Dancers from Asia-Pacific region weave together at AIDF
The first edition of ABU International Television Dance Festival (AIDF), is scheduled to be held in Hyderabad; the city with royal patronage for arts, literature and architecture, on 15 January 2017. Prasar Bharati, India’s Public Service Broadcaster has the honour of hosting the first edition of this mega event.
Asia- Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU) was established in 1964 as a non-profit, non-government, professional association to assist the development of broadcasting in the region. AIDF will showcase traditional and contemporary dance performances by artistes of more than ten counties across the Asia- pacific region.
The Dance Festival is conceptualised so as to bring the cultural diversities from across the world into limelight, by breaking cultural barriers. The dance festival would unveil the sacred occasions when people dance, and the joys that varied communities across the Asia Pacific region feel, as they dance.
Shri. M. Venkaiah Naidu, Hon’ble Union Minister for Information& Broadcasting; Urban Development; Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation will inaugurate the AIDF festival. Shri. K. Chandrashekar Rao, Hon’ble Chief Minister of Telangana will be the Guest of Honour. Shri. Azmeera Chandulal, Hon’ble Tourism and Culture Minister, Govt. Of Telangana and Dr. A. Surya Prakash, Chairman, Prasar Bharati will grace the occasion in presence of other top officials of I&B Ministry, Prasar Bharati and Telangana Government.
Confirmation from the countries that has been received so far- Maldives, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Uzbekistan, Philippines, Vietnam, Cambodia, Fiji and Indonesia. Two declared finalists from each country; one in ‘contemporary’ dance form and the other in ‘traditional’ dance form, will participate in the grand finale of first ABU International Television Dance Festival. All participating dance groups are between the age group of 18 to 25 years.
With the objective of creating a ‘bridge’ between young people from different parts of the world, through dance as an international language; this upcoming festival is a treat to look out for.
Since June 2016, Prasar Bharati started the selection process to select the teams that will represent India in the grand finale. In order to select the final entries, artistes were invited and they were asked to submit DVDs of their work in traditional or contemporary dance, for shortlisting purpose. These submissions were made online and offline as well. A total of 453 entries were received, out of which 389 were made on-line and 64 were by post. Eventually, 210 videos were selected by the first Screening Committee. Post the final screening, 29 entries were chosen from the two categories out of which two finalists, namely ‘Aamad’ group and ‘Sadhya’ group will compete in the grand finale.
The Dance Festival has already generated immense excitement among young artistes and this will culminate into a grand finale on 15 January at Shilpakala Vedika, Hyderabad.
The including other key ministries will grace the grand finale of ABU Dance Festival at Hyderabad.
The Festival is planned to be telecast live on DD India, DD Bharati , DD Urdu,DD Saptagiri and DD Yadagiri on 15th Januray 2017 from 5:30 p:m onwards.
We have a dedicated website : aidf.prasarbharati.org and we are available on social media at: facebook.com/DanceFestABU and twitter.com/DanceFestABU.