reach out to more children who are in need of special education care.