The Story
OrganizerThe Attakkalari India Biennial was launched in 2000 by the Attakkalari Centre for Movement Arts, a contemporary performing arts institution founded in Bangalore in July 1992 by dancer and choreographer Jayachandran Palazhy, who trained in both classical Indian dance and Western contemporary dance during 14 years working in the United Kingdom. Attakkalari, from the Dravidian roots 'attam' (performance) and 'kalari' (arena), opened as India's first dedicated facility with a purpose-built sprung dance floor, funded initially through Palazhy's own savings and later through a grant from the Sir Ratan Tata Trust that enabled Attakkalari to establish itself as a not-for-profit public charitable trust. The Biennial itself grew out of this institution's broader mission and has run every two years since 2000, becoming what is widely described as South Asia's largest and most significant international festival for contemporary dance and movement arts. Each edition runs roughly ten days across multiple Bengaluru venues, combining main-stage performances by Indian and international dance companies with the FACETS choreography residency, the Platform showcase for emerging South Asian choreographers, a Writing on Dance laboratory, and film and seminar programming. The 11th edition was held in February 2024.
The Biennial's significance rests on its role as India's principal international platform specifically for contemporary (non-classical) dance, a genre with comparatively little institutional support in India relative to classical and folk traditions. Its founding institution, Attakkalari, was deliberately built to demystify and create context for contemporary movement arts in a country where traditional dance forms dominate public and institutional attention, and the Biennial's structure, pairing main-stage international programming with dedicated residencies and mentorship for emerging South Asian choreographers, reflects that founding mission of building infrastructure for the field rather than simply presenting finished work. Its international programming (companies from Switzerland, Canada, South Korea, China, Finland and elsewhere across its editions) has also made it a genuine node in global contemporary dance networks, not solely a domestic showcase.
The Biennial is confirmed active, with its 11th edition held in February 2024, continuing an unbroken biennial cycle since 2000. Its FACETS residency and Platform programmes have functioned as a genuine career pipeline for South Asian choreographers over more than two decades, several past participants and repertory dancers have gone on to build significant independent careers and international recognition. For institutional and CSR audiences, Attakkalari is a useful example of an artist-founded, not-for-profit institution (structured as a public charitable trust) sustaining both a major international festival and a longer-term education and career-development infrastructure for an underserved art form in India, funded through a combination of a founding corpus grant, government partnerships, and programme-specific support.
Brought major international contemporary-dance companies to India and platformed Indian choreographers globally.
