Fond remembrances of selfless Guru of Jaipur Gharana Guru Kundanlal Gangani - Taalam: column by Leela Venkataraman

Conceived and organised by Jaipur Gharana Kathak dancer Prerana Shrimali, as a Kalaavart initiative, virtually observing the Punya Thithi (death anniversary) of Kathak guru Kundanlal Gangani, was one of its kind, rising above mundane thanksgiving to a departed guru. It was one of those rare events when not one person in the painstakingly selected panel of shishyas, hogged the mike by going beyond allotted time. Intelligently moderated by Prerana, the brief, but telling homages, evoked a real feel of a Guru who had left behind fond memories of not just his teaching expertise, but more, his rare human qualities.

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Dance Matters and how! - Dance Matters: Column by Ashish Mohan Khokar

Dance is centre stage once again. Thanks to the concerted efforts of a few. Topping that list or making it are a few who kept the flame going in Karo-Na Kaal. My terminology for Corona/ Covid Times. Just keep the candle lit with news, views and tidbits. This portal for one. It has kept us informed who did what or even died, in the last few months. Not just dancers but musicians too. I lost three dear dosts of 40 years standing: doyen of Delhi Chand gharana Ustad Iqbal; editor-author Alka Raghuvanshi, and doctor to many K.K. Agarwal, he of the TV fame, with stethoscope on his shoulder. These were known names so got a mention elsewhere too but what of thousands, nay lakhs, who lost out to this deadly virus? In our lifetime, this is the worst ever phase, for those of us who saw and survived wars with China and Pakistan in 1965 and 1971. This portal made space for most artistes. It even told us who won an award or a title. An impresario from Delhi calls to ask, "Season is starting, hall is getting bookings, where to advertise, which is best dance portal of all?" And without hesitation I say "Narthaki." Reason: not because I've written for it for 20 years now but because none others have had consistent standard fare or basic substance. Add credibility. For 20+ years, Narthaki has carried on, just like the dance yearbook attenDance (attendance-india.com). 2 decades is an eon, an era. Especially in this age of nano seconds. Some die-hard dancers, gurus and institutions too carried on tirelessly in the worst of times we have seen and been through. For many teachers, online classes stopped as parents said their kids suffered from internet fatigue studying online for regular school. How did dancers manage in these times? Individuals may have helped their favourites but did anyone come to their rescue officially on a national platform?

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Article - Labeling Guru Gopinath's dance style - Vasanti Gopinath Jayaswal

 

Lately, during these stagnant Covid times I have seen on YouTube, videos of classes and dance routines, labeled as Guru Gopinath's Kerala Natanam. They have modified it and sadly added Kuchipudi and Bharatanatyam in the stances and movement patterns. It is important for the current public and art enthusiasts therefore to know the following facts. I have itemized them for better understanding.

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Article - Radha Krsna: The Eternal Couple - Seema KS

Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa have been a source of inspiration to innumerous poets and authors due to which numerous works are available describing the everlasting relationship of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa and other themes revolving around them such as love, separation, sorrow, mischief, pastimes and so on in the form of poems, stories, dramas, operas and so on in Indian literature. Some of these literary works have been touched upon in this article.

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Surrender to the Supreme - The Eastern Eye: Column by Dr.Utpal K Banerjee

 

Kanhopatra featured in the online Geeva Arts Festival 2021, is a digital work-in-progress of the UK-based Bharatanatyam dancer Divya Ravi, in collaboration with her musician husband, Dr. Sharan Subramanian. Observations of Divya, a senior and widely travelled artiste, about Kanhopatra are revealing. "She was the daughter of a courtesan in the 15th century, who refused to follow her mother's path of luxury. She remained a solitary woman to have treaded the path of enlightenment uninstructed. Kanhopatra's matrilineal origin and her refusal to serve as an accessory to a male saintly figure, placed her at the periphery of our patriarchal society and she was habitually brushed off as insignificant by both scholars and laymen. An autonomous, solitary woman, unattested by androcentric norms, was a threat and hence ignored."

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Obit/Tribute - Ace sets and lighting designer passes away - Vijay Shanker

 

Thane based ace sets and lighting designer Pathikrit Mukherjee, left for his heavenly abode on 27th June 2021. Pathikrit was diabetic and was hospitalised due to certain health issues. He leaves behind his wife Odissi exponent Nivedita and son Aritra. He was 61.

For more than three decades, Pathikrit provided sets and designed lights for several dance and theatrical productions. He was associated with some of the leading organisations of Mumbai like the National Centre for Performing Arts (NCPA), Nehru Centre, Amita Banerjee's Udayan, Shahana and the Durga Pooja festival. He worked with some of the leading dancers like Menaka Thakker (USA), Uma Dogra, Daksha Mashruwala and was closely associated with the 'Ekaharya' presentations of singer, actor and composer Shekar Sen for over thirty five years, in the enactment of Tulsidas, Kabir, Vivekenanda etc. Along with Shekar Sen he toured around the world for his productions.

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Mahatma through dancers' prism - The Eastern Eye: Column by Dr.Utpal K Banerjee

 

Trust the ace Odissi dancer Sharmila Biswas of the eastern metropolis to think "out-of-the-box" whenever chance comes! She has spent a lifetime already in teaching talented students and choreographing on several unusual themes, besides researching on Odisha's indigenous culture of singing, musical instruments, life of Devadasis and sundry other Odisha related subjects.

And, as a conscious citizen, she kept a note of some of the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi over the past couple of decades. Mahatma's political, social and spiritual journey through life, his constant quest for truth and his steely determination never to make a compromise - even under the most adverse circumstances - had made a deep impression on her thinking self as on every conscientious Indian. She had often toyed with the idea as to how she could bring them to bear upon a dancer's performance persona.

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Tribute - Natyacharya K. Muralidhar Rao - Dr. Shrividya Muralidhar

It is an honour to reminisce about the late Natyacharya K. Muralidhar Rao, whose 98th birthday is on August 2nd. He was like a Kala Muni of the 20th century. His entire life covering ninety decades was dedicated in pursuit of drawing, music, dance, photography and writing articles. A life unequivocally dedicated to art alone! Being the last disciple of the veteran artiste, the life of my Guru is a biopic he orated and made me visualize. This is my humble effort to recollect his meritorious life.

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Book Review - Garland of Memories: Celebrating the life and times of a legendary Guru - Kiran Java

Nritya Samrat Pt. Birju Maharaj

by Dr. Nandkishore Kapote
nkapote9@gmail.com
Published: June 2021
Message/Greeting by Dr. Sonal Mansingh and Dr. Padma Subrahmanyam
Cover Photo by Avinash Pasricha, Back Cover Photo by Innee Singh
Back Cover Poetry by Pt. Birju Maharaj
Language: Bi-lingual (Hindi | English)
Pages: 368
Size: 7" x 9"
ISBN 978-93-5473-457-1

This book was inaugurated by Pt. Birju Maharaj in Delhi and was released at Pune Patrakar Bhavan on June 29, 2021, at a felicitation held for Kathak exponents.

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Tribute - Celebrating 100 years of Yog Sunder Desai A Century of Life and Dance - Papiha Desai

Yog Sunder Desai, a pioneer who ventured into the world of Indian Dance in the pre independence era, was born on July 16, 1921 in Limbdi, Gujarat into a princely family of Gujarat. July 16, 2021 is his Birth Centenary. In his 100th year of life in 2020, Yog Sunder was the senior most living artiste and choreographer of India.

His maternal grandfather Jhaverbhai Amin was the Diwan of Limbdi state and his paternal grandfather Ambaidas Jeevabhai's ancestors were the administrators of the Mughals and the Gaekwads.

Yog Sunder was born to illustrious parents Bhaktiba, a freedom fighter and Darbar Gopaldas, the ruler of Dhasa State in Gujarat, the first Indian prince to give up his throne in response to Gandhi's call to serve the motherland and join the freedom movement. Darbar Saheb as he was addressed became a prominent leader of Gujarat, leading the masses with the Sardar in Borsad and Bardoli Satyagrahas, Salt Satyagraha and the Quit India movement. President of Kathiawad Rajkiya Parishad and Saurashtra Congress Committee, Gopaldas worked for the unification of the 200 plus states of Kathiawad - Ekam Saurashtra. He was the first prince in India to merge his principality with the Indian Union and one of the first members of the Constituent Assembly of India. The constitution of India bears his signature.

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Breaking gender barriers - The Eastern Eye: Column by Dr.Utpal K Banerjee

 

Chitrangada: The story of a Hermaphrodite, presented by 'Santoshpur Anuchintan' took the bull by the horns and considered the whole question of human sexuality in a highly imaginative format of dance choreography, mimetic action, music and painting. Conceived and directed by the avant-garde young director Gaurav Das, the performance was accepted in the 'Learn Togetherness: Beyond Binaries' Art Festival, organized jointly by Kolkata Centre for Creativity, British Council India and the gender related NGO 'Sappho for Equality', for streaming from June 21 to 27 on the KCC YouTube channel.

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Article - Dance and detachment - Ramaa Venugopalan

“I just don’t put that much pressure on myself any more, I'm okay with that. I’m okay with not winning Grand Slams,” Kyrgios said. “I’m okay with just enjoying myself, putting on a show. Not everyone can be a (Roger) Federer or (Novak) Djokovic. These are once-in-a-decade athletes that inspire millions of people, they're just gods.”

This guy is something. Maverick and a bit more, but this statement has been spinning in my head for a couple of days now. It's a lot to say on a grand slam tour. As we were discussing this with my 13 year old Suputra, who is training in competitive tennis, I could not help but draw a parallel to the dance world.

Imagine, any top notch dancer ever saying something like this, when they are already on the high ladder. The focus is on enjoying the sport or the art with all the love and joy one can have, and never worry a bit about the returns in terms of top notch performance opportunities or fame.

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Obit/Tribute - Tribute to Guru Pandit Anupam Rai - Vijay Shanker

Mumbai based veteran classical music and Kathak dance mentor, choreographer and composer Pandit Anupam Rai left for his heavenly abode, early morning on Sunday 27th June 2021 following a cardiac arrest. He was diabetic and was also affected by Covid but had recovered from it. He leaves behind his wife Rita, daughter Anurita and son Anuratna, besides several disciples. He was 62.

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Anita says...July 2021

 

A meeting of two, eye to eye, face to face
And when you are near I will tear your eyes out
And place them instead of mine,
And you will tear my eyes out
And place them instead of yours,
Then I will look at me with mine

- Jacob L Moreno, American psychiatrist and founder of psychodrama

And so 6 months pass by
With the monotony and sameness of clouds, a sleepy moth, a sluggish snail.
Hours, days and weeks pass by...
Those with routines have a semblance of order.
For most. It is a big never ending muddle.
And the eternal wait... for what?

Another lockdown? The THIRD WAVE? Opening up. Fear. Confusion. To go out or not? Heightened melodrama. Disturbed sleep. Curious dreams.

There have been so many small spurts of initiatives, premieres - the joyful shout of glee as dancers step onto stages in many cities across the world. Their sigh of gratitude for having people watching them live instead of trapped inside ZOOM squares.

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Roving Eye curated by Anita Ratnam - July 2021

 

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