Dancer and MP Sonal Mansingh curates a 5-day dance festival

MP Sonal Mansingh with K Mahesh, Secy, Art, Culture & Language, Delhi (Photo: PR handout)

Bharatanatyam exponent and Rajya Sabha MP Sonal Mansingh, who heads Delhi-based Centre for Indian Classical Dances (CICD), will present Festival of New Choreographies – KalaYatra 2026 next week, offering a rare opportunity for people in Delhi to experience India’s choreographic traditions and how they continue to speak to the present while honouring their sacred roots. The five-day festival will present 10 new choreographies by eminent dance institutions from across India at Kamani Auditorium between January 13 and 29.

“Festival of New Choreographies is not merely a cultural event, it is a civilisational dialogue,” said Mansingh at the press conference held at the India International Centre on Wednesday. “The dancer’s body is their medium. One must immerse one’s medium to nurture and further one’s craft. One’s kala is the only instrument that fills one with positivity. This madness is what keeps us going. We shall continue on this journey of innovation and creation each year,” she added.

The festival will bring together diverse classical dance traditions from Kathakali and Yakshagana to Bharatanatyam, Sattriya and Odissi to Kuchipudi under Mansingh’s artistic vision.

The opening day will feature Amrut-Manthan, the magnum opus of CICD repertory artists, exploring the cosmic churning for nectar, alongside Athijeevanam, a Kathakali presentation on environmental preservation by Guru TB Jagadeesan.

Amrut Manthan (Photo: PR handout)

The festival will feature Girija Kalyana — rooted in the Yakshagana legacy, the centuries-old dance drama tradition of Karnataka, besides presentation of Mahabharata through multiple lenses, including Karna: Bound by Fate, a Bharatanatyam piece; Duryodhana in Odissi, and Chakravyuha featuring martial art styles Mayurbhanj Chhau and Kalarippayattu. The Ramayana will find expression in the Sattriya presentation titled Sita Bibaha Bihar, while Saugandhikaharanam explores Bheema’s encounter with Hanuman.

In a progressive curatorial choice, the festival concludes with Matrika by Rainbow Dance Troupe, India’s all-LGBTQ+ professional ensemble, directed by Ratri Das. The piece reimagines the feminine divine that defeated the demon Mahisasur.

The curtain raiser witnessed the presence of several eminent Indian classical dancers, including Shri Babu Panicker, Chairman of the International Centre for Kathakali, and Sangeet Natak Akademi awardees Vanashree Rao and Deepti Omchery, Kathak exponent Bhaswati Mishra, and Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar recipient Shri Bhabananda Barbayan.

The showcase is also accompanied by a visual display at Kamani’s foyer, documenting CICD’s almost five-decade-journey since it was founded in 1977. Founded by Mansingh, CICD has inspired and trained students with an emphasis on holistic education.