In line with SDG5, Gender Equality, Bharat Soka Gakkai hosted a special cultural evening on 6th August 2023 at the BSG Headquarters, which included a dance theater production titled ‘Warrior Women of Bharat’, conceptualized by the internationally celebrated danseuse & choreographer, Padma Shri Prathibha Prahlad, and her organisation Prasiddha Foundation & Forum For Art Beyond Borders. The multi-style production featured celebrated and respected classical and contemporary senior dancers & theater actors drawn from all over the country.
Through their performance, they celebrated the lives of fearless, heroic women from across India, who, driven by patriotism and love for their motherland, had taken up arms and entered the battlefield to fight British imperialism.
The performers included –
1. Padma Shri Prathibha Prahlad, who performed the Bharatnatyam dance form to depict the life of Rani Lakshmi Bai of Jhansi
2. Padma Shri Shovana Narayan, who performed the Kathak dance form to depict the life of Begum Hazrath Mahal, the Begum of Awadh
3. Sangeet Natak Akademi Awardee Anita Ratnam, who performed the contemporary dance form to depict the life of Captain Lakshmi Sehgal, who was an officer of the Indian National Army
4. Sangeet Natak Akademi Awardee Alekhya Punjala, who performed the Kuchipudi dance form to depict the life of Rani Velu Nachiyar, the queen of Sivaganga estate
5. Sangeet Natak Akademi Awardee Gopika Varma, who performed the Mohiniyattam dance form to depict the life of Rani Chennamma of Kittur
6. Sangeet Natak Akademi Awardee Sarodi Saikia, who performed the Sattriya dance form to depict the life of Kanakalatha Barua of Gohpur
7. Guru Jyoti Srivastava, who performed the Odissi dance form to depict the life of Rani Avanti Bai, the queen of Ramgarh
The sutradhars who knit the lives of these valorous women warriors included:
1. Rashmi Vaidialingam and
2. Malavika Joshi
