Coimbatore to host Bharatanatyam dance festival Lil Margazhi

Coimbatore's first Lil Margazhi event for children featuring Bharatanatyam performances, storytelling, and a panel discussion by eminent dance gurus.

It was a meeting that would give Coimbatore its first margazhi event featuring performances by young children. Durgesh Nandhini, a city-based unschooling mother attended Lil Navaratri in October this year with her 11-year-old daughter who is into Bharatanatyam. The two-day event that featured music, stories and dance, paved the way for Durgesh to collaborate with Avanti Natarajan of Lil Trails, that held the event with Aalaap, an initiative for the performing arts. Lil Trails, that was started during the pandemic, has hosted several online story-telling sessions for children, apart from curating other events such as summer camps and theatre-related sessions.

The two women, both mothers of girls interested in the arts, came up with Lil Margazhi, a Bharatanatyam dance festival featuring performances by artistes aged between six and 14. The event will also have a storytelling session by popular actor and storyteller Janaki Sabesh themed on stories around margazhi, and will culminate with a panel discussion with eminent dance gurus.

Lil Margazhi has been tailored specifically for children and is aimed at not just creating a platform for them to perform, but to also create a community that will appreciate and enjoy the arts. Durgesh says that the arts contribute in leaps and bounds for a child’s growth. “I can see that the connection between the mind and body in my daughter has grown exponentially,” she says, adding how her daughter spends time in picking the right kind of food that will prepare her physically before her dance class, apart from meditating for a few minutes to prepare herself mentally as well.

“For a sense of music and rhythm, she is now learning music, nattuvangam… I can see how she is sculpting herself because of her involvement in Bharatanatyam,” she says, adding that she hence wants to promote art and culture to aid in overall human excellence. “This cannot be done alone; it needs a community,” she adds. Avanti says that her involvement in the arts as a child gave her a sense of discipline, and the ability to multi-task. “If we inculcate a love for this in children at a young age, they will benefit a lot from it, and we will also be doing our bit to keep the cycle of culture and heritage running,” she adds.

While the inaugural edition of the event will feature only Bharatanatyam performances, Avanti hopes that their future sessions will feature other art forms as well, such as vocals, instrumental, and perhaps painting.

Lil Margazhi is at Kumaraguru Institutions on January 5, 10am to 12. It is open to all.