G Ulaganathan By Express News Service BENGALURU: Over 20 years ago, on August 18, 1998, Karnataka lost one of its celebrities to nature’s fury. Protima Gauri was someone loved, among others, by the people of Hessarghata on the city outskirts, who fondly called her Gowramma. Like every year, the dancer-choreographer and founder of Nrityagram in the city, will be remembered on her death anniversary this time too. About 40 dancers along with five musicians will pay tribute on Sunday at Ambedkar Bhavan, Vasanthnagar. “As a mark of respect to her and to honour her memory, each year on August 18, we present NrityaUtsarga, our annual day, wherein we showcase the training and work that is done at Nrityagram. This event is free to all and is a way to present our work publicly, and for our young dancers to be recognised, as part of Nrityagram,” managing trustee Lynne Fernandez said. “Surupa Sen has designed a unique format for NrityaUtsarga and I am happy to say that it has grown in popularity, with full houses every year,” she added, pointing out that the dance school sees students from all walks of life, including surrounding villages, and most of the activities are conducted for free. Over the last 29 years , Nrityagram has trained thousands of students from villages in Karnataka, she added. The institution came up after Protima, sometimes known as controversy’s favourite child, had made Bengaluru her home, shedding the glamorous lifestyle she was used to. She then started working on her dream, “of building a community of dancers in a forsaken place amidst nature. A place where nothing exists, except dance. A place where you breathe, eat, sleep, dream, talk, imagine - dance... A place where all the five senses can be refined to perfection. A place where dancers drop negative qualities such as jealousy, small-mindedness, greed and malice to embrace their colleagues as sisters and support each other in their journey towards becoming dancers of merit... A place called Nrityagram”. She struggled hard to make it happen. With help from the state government, especially the then chief minster Ramakrishna Hegde, her dream – a dance village on the Gurukul model – began to take shape. Nrityagram was a beehive of activity and almost all the top classical dancers of the country, representing different styles, descended on the village every year for the dawn-to-dusk Vasanthahabba (Spring Festival), which was organised for almost 15 years. From a small audience of about 1,000 in 1990, it swelled to 50,000 in the next few years. It was even telecast live on Doordarshan. On August 1998, Protima died in a landslide in the Himalayas. But her spirit has been kept alive by her friends, senior disciples such as Bijayini Satpathy and Surupa Sen, and her fans. “In addition to creating the next generation of dancers and teachers, we conduct activities to popularise classical dance, inspire pride in our culture, inculcate excellence in our students, empower the rural young and take India to the world,” Lynne said. (The writer is a dance critic)

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