Trust’s Mission

To make Classical dance of India, a popular culture as against the common perception of it being a cultural preference of the elite, through audience outreach and education. We will advocate for the intrinsic value of classical dance and its distinctive capacity to evoke aesthetic and spiritual pleasure, by providing a platform for the dancers and the spectators to come together at various performance and discussion forums. We also aim at including the parallel streams of folk and tribal dances into our fold of activities. We will endeavor to support scholarship in dance through publishing a journal on Indian dance and increase the awareness of the dances of India through magazines for children and interactive website for all who want to know more about dance.

Trust’s Activity

Sahrdaya Arts Trust was conceived as a response to the need expressed by dance scholars and upcoming dancers to initiate a collective participative venture where the artists, the spectators, readers and the patrons together create, preserve and propagate art. The Trust shuns any religious or caste affiliations and believes in one global culture of humanity and arts.

Of the vast array of activities that we plan to undertake in the future, the Sahrdaya Arts Trust has taken up the following tasks with immediate effect:

1. Publishing Nartanam, a quarterly journal on Indian Classical Dances which has completed twelve years of its publication by the Kuchipudi Kala Kendra, Mumbai with partial financial aid from the Central Sangeet Natak Akademi, New Delhi and which has now been taken over by the Sahrdaya Arts Trust in 2011. The journal provides a forum for scholarly dialogue on a broad range of topics concerning Indian dance. Its concerns are theoretical as well as performative. Textual studies, dance criticism, intellectual and interpretative history of Indian dance traditions will be its focus. It also publishes performance reviews and covers all major events in the field of dance in India and note sand comments on dance studies and performances abroad. A team of senior scholars, writers and performers from across the country and abroad and the editorial teams and advisors of Nartanam share the Trust’s vision.
2. Publishing books on Art and Culture
3. Providing a platform for both the talented young artists as well as the maestros to perform at intimate performance spaces to felicitate greater appreciation of classical dance and thus foster a strong bond between the artists, spectators and the patrons of dance.

While the Trust believe in the ability of art to take man to higher echelons of existence we are also sure of its ability to sustain itself. We hope to strive towards the funding of the activities of the Trust not only through the support of the corporate houses but also by motivating the spectators/readers of dance to be a part of the funding of its activities in future. We intend to work towards making the journal a financially self sustainable venture within a span of two years through its wide circulation/ sales, advertisements, etc. We also intend to be a platform to publish important works on art and culture and help scholars publish their works cost effectively.