By Papri Das

When you take names like Madhuri Dixit and Terence Lewis in the same breath, you already know that you?re in for an epic dance show! This World International Dance Day, the two have come together to celebrate contemporary dance with a one of its kind dance festival in India - Jugnee.

So what makes this experience unique from the numerous dance festivals that happen round the year? Festival curator Terence Lewis throws light on it. ?In India and more so in Mumbai, we hardly have any ?only dance? festival and having one solely on contemporary dance is non-existent. Moreover, the dance community in India and Mumbai works in isolation and are unaware of the opportunities they have for themselves. Jugnee provides a platform to these dance enthusiasts to come together, interact and learn from each other, whether they are professionals, choreographers, trainers or amateurs.?

A five day non-profit festival, Jugnee offers a miscellanea of activities for dance lovers like workshops by international and national teachers, emerging artist, panel discussions, film and documentary screening, etc, that builds up a ?D Positive? (dance positive) atmosphere in Mumbai.

?Our efforts have been to keep this festival completely non-profit with minimum ticket prices for the performances. We are also granting a fully funded scholarship to one of the deserving participant of Jugnee, who will get the chance to go to Impulstanz International Dance Festival in Vienna,? shares Lewis.

An icon of dance in India, Dixit?s name is synonymous with talent grace and beauty! Since it is Mumbai's first indo contemporary dance festival, there?s no one better than this Mumbai girl, who gave dance respect and dignified it with her performance. Delighted at having her onboard with the festival, Lewis says, ?Madhuri has always supported dance and young artists selflessly, and seeing the potential this dance festival has as a platform to bring together various dancers from all over the country, she readily agreed to be part of the festival.?

Lewis is also working closely with Dixit in her free dance tutorial app (Dance With Madhuri: DWM). The main focus of the festival is to bridge the gap between international teachers and emerging dancers of India and provide guidance and opportunities on dance as a career. Splendid performances by the talented dancers from well-established companies as well as emerging artistes in the field are also in store at the festival.

The five-days of the festival will be held at the following venues across Mumbai:

? 29 April: NCPA

? 30 April: Prithvi Theatre

? 1 May: St Andrews

? 2 May: Social (Meet & Greet)

? 3 May: Equal street walk (Dancing on the streets)