Daniel Phoenix SinghThis past Saturday, the Dakshina/Daniel Phoenix Singh Dance Company launched its 7th Annual Fall Festival of Indian Arts. That date, October 2, is the anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi’s birth, and Dakshina celebrated the occasion with a poetry reading from local spoken word artist, Gowri Koneswaran, and a classical Indian recital from sitarist Alif Laila. The festival continues this weekend, with two nights of dance on Friday and Saturday at U Street’s historic Lincoln Theatre. The shows will feature performances by Daniel Phoenix Singh’s troupe, as well as guest appearances from Mallika Sarabhai and Anita Ratnam, both renowned and award winning artists in the world of Indian dance.
“They are all amazing artists, but what I particularly like about them is that they produce relevant art,” said Singh of this year’s guest performers. “Instead of art for art’s sake, they connect and speak to the communities.”
Singh, who is Dakshina’s President and Artistic Director, curates each year’s festival himself. To his, and his team’s credit, a majority of dancers performing at the Kennedy Center‘s maximum INDIA festival in 2011 — a month long celebration of arts from the Subcontinent — have already performed in the District as part of the Fall Festival of Indian Arts. The ability to find multifaceted artists is one major reason why Dakshina’s festival maintains its vitality.
“I personally attend the dance festivals in India each year to look at the performances before I curate each festival,” Singh explained. “Keeping a finger on the pulse is what helps us keep our festival fresh and alive.”
