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Narthaki Blog - Gateway to the world of Indian Dance
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Wednesday, 22 March 2023
Nritya Veerangana - Brainchild of Dr. Sonal Mansingh - Taalam: column by Leela Venkataraman
Wednesday, 15 March 2023
Article - Note to Myself - VP Dhananjayan
During the pandemic - between 2020 and 2022 - every artiste engaged themselves in creative endeavours. Some were blown big and some blown out of proportion. Some got good attention among the art connoisseurs and some went obscure, swept under the carpet.
The two major ventures Bharata Kalanjali launched during the vacuum period, I should confess did not get much attention or exposure, even though they were on air for international online viewing. The local audience was least bothered to know what was brewing in Bharata Kalanjali. We also could not explore the possibilities of putting up stage performances for the discerning connoisseur audience of Chennai with adequate publicity.
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Saturday, 11 March 2023
Dhauli-Kalinga Mahotsav: When war games transform into peace messages - Taalam: column by Leela Venkataraman
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Thursday, 9 March 2023
Warrior Queens: Ranis of Dance! - Dance Matters: Column by Ashish Mohan Khokar
In the clime of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav today, quite a few senior dancers have presented their patriotic flavoured works with the ball set in motion last year in April, by Delhi-based veteran Sonal Mansingh, the ruling party's nominated MP to the Upper House. Her works on women leaders before connected to Buddha or recently on the queens of Kashmir and mythological characters before - like Draupadi - have always made her someone who has taken up women's issues and causes. In that, she is a pioneer of Indian dance in this segment.
Senior dancer Prathibha Prahlad has come up with a wholesome production where patriotism meets pride and art meets warrior queens. This production is a good introduction to the canvas of history of a few chosen women warriors of India in last 200 years.
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Wednesday, 8 March 2023
Article - On being mentored and the Pratiroop Project: Voices in my head - Mythili Maratt Anoop
If Asan's presence for me was a quiet luminous lake of many riches for me to delve into, Guru Vyjayanthi Kashi was a brilliant storm of all things benign. Always probing, never letting me lapse into a lazy spell, unrelenting in her comments and expectations, but with infinite patience. She wanted the best from everyone, the script, the musicians, and me of course! She would never settle for less, and that was a life lesson for me!
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Sunday, 5 March 2023
Interview - Leela Samson: The creative process is a response to theme and music - Shveta Arora
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Tributes to the legendary Mohiniattam dancer Dr Kanak Rele - Vijay Shanker
Since Mohiniattam is considered the sister style of Kathakali, Kanak Rele was slowly drawn towards Mohiniattam, which was almost extinct, due to the distorted version of the dance form. The term "Mohiniattakari" was used as a word of abuse, hence many dissuaded Kanak Rele from learning Mohiniattam but she was determined to delve deep into the aesthetics, sensitivity and sensuality of the lyrical classical dance of Kerala. In 1972, The Ford Foundation grant enabled her to make a film on the three pioneer mentors of Mohiniattam - Chinnammu Amma, Kunjukutty Amma and Kalyanikutty Amma. After observing and learning from these three mentors, she gradually evolved her own style, based on her theory of body kinetics, wherein the body movements were divided into two main segments; the upper body movements that involves the hands and the graceful sway of the shoulders, which is symbolic of movements of the palm trees of Kerala and the lower body movements that involves the torso and the feet movements that moves accordingly. Kanakben's style was distinct and quite different from the traditional style of Mohiniattam, as taught in the premier institute of Kathakali and Mohiniattam - Kerala Kalamandalam.
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