new delhi dressed as a coconut shell and wearing vibrant makeup akash an artiste from udupi was on cloud nine for getting a chance to exhibit the art of kangilu a traditional dance form from karnataka as a part of the republic days main cultural attraction vande bharatam nritya utsavinteracting with artistes from gujarat even as many visitors approached him for selfies akash said the last three months had been all about auditions to be one of 480 performers from 15 states to showcase his footwork on rajpathmy group and i are really proud as we got the chance to be a part of such a historic celebration its one of the best days of my life and an answer to my dilemma of continuing as an artiste said akash adding that he believed that the kangilu performance was quite apt during the pandemickangilu is based on the idea of remedy when a pandemic is taking over mankind through the spiritual dance koragajja a form of lord shiva comes down to end the pandemic said ankit another dancer from udupi who performed as koragajjathe union ministries of defence and culture had held vande mataram nritya utsav to select dance groups to perform for the first time as part of azadi ka amrit mahotsav to commemorate 75 years of indias independencefor 17yearold hemant mali a student from maharashtras jalgaon performing in the republic day parade was the happiest moment of his life the teenager was excited that his dance was seen by the prime minister and the president mali who aspires to become a theatre artiste told toi im feeling great that i got such an opportunity to perform at this national eventvedant bagade a 16yearold boy said he was initially nervous but felt proud of himself after the performance i now want to join the indian army he added similarly ranjeeta rajesh 22 a resident of delhi said she was proud to be a part of the celebrations kumar who led a group of dancers from gujarat believed that everyone was a winnerankit shaw a 17yearold class xii student had come from kolkata to participate in the event i wish we are given a chance again next year i could only catch a glimpse of the president and the pm from a distance but im still happy his friend raj hela 17 a class ix student said i love to dance i want to show my skills to everyone and make my country proudwe had no doubt that we would make it to rajpath even though the competition was stiff and there were 3800 contestants but now that we have given our performance i still cant believe it we will always cherish this memory ill now definitely pursue a career as a dancer said 19yearold astha from ahmedabaddressed as a doll 17yearold sandhya said her entire village in mangalore was glued to the television our act was to perform as if a doll had just come to life or