Dance revives heritage: Kolkata's Royal Insurance Building comes alive

On World Dance Day, the historic Royal Insurance Building in Kolkata became an extraordinary stage, hosting a performance that beautifully underscored the vital role of art in revitalizing and reconnecting us with our past. This unique event not only celebrated the dynamism of dance but also illuminated the untapped potential of the city's numerous heritage spaces.



Kolkata has had enough of organized and formal theatre performances. Time has come to take this opportunity. There are large number of heritage spaces with performing places in Kolkata, unidentified, unrecognized, unnoticed and unsung places. If we can leverage this performance areas, suddenly what emerges is something that no other city has, which is in short- heritage, large, attractive and accessible spaces

-Mudar Patherya



This was conceptualized in a span of 7-10 days. this collaborative effort led by citizens and artists sought to breathe new life into our city's underappreciated architectural heritage. Dance needs spaces. Spaces need living bodies. This collaboration on International Dance Day was an attempt to send bodies back to spaces they belong to-reimagining and reframing architectural spaces through movement and rhythm.

-Paramita Saha, director of Artsforward and curator of the event





Caption: Young performers from the city came together to participate in this unusual symphony of space and movement. Asish Singha, Ekluvya Bera, Minami Nandy, Sankalita Charaborty, Sayan Das, Shayak Tarafder, Shreya Acharyya, Subhankar Mondal accompanied by Debjit Mahalanobis on the Double Bass.