Tuesday 19 March 2024

Profile - Guru Sagolshem Kirti Singh (1956-2024) - Sinam Basu Singh


Traditional Manipuri dance Guru Sagolshem Kirti Singh expired on 6th March 2024 at his residence.

Guru Sagolshem Kirti Singh, son of S. Kesho Singh, resident of Uripok Takhellambam Leikai, Imphal West, Manipur, was born on 1st March 1956. He received training in Manipuri dance from local gurus from early stage of life and formal training in three year certificate course JNMDA - 1970 and completed Diploma in Manipuri dance JNMDA-1973.

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Thursday 14 March 2024

Profile - On the 17th Death Anniversary of Sushil Dasgupta (1923-2008) - Bharat Sharma



FROM NARENDRA SHARMA ARCHIVES

From time immemorial, Music and Dance have an intimate relationship - one lives on the other in performing arts. In the 20th century, composers and choreographers shared a tenuous relationship in stimulating fresh trends in dance-making - both in the East and the West. 

This post looks into a particular thread of music-making which evolved on Indian sub-continent, within the expansive 'nationalist/post-colonial' discourse, based on Indian instruments, voice culture, 'swara' of 'raga', intricate 'tala' system, and deeply embedded within the ethos of indigenous melodies and orchestration. A kind of 'new tradition' came into being, emanating from the ingenuity of their creators. In particular I would like to project the work of Sushil Dasgupta - a music composer par excellence - who became the longest collaborator of choreographer Narendra Sharma, with beginnings that can be tracked back to 1946.

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Wednesday 13 March 2024

When the artiste and the art become one entity in dialogue - Taalam: column by Leela Venkataraman

Dance performances are a dime a dozen. But how often, while watching a performance, does one experience a feeling of being transported to another level of consciousness, where one has for a few moments, lost a feeling of oneself? This was the state-of-being I experienced watching Malavika Sarukkai dance in the Angan of her home, before a small gathering of friends. To review such a performance would almost be an affront, for what was an act of worship and thanksgiving at the altar of the Dance muse, for having bestowed on the dancer's person, the benediction of mental and physical vigor to pursue with dedication, the dance for fifty two years - and for still being able to partake of its richness. I am more interested here in the process of what has transpired in the person of the dancer during these long years, with regard to her relationship with the dance.

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Sunday 10 March 2024

Article - Reappraising Bharatanatyam for physical, psychological and psychosocial benefits - Krithika V Balaji

Abstract
This article reappraises Bharatanatyam from a therapeutic point of view, intending to explore the benefits it offers in physical, psychological and psycho-social realms to the practitioner. The aim is to derive useful insights on employing Bharatanatyam as a therapeutic dance form to aspirants seeking benefits in this regard. The insights can serve as a benchmark to trainers who seek to expand the scope of the dance form to a therapeutic plane. While mainstream research focuses on the aesthetic and artistic features of Bharatanatyam, often the therapeutic benefits offered by this dance form that is comparable to yoga and other forms of wellness therapies are overlooked and under-researched. This research is a narrative exploration of the therapeutic dimensions of Bharatanatyam.

Introduction

In India, the land renowned for culture and heritage, Bharatanatyam is considered as a representation of the ancient culture - connected with sculptures, music, poetry, scriptures, theatre and spirituality. Bharatanatyam is one of the oldest dance forms in India originating from the Southern part of the nation. This art form, as described in the Natya Shastra [1] (200 BCE), is an aesthetic and divine art which is revered for ages for its authenticity and spirituality. Bharatanatyam is a dance form which evolved from the Natya Veda [2] and has a spiritual dimension to it. The Natya Veda, as per the Hindu mythology, was imparted to the world by Lord Brahma [3] as a kreedaneeyatha [4] or a plaything that could entertain as well as impart the sense of values implying its spiritual nature in the Indian culture. Bharatanatyam is a celebration of the mind, body and spirit, similar to all the other Indian classical forms. Anyone can learn and perform this art devoid of religion, caste or creed. It is a Darshan - a philosophy on its own. It is always evolving and timeless. (Rele, K. 2018). 

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Saturday 9 March 2024

Panchabhutam! - Dance Matters: Column by Ashish Mohan Khokar


JGPAC sounds most unlike a dance music place. But it is. A college of performing arts, no less. In Ahmedabad, near Navrangpura area, beyond Gujarat University campus. The college architecture is nothing unusual in the landscape of mushrooming businesses in this city, now resembling a mini Manhattan. I've been visiting Amdavad (as locals call it) for 40 plus years now. It started with Paldi circle for most and ended at Ellis Bridge. There was one hotel those days called Karnavati and one dance institution of national importance - Darpana, initiated by the most gracious lady in dance field I've met in my 60+ conscious years - Mrinalini Sarabhai. What an epitome of goodness, on stage and off stage. She was a close friend of our family. My mother's guru vidwan Muthukumaran Pillai was her guru too. In fact, he went and helped start the first Bharatanatyam classes in that city in 1950s when Darpana was set up. He stayed there 2 years to help Mrinalini Amma find her feet and returned only as food and dusty city of textiles made him sick. As it makes me! Every time I've been to that city, I've fallen ill. 9/10 times. Something's in the air. Last I was there, I caught Covid. Two years I kept safe in the South and even Delhi trips but Gujus are very democratic people who follow no rules. No one wore masks inflight too! One can see it in city traffic and people's way of life. Shouting, talking loudly, laughing, not taking anything seriously except their accounts, stocks and shares; they are the Punjabis of West India. 

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Tuesday 5 March 2024

Kathak draped in a different sensibility - Taalam: column by Leela Venkataraman

The program at Narthaki Studio was called Leela, dedicated to Anita Ratnam's late mother, a driving force encouraging Jigyasa Giri's dance urges, while having to deal with Kathak finding a place in Madras - the land of Bharatanatyam. Late Sohanlal from the Jaipur gharana and Maya Rao (from whom Jigyasa imbibed a great deal), a student of Shambhu Maharaj, did settle in South India propagating Kathak. But what Jigyasa Giri, whose initial training was under late Krishna Kumar Dharwa of Benares gharana, referred to in the program as Dakshina gharana Kathak, was in reality Kathak with a sensibility catering to South Indian audiences. There was none of the high pitched jawab/saval, tabla versus peir ka kaam rhythmic razzmatazz, nor frequent sojourns to the microphone with announcements and parhant, nor spinning of marathon countless pirouettes - all of which virtuosity, is a legitimate feature of this dance form. Instead, what Jigyasa, who since 2001 has been teaching students in her school in Chennai, Devaniya established in 2009 has achieved, is in bringing to her dance an enhanced texture of flowing grace and poetic delicacy, without compromising on its classicism and technical exactitude.

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Sunday 3 March 2024

Book Review - Mohan Khokar - The Father figure of Indian Dance History - Dr. Uma Anantani



It is always difficult and complicated to apply an appropriate, praiseworthy epithet to Prof. Mohan Khokar. He was the one who had travelled wide and far in search of dance and dance material. And now in the year 2024, commemorating his birth centenary, a book titled 'Mohan Khokar - The Father figure of Indian Dance History' published by Indira Gandhi National Center for the Arts and edited and compiled by Ashish Mohan Khokar, has 'travelled' for its launch and will continue to do so through many big cities of India and abroad; this will reinforce and concretise the dance history of past many centuries and create an awareness among readers of generations to come.

The tour itinerary in association with IGNCA of this extremely attractive compilation in 300 pages, this state-of-the-art volume began with its inaugural release on 30th December 2023 at Kalakshetra, Chennai, followed by release on 7th February, 11th February and 12th February 2024, at Mumbai, Vadodara and Ahmedabad respectively. At Mumbai, the release event was organised in association with Shri Shanmukhananda Fine Arts Sangeetha Sabha and Ministry of Culture, GoI; at Vadodara, it was in association with Anjali Memorial Committee and the Dance Department, Faculty of Performing Arts, MS University and at Ahmedabad with JG College of Performing Arts. For every release, the mesmerising feature was screening of a short film on Mohan Khokar and his works and interesting talks by practitioners and scholars on dance and dance history. 

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