Prayag Sangeet Samiti faces shortage of Bharatnatyam, Kuchipudi trainers

ALLAHABAD: Shortage of Bharatnatyam and Kuchipudi trainers had hit Prayag Sangeet Samiti which is finding it difficult to spread the dance form at its branches all over the country.
The authorities of Prayag Sangeet Samiti said that the institute had decided to popularize Bharatnatyam and Kuchipudi dances of south India in North India by imparting training at its branches.
In the first phase, it started imparting training at its headquarters in the city and had for the first time called two artistes from South India to introduce the dances to students.
"As part of the expansion of the horizons of the Samiti, it was decided to introduce the music and dance courses from across the country at all its branches. However, due to scarcity of trainers, we had to limit ourselves to Allahabad," said Aditya Narayan of Prayag Sangeet Samiti.
He said two instructors were invited in the city. Earlier, the city had not a single trained Kuchipudi and Bharatnatyam dancer to provide training to students.
The Samiti is also facing the same problem for Rabindra Sangeet in the Hindi speaking belt. Tagore's had penned down around 2,230 songs, which were later termed as Rabindra Sangeet. PSS is facing hurdles in propagating the dance form, also regarded as cultural treasure of West Bengal as well as neighbouring Bangladesh. The art form is considered to have added a new dimension to the musical concept of India in general and Bengal in particular.
Prayag Sangeet Samiti is a semi-autonomous institute and imparts training in classical songs, dances along with that of western art forms. It awards diplomas and certificates. Its degree and diploma courses in various vocal and instrumental music streams are widely recognized by a number of state governments, universities and educational bodies.