Inside the small snow globe that is Buffalo, the upcoming Triveni festival will attempt to broaden the scope of cultural knowledge. In other words, knowledge beyond plows and power outages.
Alka Moudgil, a public relations representative for Triveni, has a substantial reason to take pride in the festival, which promises to bring to light an important facet of Indian culture.
"This is not just a dance festival but an important part of Indian culture, one that people here know very little about," Moudgil said.
The show takes place all day at the Center for the Arts this Saturday. There will be a morning seminar from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., with an evening performance at 7:30 p.m.
The performance will contain five different traditional Indian dance styles: Bharata Natyam, Kuchipudi, Odissi and Kathak.
According to Moudgil, these art forms involve a life long study; they are something that the dancers must start learning as small children and will go on studying for the rest of their lives.
"The interesting thing about these dancers, though, is that they are all successful in other areas as well," Moudgil said.
"Dancing teaches the discipline of India, it is a part of our culture and religion, it shows all aspects of life," Mougil said, a dedicated dancer herself.
The Bharata Natyam portion of the performance will be danced by Lata Pada, a choreographer, dancer and teacher, who has performed all over the world.
Next up is Kamala Reddy, who is an expert at Kuchipudi. She even established her own school for Indian dance in Pittsburgh, to scatter her talent to other areas of the world.
Niharika Mohanty will be performing Odissi, a beautiful and intricate dance. Mohanty has been sharing her gift throughout all of North America, organizing festivals and performances.
Organizing events is a completely different field than the study of the dance, she said. Balancing both ends of the entertainment business puts a great deal of pressure on the dancers, and the pressure to be almost perfect is something that Sudeshna Maulik has tolerated since age seven.
The performer of Kathak dance, Maulik has her degree in the art form, and has studied with some of the most prominent teachers in India.
All of the dancers believe in the importance of this event as a way to break down barriers and dismantle stereotypes given to the Indian people.
"(The Classical Indian Dance Festival) is a way to escape from where you are and what you're doing and take a trip to India," Moudgil said.
