Tribute - Reflections on the imaginative genius of Pandit Birju Maharaj - Laurie Eisler

The legend, the "Emperor of Kathak", Pandit Birju Maharaj, ascended to the abode of the Devas on January 17, 2022. In the wake of this tremendous loss, social media platforms have been flooded with tributes, live performances, and panel discussions. An eight hour memorial service was held on his birthday anniversary (February 4th) at Kalashram, his teaching institute in New Delhi.

Maharaji is acclaimed for his talents not only as a dancer and teacher, but as a choreographer, vocalist, percussionist, instrumentalist, composer, painter, and poet. He was remembered most fondly for his charm, childlike wonder, humor, and lively imagination. It was this quality of imagination that audiences and students of all ages and nationalities reminisce about with such affection. They delight in his keen observations of nature, animals, and people, from which he would improvise spontaneous and often humorous parodies. (For example, a bird's call would inspire him to create a rhythmic tihai. Or he'd see two friends walking, with one versus two hair braids, and would imitate how that changed their gaits.)

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Thanjavur Revisited - Dance Matters: Column by Ashish Mohan Khokar

The most active cultural institution of India today, the IGNCA was asked by its parent, the Culture ministry, to help organise the Thanjavur Utsavam under the ongoing year-long Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav festival. AKAM can also mean Artist Ko Atyadhik Mila! Since past two years, artists have not had much earnings, especially in times of the pandemic. I'm talking of professionals, not shaukiya society types, who dance and sing anyway....

IGNCA depended on its trustee from South India for content and Dr. Padma Subrahmanyam curated the whole festival. When she took charge of curating this 3 day Utsavam together, she set a new benchmark in HOW TO CURATE. Like all things in India, words are used without sense or meaning. Choreography has become even putting food on table now! Curating means how to arrange a table. We use words democratically. 

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Tribute - Ati Sundar-i: A personal homage - Ashish Mohan Khokar

Sundari amma was my father's friend of college days. I mean he treated her as one and she was just his age, even if she had a fancy title in Kalakshetra. He found her pesky and a typical domineering type who took her title of Deputy Superintendent too seriously. Hailing from Punjab, first male student of Kalakshetra from North, a real defence commissioner's son didn't listen to her instructions one bit. That made her more pesky and he teased her more. Once she was asleep on her cot and as he was passing by on his cycle, he saw her braids hanging, so in mischief he just cut off one! This was their friendship, which remained till the end. His gene transferred to me and I also always joked with her. She was always indulgent and nice. There was no age difference almost. She could talk kid stuff to kids, grown up things to grownups. Besotted by Sankara Menon and in love with Mohan Khokar, she was a true sundari of heart.

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Interview - Dr. Mohan Gopinath: I have lived with Kathakali in my life for many decades

What made you compare Shakespeare and Kathakali?

MG: I have lived with Kathakali in my life for many decades - too many perhaps. My father brainwashed me (willingly and when I was four years old) into Kathakali. My nostalgic memory takes me back to my childhood days in Kerala watching the overnight Kathakali performances. My father knew most of the performers and we used to go to the aniyara (green room) and talk to them. I am trained in Kathakali singing and my arangetram (first appearance on stage) was when I was studying in St. Stephen's College. My teacher then was Sadanam Sethu Madhavan (Sethu), the singer at the International Center for Kathakali in Delhi, who painstakingly took me through the rigors of swarams, geethams, and varnams, and also taught me the fundamentals of the rhythms. I also had the privilege of singing with Sethu many times for various performances. My wife Chinnam had a love for the dance form and she used to come for the performances along with me.

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Obit/Tribute - G. Sundari of Kalakshetra - VP Dhananjayan

G. Sundari of Kalakshetra passed away on the morning of February 3, 2022 in a comfortable home in Chennai. She was 93 years old. She served Kalakshetra as Superintendent of studies, was Secretary to Rukmini Devi and Sankara Menon till she retired. She was a close friend of N. Ram of The Hindu. She had her education in Besant Theosophical High School. After post graduation, she joined Kalakshetra assisting Rukmini Devi and Sankara Menon to build the institution. Her dedicated service to the institution is laudable. She lived in the Theosophical Society in Adyar, Chennai, for most of her life. She was instrumental in helping publish 3 books on the Kalakshetra stalwarts: 'Nirmalam: The genius of S Sarada,' 'Sankara Menon Purushothaman,' and 'Krishnaveni of Kalakshetra.'

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Music Academy's digital all Bharatanatyam Annual Festival of Dance - Taalam: column by Leela Venkataraman

 

One had no issues with the choice of dancers, though an all Bharatanatyam 15th Annual Festival of Dance in a digital form, even when sponsored by the Music Academy Chennai, makes viewing a taxing experience for even the most committed of dance watchers. In effect, it deserved to be called, not Dance Festival but a Bharatanatyam Festival. But as an inevitability during the pandemic, and perhaps even after it, one has to educate oneself to get used to this capturing of all events, in a small frame.

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Interview - An imaginary interview with Guru Gopinath - Part 8 - Tapati Chowdhurie

What made you buy Rs. 5000 worth of Spinning Mills shares from N.J. Nair and how profitable were these?

Firstly, I knew that N.J. Nair was a renowned businessman from Mumbai. I also came to know from the newspapers that shareholders of Tata Company had received a good interest from the Spinning Mills shares. So I expected that I would get good interest money from these shares I had bought. Besides, N.J. Nair had also paid us a good amount of money for the 60th birth anniversary of his mother at Manakkattu. Those days, I was a palace dancer staying at Thiruvananthapuram. These reasons induced me to buy shares from him. After the establishment of Vijayamohini Mill, I received the interest money of Rs. 600 only twice. I did not receive any interest from 1946 to 1984. That was the only financial transaction I made that resulted in a loss.

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Article - Guru Sishya Parampara - Some thoughts - Ramaa Venugopalan

 A recent calling out of a legendary dancer and the abuse allegations thrown at him are not new to the art space. The recent years have been flooded with several such abuse allegations on the teachers of art and art institutions. That leads to the obvious mudslinging on the Guru-Sishya Parampara of Indic Arts. I will restrict this post to dance in general.

The general viewpoint is to say that this Parampara has failed and to dismiss it as irrelevant. While it may seem to be the easiest thing to do, one must examine what this Parampara was, is and will be.

Historically, the study of art was within a specific group of specialised people. Within that group there was hierarchy, there were roles and power structure. That scene has changed and evolved over the centuries. What remains of the Parampara then? Art was passed on by the teacher to the student and it continues to be imparted this way. The student-teacher relationship plays a huge role in the evolution of the art and its way forward.

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Mahagamis searchlight on pedagogical pathways for traditional performing arts within folds of university education - Taalam: column by Leela Venkataraman

Meticulously planned by the Mahagami Gurukul, a two-day seminar Vidyagama featuring eminent Gurus, experts, mentors and educators, put the searchlight on evolving the right pedagogical paths for imparting training, enabling the teaching and sustaining of traditional performing arts - which, from their emergence in the guru/shishya sampradaya, have, with changing times, come to be included within the folds of university education programmes. Specialising in Kathak and Odissi, the training methods and ambience within the Mahagami Gurkul are reminiscent of the time honoured guru/shishya conclaves. Celebrating 25 years of dedicated service, Mahagami has combined the practice of the art forms with equally intense research oriented programmes -with knowhow in Sastra and Prayog going hand in hand. Since 2019, involved in designing and implementing pedagogical paths for training within the folds of the university, MGM University as it is now called, offers music, theatre, dance, Indic studies, and ancient languages. And marking Mahagamis silver jubilee, Vidyagama threw up several models of guru/shishya training along with much information and food for thought. But whether it resulted in a definitive pedagogical blueprint, would be difficult to state.

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Anita says...February 2022

 This is your country,

This is your world
This is your body
And you must find some way
To live within the ALL of it.
- TA-NEHISI COATES, American writer



As we enter February and the bright cheer of Basant Panchami (the arrival of Spring as per the Indian calendar of 6 seasons), we are confronting a very sobering thought. The necessity of NAVIGATING FAILURE. The disappearing promise of a Covid free 2022 and the shifting dates for dancers to return to rehearsal studios and house full auditoriums. As I write this, I am very aware that the UK has thrown aside all norms of Covid protocols and opened its borders and that many theatres in North America are planning their Fall season in earnest. Flights to India are full with so many arriving to visit their families after a 2 year gap.

Performances are still occurring here and there in many Indian cities but the online Mela continues. It is now a BIG BLUR. Thematic festivals are jostling with one another for eyeballs, much like the offline Chennai season. Some are faring well and others not so, with demand slowly but surely decreasing and the big F word settling in - FATIGUE.

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Roving Eye curated by Anita Ratnam - Feb 2022

 

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