Bharatnatyam, Rabindra Sangeet find many takers in Sangam city

Allahabad: South-India classical dance form Bharatnatyam and West Bengal's Rabindra Sangeet are fast catching the fancy of young boys in Sangam city and surpassing the popularity of even Kathak, the dance form originating from Uttar Pradesh.
The prestigious dance and music training institution Prayag Sangeet Samiti is enrolling a higher number of teenagers to training in classical dance and vocal music this year.The Bharatnatyam batch, which was introduced three years ago, has 40% boys while Kathak has 60% boys of the 200 students at its three branches in PSS South Malaka, PSS Jhunsi and Naini.
Rabindra Sangeet written and composed by Rabindranath Tagore has witnessed an unprecedented rise in popularity among UP patrons and students of performing arts. This year, 20 out of 60 students training in Rabindra Sangeet are non-Bengalis. One of the faculties Shantiniketan, Suman Roy welcomed the emerging trend. "It is different from how it is in West Bengal where guardians come to me to make their children fit to take part intelevision dance shows but here teenagers, especially boys are keen to learn the nuances of the classical dance from, said Roy. Organiser of Kathak skill development programme Aditya Narayan said, "It is a positive sign among teenagers especially boys who are adopting the dance and vocal form which is not originally from northern India."
A 16-year- old Shravan who has preferred to learn Bharatnatyam over Kathak said has immense scope for expression and is a complete dance form.
It may be mentioned that the samiti's alumni include noted vocalists Pt Rajan and Sajan Mishra, ghazal singer late Jagjit Singh, folk singer Sharda Devi, renowned singer Shobha Mudgal, popular classical dancer Shobhna Narayan, music composer Ravindra Jain and folk singer Malini Awasthi among others.