Malavika Sarukkai's inward journey into dance/space relationship keeps audience spellbound - Taalam: column by Leela Venkataraman

Speaking of a world she inhabits, where dance is the language of communication, Malavika Sarukkai's talk at the IIC titled Dance Speak, held a rivetted audience enthralled. Totally divorced from textual theory and based entirely on her own intensely personal journey into the relationship of how dance sculpts and interacts with space, she had arrived at the conclusion that 'Space and Dance were partners'. Dance for her had become a language. Her natyadharmi, she discovered, was decided by space. Mudras and hastas don't speak by themselves. The gravitas of a hasta stems from its placing in space - as for example showing a 'sitting bird', just holding the mudra is not enough. One has to make the hand in hasta travel through the air and settle down to convey and suggest the message of a sitting bird. It is the elaboration of the hasta and its movement and placing in space, that conveys the full meaning.

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Article - Jana Gana Mana is a song not a document, Kapila Vatsyayan, T.M. Krishna, and the Politics of Sanskritization - Dr Avanthi Meduri

Abstract:
This essay responds to T. M. Krishna's 4th Kapila Vatsyayan Memorial Lecture, "I Sing, Therefore I Am," by examining his radical proposal to rethink Rabindranath Tagore's Jana Gana Mana through the lens of language, caste, and regional identity. It argues that reducing the national anthem to a problem of caste hegemony, power and Sanskritized language politics misses the distinction between written text and embodied cultural performance central to Vatsyayan's thought. Drawing on notions of rasa, unisonance, nationalism, Sanskritization, and collective singing, the essay contends that an anthem is not merely a linguistic artifact but a performed, socio-cultural form through which the individual "I" is gathered into a shared national "we."

T. M. Krishna's (TMK) title naturally intrigued me. I wanted to see how he would invoke Descartes to think through Vatsyayan's legacy - specifically her lifelong affirmation of the sovereign voice and subjectivity of the musician, actor, and dancer. But I came away dismayed. 

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Obit - Dr Mandakranta Bose (1938- 2026) - Jai Govinda

Scholar and author Dr. Mandakranta Bose passed away on September 10, 2026 in her home city of Vancouver/ Canada. Professor Emerita at the University of British Columbia, and director of the university’s Centre for India and South Asia Studies, she held a D. Phil. degree of Oxford University and was a Fellow of the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies and the Department of Sanskrit (Mahamahopadhyaya), University of Calcutta. 

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Individual dance creations of compelling resonance - Taalam: column by Leela Venkataraman

VILASINI NATYAM PREMIERE

It all started at the Stein auditorium of the Habitat with a stunning solo premiere in Vilasini Natyam by veteran dancer Swapnasundari, followed by a group presentation of her creation of temple dance in the Agamic style.

PARABOLA OF DANCE
Aditi Mangaldas' generous initiative in starting what she has named Parabola of Dance, featuring creative efforts by dancers pertaining to different dance traditions, with the performance part succeeded by discussions on the constantly evolving process behind these creative enterprises, has been attracting larger sections of dance lovers. 

SWAN LAKE IN ODISSI

Sharmila Mukerjee (student of Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra) and her group of students from Sanjali Ensemble of which she is the Artistic Director, presented her creation of Hansika, based on the famous Swan Lake Ballet of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky; the work in the Odissi format premiered back in 2018. 

LOKCHANDA CULTURAL UNIT PRESENTS EVENING OF NRITYA KATHA

Designed by Maitreyi Pahadi, the Nritya Katha evening at the Habitat was predominantly a Kathak event, with one exception of an item of Mayurbhanj Chhau, the event centered round the Monsoon theme.

UMA SHARMA'S CUSTOMARY JANMASHTAMI

Veteran Uma Sharma's Janmashtami evening Sree Radha at the IIC, saw her students of Bhartiya Sangeet Sadan present Nritya Ras, her annual homage to the Krishna Janma Bhoomi -which constitutes her personal contribution to the world of dance - based on the research she undertook, in the Brindavan area and its vicinities. 

TWIN SHADES OF FOLK AND CLASSICAL AT IIC

In support of its recent approach supporting both fold and classical, IIC Double Bill concert presented an evening clubbing Kajri music with Kathak. 

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Article - The connotative appellative: Does arangetram need multicultural synonyms? - Dr Lavanya Iyer

Why is it that BHARATANATYAM ARANGETRAM-s are being categorically and repeatedly designated with the name of RANGAPRAVESHAM, duly by Bharatanatyam gurus themselves? Even on the invitation cards, the trend is being followed. Earlier, it was prevalent only in other south states which I attributed to state linguistic issues (not that I endorse it, but still it made sense). Now it's prevalent among the Tamizh speaking gentry from Tamil Nadu and in Tamil Nadu itself. Now that is appalling. Now my simple question is ----- Why is this so called "trend" prevalent and what has trend got to do with tradition?

RANGAPRAVESHAM, a term exclusively associated with KUCHIPUDI, the classical art of Andhra and Telangana, neither fits into the linguistic side of Bharatanatyam nor is it that there has been any issue with the term ARANGETRAM which is exclusive to Bharatanatyam's patrimony and legacy of its mother state Tamil Nadu. Why take away the basic beauty of a Tamizh word meant to decorate the art born of Tamil Nadu and push a nonnative vernacular version for no reason. ETRAM and ARANGAM being Tamizh words fit the bill, RANGA and PRAVESHA being Sanskrit / Pali, definitely do not. We also see the terms MANCH or MANCHA that are derived from Prakrit / Sanskrit. Kathak and Odissi use the terms RANGMANCH PRAVESH and MANCHA PRAVESH respectively, which is common to Sattriya as well. Manipuri of course has a very different genre of MAIBI or the Ras Leela depending upon the debuts. 

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Article - From Abhinaya to Responsibility Nāṭya, Human Formation and the Ecological World - Rohit Viswanath

The discussion of Nāṭya, Abhinaya, Rasa, Sādhanā, and related dimensions of practice in this essay draws substantially upon the writings and reflections of Dr. Padmaja Suresh, whose work has explored the philosophical, aesthetic and spiritual dimensions of Nāṭya. Her contribution is especially relevant here because of her association with Nāṭyaśāstra Gurukulam, where she has contributed to its pedagogical and aesthetic direction. The extensive engagement with her work reflects both its direct relevance to the argument and its place within the intellectual and pedagogical context from which this essay emerges. 

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Interview - Bharatanatyam dancer Vinay Tiwari on choreographing Magadh in Kathak - Shveta Arora

I spoke to Vinay at length about his repeated presentation of Bihar in his choreographies, about 'Magadh' and working with Gauri in Kathak and the process of conceptualizing each piece in the function. I also spoke to Gauri about choosing Vinay as this year's guest choreographer and about how he fared in her estimation.

When Gauri invited you, a Bharatanatyam dancer, to choreograph for her Kathak showcase, how confident were you - firstly, about choreographing the disciples of another guru and then, of a different stream of dance altogether?
The idea of such a collaboration had been in my mind for a long time. I had been in Lucknow for 7-8 years - my exposure to classical dance, I would say, consisted more of Kathak than Bharatanatyam. I was a student at Bhatkhande University, and Bharatanatyam in Lucknow was either those people who were in my class or those who were related to that class. But Kathak was more widely present in the form of performance or presentation. So just my constant observation of Kathak spans 12 years to 13 years. I also had some opportunities to play characters in Kathak dance productions by Surabhi Singh Tandon ji. So it was that I understood the body language of Kathak. I have many friends in Kathak and much exposure to it.

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