Fifty Years of Samanvay
- Date
- Saturday
19 September 2026 - Venue
- Chowdiah Memorial Hall
Bengaluru - Capacity
- 1,011 seats
The Double Bill — Satyabhama & Apsara.
Classical dance is not a museum piece, it is a living language. It must grow with society while staying rooted in its grammar.
The Day — 19 September 2026
One Saturday on the Chowdiah stage. A working morning across four classical forms; an evening built around fifty years.
Adavu Jam · Creative Lab
A working studio across four classical traditions and a creative-modern session. Open practice, open audience.
Bharatanatyam — Creative Lab
20 minutes. Practice + open Q&A.
Kuchipudi — Creative Lab
20 minutes. Adavu jam, repertoire fragments.
Yakshagana — Creative Lab
20 minutes. Karnataka classical form in dialogue.
Creative Modern — Lab
20 minutes. Contemporary movement, classical vocabulary.
Youth programmes
Four 20-minute slots from emerging dancers.
- Lunch
- Provided
- Stalls
- 8 partner stalls + photo booth
The Gala
A single evening on the Chowdiah stage — the inauguration and award ceremony, the Satyabhama presentation across four classical forms, and the Apsara closing production.
Gates open
Doors opened for the evening.
Inauguration & Award Ceremony
Lamp lighting, welcome, and the Samanvay 50 honours.
Satyabhama — One Heroine, Four Forms
First half of the double bill. Four nationally renowned artists presented Satyabhama in their own form — Lakshmi Gopalaswamy (Bharatanatyam), Vidha Lal (Kathak), Gopika Varma (Mohiniyattam) and Dr Veena Murthy Vijay (Kuchipudi) — held together by Mysore B. Nagraj as Sutradhar, narrating in English.
Apsara
Second half of the double bill — a Sri Rajarajeshwari Kalaniketan production under Dr Veena Murthy Vijay, opened by a Pushpanjali danced by the MPA students of MLA College. Eleven apsaras trace the celestial dancers’ journey from Devaloka to Bhuloka.
Wrap-up
Scheduled close, around 9:30 PM.
Dance as wellness — older than the conversation.
Kuchipudi tempo as cardiovascular practice. Mohiniyattam breath-work as parasympathetic regulation. Kathak chakkars as vestibular training. Abhinaya as structured affect regulation. India’s classical dance traditions are one of the world’s most rigorously codified systems of embodied training — long before wellness became a category.
Support Samanvay.
Samanvay 50 has taken place. Patronage keeps the work going — the school, the repertoire and the festival.
Patron tiers
Support Samanvay — Patron of Samanvay ₹5,000 · Golden Jubilee Patron ₹10,000. Donations to Sri Rajarajeshwari Kalaniketan carry 80G relief; patrons are acknowledged in the programme with a complimentary invitation.
The programme — 19 September.
Every artist on the bill, morning and evening, as billed on the day.
A celebration of movement, technique and tradition through the lens of adavus.
- Veena Murthy Vijay · Kuchipudi
- Parshwanath Upadhye · Bharatanatyam
- Anuradha Vikranth · Bharatanrityam
- Aayana Dance Company · Indian Contemporary
- Krishnamurthy Thunga · Yakshagana
- Ravali Mylarvapu
Disciple of Kalaimamani Smt. Anitha Guha
- Smt. Shubha Dhananjay
Chairperson of the Karnataka Sangeetha Nrithya Academy - Dr. Pustakam Ramaa
Renowned Carnatic Vocalist and Guru, Sangeet Natak Akademi Awardee
- Smt. Revathi Ramachandran
Director, Nada Gurukulam. Former Director, Kalakshetra Foundation. Acclaimed Bharatanatyam dancer, choreographer and teacher. - Kalaimamani Acharya Smt. Anitha Guha
Bharatanatyam Guru, Choreographer, Founder & Artistic Director, Anitha Guha’s Bharathanjali. - Ganakalashree Dr. Hamsini Nagendra
Renowned Carnatic Vocalist, professor, researcher and author.
A multifaceted portrayal of Queen Satyabhama, exploring layers of her complex persona — from regal pride to tender devotion as Krishna’s cherished queen.
- Lakshmi Gopalaswamy · Bharatanatyam
- Vidha Lal · Kathak
- Gopika Varma · Mohiniyattam
- Veena Murthy Vijay · Kuchipudi
- Mysore B. Nagraj · Sutradhar
A dance feature on the divine journey of the Apsaras from Devaloka to Bhuloka, exploring the purpose, sacrifice and destiny of eleven Apsaras. Were they truly cursed — or were they chosen?
- Shama Krishna as Urvashi & Soma · Kuchipudi
- Ranjitha S as Alambusha · Bharatanatyam
- Rohini Prabhat as Punjikasthalaa · Kathak
- Pallavi Manjunath as Kamya · Bharatanatyam, Aayana Dance Company
- Pratheeksha Kashi as Vishwachi & Menaka · Kuchipudi
- Shubha Chethan as Adrikaa · Bharatanatyam
- Mudra Dhananjay as Budbudha · Kathak
- Vandana Supriya as Harini · Odissi
- Kavya Kashinath as Manohari · Bharatanatyam
Two further roles carry the story: G. Pavan Kumar as Indra, and Suvin Prasad as Narada.
- Kalaimamani, SNA Awardee Smt. Nandini Ramani
Veteran Bharatanatyam Exponent - Padma Bhushan Awardee Sri Shatavadhani Dr. R. Ganesh
Acclaimed Indian scholar and polyglot - Sangeetha Kalacharya Dr. Nagamani Srinath
Central Sangeet Natak Akademi Awardee - SNA Awardee Dr Suma Sudhindra
Renowned Veena Maestro
- Sangeet Natak Akademi Awardee Smt Nirupama & Sri T D Rajendra
Dynamic Kathak duo - Sri Aneish Rajan
Director, Ministry of Culture, Government of India
- Dr Veena Murthy Vijay · Direction (Sangeet Natak Akademi Awardee)
- Pt. Praveen D Rao · Music composition
- Arjun Bharadwaj · Script
- Surya N Rao · Lights and production
- Academy of Music
- Ministry of Culture, Government of India
- Kapsy · Adavu Jam partner
- Narthaki · Online partner
- Vidiem · Home appliance partner
- Geethanjali · Culture partner
- Gampu Dry Fruit Oasis · Gifts partner
- Cocoa Diva Chocolatier · Gifts partner
- Ryan Nathan
AIM Bengaluru
International
Arts Festival.
Dr Veena Murthy Vijay also directs the AIM Bengaluru International Arts Festival — the second annual surface from Samanvay’s house, programming Indian classical alongside international ensembles. Sponsors can partner with Samanvay, AIM, or both.
The team behind 19 September.
- Dr Veena Murthy Vijay · Festival director
- Surya N. Rao · Artistic director & head of multimedia design
- Pratama Prasad · MC
- Rekha Jagadish · Costumes
- Surya S · Admin manager
- Shobha and Nisha BK · Print and design
- Shivu Murthy, Srivathsa Shandilya · Photography
- Satish · Videography
- Mahesh M.C, Sandhya Sharma · Press
- Ananya Studios (Umesh), Prabhath Studios (Ashwin) · Recorded at
- S Murli Perumal · Operations
- Ashwini · Décor
- Srinivas Murthy · Managing Director, Chowdiah Memorial Hall
- Ramakrishna · Coordinator, Chowdiah Memorial Hall
- Vidya · lead
- Sunitha
- Nisha
- Aishwarya
- Ashwinder
- With Shama Krishna
Sharada Pai, Vidita N, Inchara SR, Prarthana, Shrinidhi Nagaraj, Keerthi S, Raksha S - With Rohini Prabhat · students of Abhinava Dance School
Anumathi BN, Saanchi Behere, Vachana M Dev, Ardra Krishna K, Yashaswiny S, Aisiri Hemadri, Dharitri Bhide - With Mudra Dhananjay
Shankari T, Kairavi S, Thampala S, Prarthana Rao, Sahaana V, Jnanavi, Kruthika G
- With Pallavi Manjunath · Aayana Dance Company
Ranjana Rajesh, Samata Revanna, Aswathi G, Amritha Soman - With Shubha Chethan
Anwithaa, Aadhya S, Aarohi, Aadhya Sulochana - With Kavya Kashinath
Sruthi VB, Manasvini GP, Roshini Raja, Moukthika S Pai, Harshada D, Shravani Patil
- With Vandana Supriya
K Jyotirmayee Pattnaik, Sarmistha Jena, Mahima Dash, Ahana Das, Thrisha Gowda, Deekshita Chanagappa, Arpita - The Apsaras of Indra · Pushpanjali and Thillana
Aishwarya Rose V, Likitha UK, Shree Vidya Murthy, Sandya S, Ravali Nageswara, Gnyaneshwari
Ashwinder Singh Bakhshi and Deepti Velury Bakhshi · Kumar Kasetty and Anitha Kasetty · Dr Phaneesh and Smt Jaishree Phaneesh · Dr Kannappa Setty and Suknya · Ryan Nathan · Geetha Sukumaran · Sunitha Venugopal & Venugopal · Sagar and Swetha · Manasa Kanti