Swarna Saroja program proves an eye opener - Taalam: column by Leela Venkataraman

The second event of the ongoing Swarna Saroja programs at Ganesa Natyalaya as homage to the founder of the institution, the recently departed Dr.Saroja Vaidyanathan, had its surprises for the audience in the packed hall. The evening had two sections, Dharover (signifying tradition passing on from teacher to student from one generation to another) and Sabka Vikas (meaning progress for all).

Starting under the Dharovar section, was a Bharatanatyam program She the Divine, presented understandably (considering the occasion) by a student of Saroja Vaidyanathan, Anupama Thakurda settled in Atlanta, USA, where she runs the Deeksha School for Performing Arts. The evening proved how, despite the passage of time, the umbilical cord with Ganesa Natyalaya remained for many senior dancers who had been trained under Saroja Vaidyanathan. And here was an instance of a student, after twenty three years visiting the institution where she had started her Bharatanatyam journey. One knows that foreign tours of Rama Vaidyanathan (who inherits the teaching reins) with visits to Atlanta, have greatly helped in keeping the Natyalaya bonds alive.

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Prism - Natya Shastra: The ancient text bridging music, dance and drama - Vasini Shyama Charan Jha

The Natya Shastra, a foundational Indian treatise on performing arts, transcends the boundaries of a simple guide. Composed by the sage Bharata Muni between 200 BCE and 200 CE, it delves into the intricate connection between music, dance, and drama, elevating them to a sacred status in Indian culture.

This remarkable text isn't just a manual for creating performances. It delves deeply into the aesthetics, techniques, and spiritual significance of each art form, weaving them together into a cohesive whole. 

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Article - Pencils and Pirouettes - Shruti Patki

The parallels between learning to write and learning to dance are striking. Just as you don't master writing the moment you first hold a pencil, you don't become a dancer the day you step into your first dance class. Both skills require patience, practice, and a deep understanding of foundational elements.

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Week of exceptional programs - Taalam: column by Leela Venkataraman

In a week of out-of-the-box presentations, the solo glory of the Bharatanatyam evening titled Taapita, singed every person in the audience, with the burning intensity of sringar, as evoked by dancer Pritam Das, on June 20 at the Stein auditorium, Delhi. This exceptionally endowed dancer, after initial training under Jayati Ghosh and Samrat Dutta, has for the last eight years been training under Rama Vaidyanathan of Ganesa Natyalaya. Gifted with a reed slim body which can move any which way at incredible speed, not to speak of an inbuilt feel for the fractional intervals of a tala or time cycle, Pritam tops all this with a deep sense of commitment to his career in Bharatanatyam....

A mixed theatre/dance background always adds a vital dimension to a dancer's work, and so it has been in the case of dancer Sudip Chakraborty - writer, storyteller and a TEDx speaker, whose seventeen year Kathak experience, coming on top of Bharatanatyam learning in the Kalakshetra mode, had its finishing point under Guru Jaikishen Maharaj, after years under Pranab Sanyal and Sandip Mallick. The youngster has also trained in pakhawaj under Pt Ravi Shankar Upadhayye. The dance knowhow has been enriched by theatrical experience flowing from working in local group theatres of Kolkata.....

It was very fitting that for an occasion remembering an independent minded woman like late Madhavi Gopalakrishnan, a work like 'And She Spoke' on the voices of women in a deep rooted patriarchal society, should be presented at the IIC, Delhi. One of the trustees, daughter Meera Khanna, in her introductory remarks hit the nail on the head with the statement of her as "a mother who taught us to never be dependent on her" while her sibling, dancer Rama Vaidyanathan, has on several occasions referred to her own mental stamina in facing up to career ruffles, as a result of the strength drawn from her mother.....

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Article - The connection is in the creativity, sustainable communities through Community based Arts - Serenity Wise

Not many know it, but there is a lot of power in your local weekly community dance class. I have always been involved in some type of community-based arts group (mainly dance). After extensive opportunities to learn from dance groups around the world, I began to notice something beyond the specific dance activities at hand. There was something significant about the ability each group had to educate, inspire growth, and foster a sense of belonging amongst its participants. To better understand how arts groups do what they do, I began to research, starting through my own art form of choice, dance. I have since spent the last eight years exploring and researching the informal and formal ways that community dance groups operate, and how they do what they do. While there is an ample and increasing amount of literature about the benefits of community-based arts groups, there is less information available about how the groups create those benefits. To contribute to this aspect of the research, I regularly seek opportunities to connect with dancers, to learn about their groups and dance practices. Whenever  possible, I invite them to speak to my classes of dance students, to share insight into their processes.

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Live dance and taped music - Taalam: column by Leela Venkataraman

Classical dance performed to recorded music has become an accepted phenomenon today. Even about fifty years ago, thoughts of performing Bharatanatyam or Kathak to anything but live music, was unthinkable. Sponsors, finding the cost of dance programs with live music (particularly in connection with dancers having to come from outside cities) too hard on the purse, have themselves eased earlier preconditions, agreeing to dancers performing to taped music....

BHARATANATYAM EYE COMMUNICATION IN NAYANA

Apeksha Niranjan with her eloquently expressive eyes is undoubtedly a fitting candidate for her own choreography of the Bharatanatyam program at the Stein auditorium titled 'Nayana', with its accent on the importance of the eye in dance communication. The entire verse of the Abhinaya Darpana (The mirror of Gestures) Yatha hasta tatho drishti, Yatha drishti tatho manah, Yatho manah tatho rasah,... is on the process of evoking the aesthetic sentiment or 'rasa', which cannot happen, without the total involvement of the mind....

TRACING INTIMATE RELATIONSHIP OF WOMAN AND FIRE IN AGNEYA

Presented by Shree Mahamaya Arts and Culture, Dr Sreemoyee Gangopadhyay's concept of Agneya is fashioned round woman's relationship with fire from birth to death. Whether during Puja, Utsav, Vivaha, Yagna or Chitaah, the Indian woman has fire as an inseparable concomitant of life. Trained in the Debaprasad style of Odissi, Dr.Gangopadhyay dips into mythology, drawing from its episodes, a social view point associated with life even today, portrayed through multiple dance styles like Odissi, Bharatanatyam and Kathak.

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Article - In Response to Gayatri Iyer's article in The Hindu about Indian classical dance and Queerness - In context of Dharmic Texts, Characters and Bharatanatyam - Ramaa Venugopalan

Why are Indian classical arts hesitant to depict queerness?

By Gayatri Iyer

"It is no surprise that proscenium stages in Chennai are still hesitant to showcase this subject matter. When queer dancers themselves struggle for acceptance, how can we expect the subject of queerness in art to be unequivocally accepted? Perhaps, the answer lies in looking to the past, before our sensibilities were encumbered by Victorian ideals, to a society that produced the image of Ardhanarishvara - neither man, nor woman, but both simultaneously.''

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Anita says...July 2024

 "We are approaching a major turning point in world history... It is a juncture at which concepts suddenly become hazy, lose their precise contours, at which our familiar and commonly used words lose their meaning."

- Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Russian author

And here we are again!

It's the beginning of the month and I am sharing my thoughts and ideas of what has intrigued me or tugged at my mind screen these past 30 days.

The acclaimed words of the Russian author return to our minds as we see the end of a tumultuous Indian election, the looming uncertainty of the US elections, the ongoing conflicts in Ukraine, Russia, Israel, and Palestine - a divided population and a socio-political landscape where lies speak louder than truths. How do these macro events filter into the lives of dancers and musicians for better or worse? We cannot ignore the growing power of social media about which I shall comment on later in this edition.

With Italian Prime Minister Giorgio Meloni making the Namaste an internationally accepted gesture which became viral at the G7 meeting, I will open this ANITA SAYS iteration with a Namaste to all of you. What I am sharing are not declarations, but ideas that I hope can stimulate more discussion, conversation, and hopefully, feedback.

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Tribute - A tribute to Kamala on her 90th birthday on 16th June 2024 - Gayathri Keshavan

Kamala and Bharatanatyam are inseparable words right from the year 1940, spanning the dance world for many decades. She was popular as Baby Kamala…later as Kumari Kamala, then famous as Kamala Lakshman….thereafter Smt. Kamala. During my childhood days and as I grew up to be a young dancer, my role model for admiration and inspiration was Kamala, the enchanting dancer. 

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18 Days... - Dance Matters: Column by Ashish Mohan Khokar

'18 Days' is about the war as described in the Mahabharata, one of the two important epics of India. It pertains to the symbolic end of rule by devatas and start of world run by men. It is about statecraft, politics, betrayal, avarice, kingdoms, relationships and more. For Hindus, it also is foundational ethics for life through karma and dharma. 

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Profile - Father Saju George's Kalahrdaya - Tapati Chowdhurie

The headlines in The Telegraph newspaper about Father Saju George (SJ) was 'DANCE, BROTHER SAJU GEORGE, DANCE.'

Father George is a phenomenon - a self-made man who is both passionate about dance and about joining the Jesuit order. In his Ted Talks he said that he was excited to speak about his dance which is a vocation within a vocation. Life is worth living, he said, if you have a goal.

In his teens he happened to read the book titled 'Life is Worth Living' by American author, bishop Fulton John Sheen and it gripped him. It helped him to be focused and make his life worth living for himself and the world. Born into a Syrian Catholic family in a small village called Santhipuram in Kottayam District in Kerala, to a family of 10 children, he was interested in Indian classical dance from childhood. 

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Showcasing Odissi and deliberating on its generational changes - Taalam: column by Leela Venkataraman

The two day Omkara Festival at the IIC premises organised by Manasa-Art Without Frontiers (with focus on Seraikella Chhau and Odissi), during its animated seminar discussion, moderated competently by Sharon Lowen, put the searchlight on Parivartan, the very pertinent issue of generational changes. This has been an important concern for all traditions with roots in a deep cultural past, as they transit through time. How does an intangible cultural heritage, travelling out of its region to spaces all over the world, deal with the challenges of having to deal with practitioners from different language and religious backgrounds, while creating lebensraum for itself amidst the imperatives of catering to different cultural sensibilities?

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A delightful week of Kabir, Bharatanatyam and Swarna Saroja - Taalam: column by Leela Venkataraman

Choreographed by Ridhima Bagga, Utsav 2024 presented by students of Gauri Diwakar Sanskriti Foundation at the Shri Ram Centre, Delhi was a poetic delight. Sant Kabir's Dohas, Ramainis, Kaharvas and Shabads with their mystic underpinnings, make excellent material for Kathak dance given the dance's penchant for abstraction.....

It was IIC's Double Bill Concert, giving Delhi audiences a first exposure to Bharatanatyam by Ramya Suresh. The dancer epitomized, aside from the considerable talent, the advantages of a home background, wherein music and dance are a way of life.... 

As Ganesa Natyalaya, the largest institution for Bharatanatyam in the capital, observes its diamond Jubilee of just over fifty years of serving dance, amidst the poignant absence of its founder Saroja Vaidyanathan, presiding over the destiny of the institution for years. In a seamless natural handover of reins to the family members, the work of the institution has not suffered.... 

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Home truths in Abhadra of societal snobbery - Taalam: column by Leela Venkataraman

Two factors prompted my visit to the Habitat - one to watch Bharatanatyam by a male disciple of Saroja Vaidyanathan (when I had associated male dancers in the Natyalaya as a recent phenomenon with Rama Vaidyanathan's male students), and the other that the dance was being rendered to Bhojpuri songs!

After experiencing dancer Vinay Tiwari's creation and listening to the warm response of the audience, my first unvoiced thought was that Saroja Vaidyanathan would have been supremely happy to see the rewards of her labour. As gold medalist from Bhatkhande University, with a Nritya Nipuna title from Nalanda Dance School, plus a graded Doordarshan artiste, Vinay Tiwari has more than proved his dance credentials. With a senior diploma in Folk Dance and Masters in Sociology and Bharatanatyam, he is at present, as dance teacher in Prometheas Noida School, engaged in teaching folk forms and also Bharatanatyam to new learners. After 3pm, he is engaged at the Natyalaya working and learning (now a student of Rama Vaidyanathan) et al.

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Article - Alice beyond the Victorian Era - Dyumna Chhabra

Over the years of reading English literature, if there’s one genre I tend to run away from, it is the classics, and I try to gravitate towards literatures that seek to be “Windows on the World” (Damrosch, 2003). ‘Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland’ is the epitome of classics from the Victorian era and probably a book I would not have picked up myself had it not been for the show. I am glad to say that reading the book turned out to be a good decision!

‘Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland’ by Lewis Carroll is an exemplary work that reaches out to young children whose curiosity and imagination have led them down the rabbit holes of dreams.  

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Book Review - Unique book on Saivism - Vijay Shanker

'Ananda Siva Natanam: The blissful dance of Siva' by Dr Geeta Radhakrishna is a unique book on Saivism (the cult of Siva). Siva forms the trinity of Hindu mythology, along with Lord Brahma and Lord Vishnu. The book is dedicated to Siva Shakti - the divine energy of Siva and Parvata Nandini, the daughter of the mountain king Himavan, divine mother of this world. 

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Prism - History of Evolution of Odissi Dance after Independence - Dr. Ileana Citaristi

ODIA THEATRE

The emergence of the Odia theatre scene in the early forties marked the end of the different forms of rasleelas or musical plays as forms of independent representations and they became part of the repertoire of theatre groups along with other plays based on modern or mythological subjects. Many of the artistes who were involved in the leelas shifted to the newly opened theatre groups so that a certain continuation in the tradition could be maintained and the more popular libretto of the leelas continued to be represented even if in a more secular environment. One of the earliest theatre groups which opened at Cuttack in 1918, was the Radha Krishna Theatre followed by others like Hajuri Theatre at Puri, New Theatre of Odisha at Baripada, Odisha Theatres at Cuttack, Bhagwati Theatres at Banapur on the Chilka Lake and the three Annapurna Theatres opened by the same proprietors-Somnath Das at Puri, Annapurna A, Cuttack, Annapurna B and Berhampur, Annapurna C.

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Anita says...June 2024

Your time is limited,
So don't waste it by living someone else's life.
Don't be trapped by dogma-
Which is living with the results of other peoples thinking!
- Steve Jobs
Tech pioneer

In the end,
We'll all become stories
- Margaret Atwood
Writer

Having not danced, watched any performance or engaged with anyone connected with dance for a full month is a rarity for me. But it was a conscious decision. I needed to disconnect and distance myself for some time to be able to refocus and perhaps, even float. I wanted to enjoy a rhythm where there were no deadlines, no rehearsals, no performance related duties and no compulsions to finish or complete any project. A real privilege, I know, but something that was long overdue.

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Shriram Bharatiya Kala Kendra's three day Ballet Festival - Taalam: column by Leela Venkataraman

The Indian Ballet as an art form, operating in a climate of artistic freedom, with style and technique, classical or otherwise, dictated by the need to experiment and expand the movement vocabulary in order to communicate to a cosmopolitan audience, has found its most fertile field of operation in Delhi's Shriram Bharatiya Kala Kendra. Aside from its magnum opus Ramayan and Krishna creations, the institution has to its credit over 60 dance drama productions, set mainly in movements of Kathak, Chhau, and Folk - their attraction and ability for luring large audiences, not lessening a whit over the years.

This year's Ballet festival projected over three days comprised three productions, Parikrama, Karna and Meera, each as different from the others as chalk from cheese. If Parikrama dealt with an abstract theme, Karna brought out the tragic story of a Mahabharata hero who despite being invested with all the noble qualities, was destined to a life of unmitigated misfortune. His unjust end came while fighting, ironically, for Dharma. Meera on the other hand, was the tale of the saint poetess, who, born in a patriarchal society and chained to the stifling orthodoxy surrounding royalty, courageously fights her way to emancipation. And given the fact that the same cast had to present three very different productions immaculately, with not a cue missed, on three consecutive evenings, one can imagine the scale of rehearsals and attention to detail in the preparation! 

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Article - The impact of songs in series like Heeramandi on Kathak artistes - Shruti Patki

Popular series like Heeramandi have a significant impact on Kathak artistes. While these shows spark interest in our beautiful dance form, they also create misconceptions and challenges. The sudden influx of beginners seeking quick lessons and the undervaluing of years of dedicated practice are just a few of the issues we face. Let's explore these challenges and gain a deeper appreciation for true dedication behind Kathak.

1. Influx of inquiries from inexperienced students
When a popular series like Heeramandi features a song with Kathak, it often leads to a sudden surge in inquiries from people wanting to learn Kathak specifically to perform that song. However, many of these prospective students have no prior experience or foundational knowledge in Kathak. This trend can be challenging for seasoned artistes as they have to manage expectations and explain the basics to those who might not understand the complexity and dedication required for this classical dance form.

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Article - Uday Shankar in Almora - Bharat Sharma

(Some thoughts on antecedents of new dance pedagogy in the 20th century as part of Liberal Education... written in 2022)

I will begin with a quote from a brochure brought out for a festival organized in 1984 in New Delhi by sitar maestro Ravi Shankar, commemorating 60 years of dance debut of Uday Shankar in London. The festival - Uday Utsav - brought together a full gamut of artists emanating from the legacy of Uday Shankar. Performances and workshops were organized in Siri Fort Auditorium and National School of Drama. In this brochure there was a significant summing up of Uday Shankar's legacy titled 'Almora- a creative peak', written by Professor Joan Erdman, an eminent Anthropologist from University of Chicago, who had by then done extensive research on life and art of Uday Shankar. 

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Week of varied fare - Taalam: column by Leela Venkataraman

The evening of Odissi dance at the Triveni was titled Sankalan. Conceived by Odissi dancer and teacher Anita Babu trained under late Gangadhar Pradhan at Orissa Dance Academy of Bhubaneswar, Sankalan presented the results of a four day workshop conducted by the present head of Orissa Dance Academy (who also happens to be the President of the Odisha SNA) namely Guru Aruna Mohanty, one of the senior-most of Guru Gangadhar's students....

It was a pitifully scanty gathering in the Stein auditorium, for the Bharatanatyam performance of Anju Chandran of the Chennai Kalakshetra alumni. But what heart warming applause after each item! It did not take long for the audience to understand that here was a dancer totally unaware of herself and utterly charming - the line perfect nritta, and restrained poise of the abhinaya, never attracting attention to the persona of the dance.....

In a fast changing world, passing on to the next generation of students the essence of an art form inherited as a legacy from past gurus, faces greater challenges - on how to keep the roots of the art alive, while adapting to a contemporary clientele of both students and audience. As usual the evening at Natya Tarangini's outdoor performance space with galleried seating, began with the wise words of Raja Reddy on prachisudha and bhinnaruchi and on keeping in mind while teaching the responsibilities in passing on the cardinal principles of the oldest living civilization, namely India....

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Article - Why you must watch Madu - Dyumna Chhabra

Art doesn't create distinctions, people do. Madu is a testament to how access to learning and performing an art form can be a life-turner, and how passion can drive one beyond the walls they've known and persevered within all their life. This documentary follows the journey of a young Nigerian boy who gets to learn at Elmhurst Ballet School. Directed by Matthew Ogens and Joel Kachi Benson, it shows how passion can grow within creeks and how support can nurture it to fruition.

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Article - Reframing Swati Padams: A conversation with Dr. Neena Prasad - Shereen Saif

As the haunting melody in Aahiri weaves a mood of pathos, a lovelorn woman confesses to her beautiful moon-faced friend: "Oh, Madirakshi (one with intoxicating eyes)! Alas! My heart can no longer bear this turmoil caused by Cupid. What am I to do?"

In another scenario, set to the tune of Asaveri, a pining heroine seeks out her lover, only to find him aloof. Emboldened by the sway she has over him, she questions, "Oh, Beloved! Why do you not speak to me? What wrong have I done to deserve this?"

"Panimathi mukhi bale" and "Enthaho vallabha", two widely performed padams in Mohiniyattam, trace their origin to the early 19th century in Kerala, a time of great creative resurgence in poetry, music and dance. The former composed by Swati Thirunal, the erstwhile ruler of Travancore, and the latter, penned by his celebrated court poet Irayimman Thampi are two classic love ballads of that era, steeped in the ethos of the Vaishnava bhakti movement that had by then gained prominence all over India. Much like Sufi poetry, the lyrical content of these padams is intimate, sensual and carries the passionate longing for an absent beloved. Treated allegorically, the yearning of the heroine is interpreted as the soul's aching and desire for union with the divine.

However, even though the intention of the poetry is anchored in the devotional, the dancer's path to evoke rasa lies not in portraying chaste devotion. Rather, the opposite! Through the explicit and aesthetic portrayal of passion. In the hands of a mature performer, a love-soaked padam can inspire a divine, transcendental experience says Mohiniyattam dancer, researcher and choreographer Dr. Neena Prasad.

To explore this subject in depth, a 10-day intensive workshop was recently organized exclusively for dancers trained at Sougandhika Centre for Mohiniyattam in Thiruvananthapuram, a kalari she established 20 years ago for research and development of the art form. The workshop curriculum covered Mohiniyattam movement vocabulary, abhinaya techniques, appreciation of Swati Thirunal's poetry and music and her approach to choreographing a padam.

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Pug ghungroo bandh in Pune - Dance Matters: Column by Ashish Mohan Khokar

Pune is a unique city for dance. It is like Madras. Near perfect. People in dance field are pucca about their work, professional in attitude and perfect in interpersonal skills. They don't go overboard with emotion like North India or go ballistic, as in East!

For 20 years now, one has been going to that city. First, as the national director of America based Ngo in cultural education called the AFS. We helped start the Pune chapter and also steered it for three years. It was the most differently abled chapter in AFS network. Parents were demanding and kids were nicer! Well behaved, disciplined and kept to the course. That was 2004/5. A full 20 years ago. It was so nice to meet one such alumnus of AFS Yes program Valerie Apte, who was compering the Anuvedh festival on occasion of the World Dance Day celebrated with pomp and show by one of the biggest Kathak dance centres of Pune called Maneesha Nrityalaya.

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Epoch making 17th World Dance Day celebration by Natya Vriksha - Taalam: column by Leela Venkataraman

Much more than yet another festival of dance, Natya Vriksha's seventeenth consecutive celebration of World Dance Day at the IIC, imaginatively curated by Geeta Chandran and meticulously executed by its tireless crew, was a hard act to emulate. Crafted to meaningfully punctuate presentational gloss with sessions of intelligent reflection, the entire effort mirrored the impact of time on dance forms. Starting with Movement Technique in Sattriya, to a Celebration of Rukmini Devi Arundale as a Revivalist and Institution Builder based on V.R.Devika's latest book, with an illustrated talk/discussion by the author, to a Seminar on Legacy in Classical Dance moderated by Geeta Chandran, featuring a prominent panel comprising Guru/dancers from each dance tradition, to culminate each evening with performances featuring promising young talent and established dancers, the two day event did not have one dull moment.

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Anita says...May 2024

"Dance disappears almost at the moment of its manifestation. It is an extreme expression of the present, a perfect metaphor for life. Dancers sculpt space in real time, working inside a form that is constantly in a state of vanishing. We have no artifacts. I find it strangely beautiful to be creating something that is made of us - made of our breath and blood and bones and minds. Something that is made of the space we occupy and made of the space between us. We embody both the dance and its disappearance."
- Crystal Pite, Canadian dancer & choreographer

A very special Hello to May born dreamers and achievers! This is our month! Well... I am born in this month and so it is my favourite time of the year. May is also the birth month of so many, many creative people - singers, dancers, composers, painters - May is the month when Taurus - the stubborn, loyal, imaginative and sensorial pleasure loving bull collides with the cerebral, quick thinking, restless Gemini twins - what a combination... and for me - born on the CUSP of both months - it means there is a whole lot of stuff going on inside!

There is also lots to talk about in the world of dance and the current spectacle of India's national elections and the vociferous protests going on in US campuses. Both countries look like bristling performance art when viewed from the outside!  

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Article - Paying for a performance, A dancer's perspective - Divya Anand

Recently, I happened to see an Instagram video where Ms.Anita Ratnam was beseeching artistes to not pay and perform. It was, I suppose, in the context of the coveted Margazhi season. However, it got me thinking if we could respectfully explore the greys here. And don't get me wrong, I definitely empathize with her perspective about not compromising on the beauty and quality of the art form. I myself recently had to pay for a performance, it was a truly nominal amount and before I wanted to take myself on a guilt trip, I thought, why not use some more lenses on this topic! 

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Article - 4th Edition of MOVE 2024 International World Dance Day Online Festival - Michelle Jueney

As I sit and pen my 4th media release for this passionate global dance project, I cannot believe we have achieved 4 years and hopefully counting.

The challenges of dreams to bring international artists to perform in my country Malaysia with the exorbitant production costs, immigration, red tape and going through people’s land mines and minefields has opened up a different beauty and opportunity I celebrate exploring avenues in film direction and creativity, connectivity amongst more creative fields, collaborations with worldwide talents with similar visions and audiences of kindred spirits, for now we share our Art with all of you as best we can within all sorts of unimaginable restrictions financially and support to keep going online. I am not funded till today even with the support of the global dance fraternity and legacy dance institutions.

The 4th year brings us another huge milestone with legendary historical icon and dance figure Trisha Brown to be part of our family. Trisha Brown (1936) and Pina Bausch (1940) are actually the first creators of site specific performances. 

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Interview - Piyal Bhattacharya: I believe in totality - Vijay Shanker

Kolkata based Piyal Bhattacharya is the recipient of the Sangeet Natak Akademi award for his unique and outstanding contribution in the field of classical dance and Sanskrit theatre. After extensive research, Piyal has introduced Marga Natya based on the Natyashastra that explores the music and dance attributes of Geetam, Sangeetam, Vadyam, Nrityam and Natyam with the underlying philosophy of reaching out to the supreme, through the interaction of jivatma with paramatma. After formal training in Kathakali, being inspired by Dr Padma Subrahmanyam, Piyal studied the Natyashastra and introduced Marga Natya and choreographed dance dramas with the usage of vachika abhinaya and varied other aspects of the performance technique to combine entertainment and education with a spiritual and holistic approach. In an exclusive interview, Piyal Bhattacharya explains the significance of Marga Natya, Sanskrit theatre, characterisation and the usage of some rare musical instruments to enhance the artistic and aesthetic sensibility of the performance and much more.

What induced you to do research and introduce Marga Natya, based on the Natyashastra?

As it is known, Dr. Padma Subrahmanyam is the pioneer in the research of applied Natyashastra who first brought forward Bharata's prescription of 108 Karanas as stated in the Tandava Lakshana Chapter. I was mesmerized by her performance at the Swarna Samaroh of 1997. It is this performance that inspired me to pursue Performing Arts seriously. After a very fulfilling seven years of training at Kalamandalam, Kerala, it was Dr. Subrahmanyam's research that propelled me to get to the roots. During my training in Kathakali Theatre, I discovered many Sanskrit Naataka-s, which were based on the doctrine of Natyashastra as informed by my Guru-s. My quest was to reach this foundation of knowledge. The discipline, ethics, and ethos of my training at Kalamandalam have worked as the primary resource behind my attempt to revive Naatya of these Sanskrit Naataka-s based on Bharata's principle. For this I first started studying Sanskrit and its theories intensely. Also, a thorough knowledge of Indian worldviews was instrumental in my pursuit. 

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Article - Brahmanical interventions in Kerala's musical legacy - V. Kaladharan

I have often wondered what prevented Kerala, the south-west tip of the Indian sub-continent, from embracing the oceanic grandeur and profundity of the classical Karnatic music till the dawn of the 20th century. King Swathy Thirunal and his court musicians definitely did have an influence in Thiruvananthapuram and in its immediate precincts in the 19th century when it comes to Karnatic music. The untimely demise of Swathy sounded the death knell of Karnatic music too in the capital city of the erstwhile Travancore. This was but an ephemeral state of affairs.

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Anita's Andal - Dance Matters: Column by Ashish Mohan Khokar

Andal is a five lettered word, so is Anita. Andal mystified, Anita demystified. Andal left a mark for aeons; Anita has left a mark by recreating Andal for the modern era. Naachiyar Next is one production that'd go down in history of Andal lore, as one of the handsomest offering in recent times. Anita Ratnam has also made it accessible to the rest of India. Southern traditions are steeped in these tales but for the rest of India, this is a good entry point to a rarefied and layered culture.

It is also accessible as Anita uses English to communicate. So the story and its core content reaches all. That Delhi audiences, who often know very little of the rest of India, connected easily shows Anita succeeded in making a very, very Tamil cultural icon reach all. The audience gave Anita Ratnam and team a real, long standing ovation proving yet again that Delhi may be dili-tante in deeper cultural moorings - especially of southern traditions - but it still retains its heart by giving generous claps all through the 70 minute rendition of the life and times of Godha, as Andal was also known. 

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Anita says...April 2024

"TO A MAN WHO ONLY HAS A HAMMER

EVERYTHING HE ENCOUNTERS
LOOKS LIKE A NAIL"
- American psychologist Abraham Maslow



Hmmm- sums up how harsh and shrill the tone has been amongst some cultural and social circles.

Sitting in Chennai where the temperatures are rising every second, there is much to talk about - and the two main events in the dance and music world DID NOT reflect much positivity. MOST of the action was OFF STAGE... and social media was the battle ground for much of the tussle of words, egos, ideologies and theories.

What am I talking about?
I will get to that
But first... the good news... no, the GREAT NEWS!

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Article - On Mohiniyattam's ascent - Mythili Maratt Anoop

Mohiniyattam, like other theatrical arts of Kerala, has been dramatic, but the real-life drama that unfolded in the past few days has catapulted Mohiniyattam to the segment of main/ hard news from being perhaps a byte in the arts and culture segment. Mohiniyattam became the hotbed of controversy with the instance of a faculty from Kerala Kalamandalam making derogatory comments on the gender and skin colour of an established male artiste, teacher, and scholar, Dr R LV Ramakrishnan and the whole community of Mohiniyattam dancers standing up for him on the social media. Numerous opinions and support writing surfaced in solidarity with him. An issue such as this, in our context where there is growing sensitivity to issues relating to gender, caste, beauty norms (I wish, I could add religion too), is a sure shot way to stir up a hornet's nest, which is a good thing for the dance and the artists involved, as ultimately, all news is, after all, good news. In the past few days, I had several friends, family who had no stakes in Mohiniyattam, sharing video clips of the canonical interview, and opinion pieces with me on whatsapp, and that vouches for the ability that such issues have in generating public interest. Mohiniyattam has certainly outrun the 'Mohini', the practice of several male Mohiniyattam artistes and academic discourse has reflected this turn for more than a decade, and now the debate has found a loud finale in the public realm of social media.

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Article - Technology takes over techniques of naatya - VP Dhananjayan

It is heartening to see a surfeit of professional productions in the Naatya arena attracting a huge mixed audience being entertained with a fairly good standard of dancing. Over the years some of the Bharatanaatyam schools have been competing with each other excelling in their presentation quality using technological developments both in stagecraft and audio support. The senior and junior naatya acharyas and self-styled choreographers strive hard to train their students to maintain a good dancing technique with precision, synchronisation in group dancing, uniformity in costuming though some lack aesthetic colours and design. Some of the out of box thematic solo and group presentations are testimonies for the present intelligent generation's creative thinking abilities surpassing their immediate and previous generation who had limited technological knowledge and exposure to internet, YouTube, online expertise etc. The group choreography employed in the film industry by dance masters goes beyond our imaginations creating fantasies of group formations which in turn influence the new generation of classical dancers, be it Bharatanaatyam or any other Bharateeya naatyam.

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Article - Entrepreneurship in performing arts - Aparna Vasudevan

Performing arts entrepreneurship is not a new invention. It can reasonably be presumed that performing artists have always been entrepreneurial. It is indubitably admirable that art thinkers and educators have started to ponder this subject seriously for years. Nevertheless, it was only a few years ago that the subject was made as Master's program at university level around the globe. It is essentially focusing on cultural and performing art entrepreneurship today. Different modern art incubators and performing art institutions can play a key role in fostering this entire idea. 

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Men to the fore! - Dance Matters: Column by Ashish Mohan Khokar

Rama Vaidyanathan, that dynamic all in one - dancer, teacher, choreographer, organiser, mother and mentor - has worked very, very hard to sustain a career in dance with family responsibilities, running a school, career and more. Today, Rama Vaidyanathan has also left a mark as the best Natya Kala Conference host with most outreach, acclaim and applause. Her students are now a legion, spread all over the world. Rama today ranks as numero uno in her generation of Bharatanatyam artistes.

So, when in the Swarna Saroja year - marked to peg 50 years is her saas-guru creation the Ganesa Natyalaya - she platformed 25 male dancers in one day, she created a new record in excellence, entertainment and engagement with art.

Male dancers have had an unusual history. Most first generation gurus, nattuvanars or gharana dancers were men. Even forms like Kuchipudi, Yakshagana, Sattriya and of course Kathakali had only male dancers. Then slowly the city-smart and college educated girls of Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata started taking to these and other classical forms. A trend started that slowly brought prakritis to the forefront and purush started getting relegated to the background. There were of course the couple dancers like Uday Shankar - Amala, US Krishna Rao - Chandrabagha Devi, Gopinath - Thankamani and Nataraj - Shakuntala. Next generation copied that idea of couple dancing or were inspired by above names and so we had the Dhananjayans, the Reddys, Singhajit Singh - Charu Sija Mathur, Thankamani - Govindan Kutty, Jayarama Rao -Vanashree Rao and more in many forms.

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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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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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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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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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