Natya Vriksha centre stages two faces - of an inheritor and of a beneficiary - Taalam: column by Leela Venkataraman

Natya Vriksha, the school for Bharatanatyam run by senior dancer Geeta Chandran in Delhi, on two successive Saturdays showcased on the one hand, its inheritor Sharanya Chandran, at the Stein auditorium, and on the other, at the Triveni auditorium, one of the young beneficiaries of its dedicated dance propagation.

That Geeta's daughter Sharanya Chandran, with the advantage of having grown up in a climate of dance and music from childhood, buttressed by special training in nattvuvangam, should present a program of Bharatanatyam, is hardly surprising. But that she should have got back to a full-fledged solo recital after her second motherhood, alongside her full time 10am to 5pm job, now centered round development, and all the family obligations with husband and two kids (notwithstanding exceptionally strong grandparental support), is proof of rare commitment to the art form....

Not many Gurus think of how the student, after the arangetram, manages finding a dance slot, so as to be formally recognized by the dance presenters as a legitimate candidate for the performance arena. Usually it means just waiting hopefully, for the lucky break whenever it comes. To provide the sorely needed helping hand, Natya Vriksha has now introduced its SOPAAN (The next step) series, wherein the combined resources of both institution and guardians of students, present the respective competent young dancer in a solo performance, thus providing for much needed solo exposure.

Anandita Narayanan performing at the Triveni auditorium showed herself to be an assured dancer, having participated in Natya Vriksha presentations, both singly and as part of the institution's group presentations....

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Saroha Festival: In memory of Guru Hare Krishna Behera - Taalam: column by Leela Venkataraman

In keeping with the quiet, non-controversial and modest character of late Odissi Guru Hare Krishna Behera the event was in memory of, was the modest but well-designed Saroha Festival held at the M.L. Bhartia auditorium of Alliance Francaise, New Delhi, on September 4, 2024. Having trained in Gotipua dance, and in Chanda and Champu of Odissi music, Hare Krishna Behera belonging to Balasore in Odisha, had his Odissi dance training under teachers like Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra and Guru Mayadhar Raut, when he was in Kala Vikash Kendra of Cuttack - till he migrated to Delhi in 1964, where after a stint with the Natya Ballet Centre, he joined the Gandharva Vidyalaya as a teacher in 1971. He later ran his own teaching classes at his place in Asiad Village, till he passed away in 2012. Daughter/Odissi dancer Kavita Dwibedi holds the festival of Saroha every year in memory of her father/guru. 

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Profile - Shivani Jatar reimagines Kathak through a Contemporary lens - Kasmin Fernandes

This boundary-pushing Kathak dancer and choreographer blends tradition with contemporary themes, creating a feminist and cross-cultural reimagining of the classical art form.

From the rhythmic footwork of traditional Kathak to the experimental choreographies she now performs in Leeds, UK, Mumbai-born Shivani Jatar's journey is one of balancing tradition and innovation. Steeped in the age-old techniques of Kathak, yet pushing its boundaries, this young dancer offers a fresh perspective on the classical Indian dance form. Shivani's technical mastery of Kathak is evident in her attention to tatkar which serves as the foundation of her performances. Wearing ghungroos, she skilfully weaves intricate rhythmic patterns known as tihai into her movements, creating a dynamic interplay between sound and motion. 

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Anita says...October 2024

It occurs to me that courage comes from the same place as fear, and where there is fear, there is the possibility of courage.

- Pádraig Ó Tuama, Irish poet and theologian
In the Shelter: Finding a Home in the World

Welcome to October - the changing season, the clocks turning back in North America and our grand silks and festive wear emerging from closets.

All around me in Chennai and elsewhere in India, the spirit of Navaratri has begun. Festivals in dance, music and theatre - starting at 5am with classical music, lighting of the lamps in the evening, display of Golu dolls in South India, the fantastic swirling energy of Garba in the north - everything feels so alive, electric and festive. I am sure the festival season has also begun with diaspora circles all over the world. It really is a delicious time of the year - perhaps my favourite season.

I begin in NYC... the BIG APPLE which has been the western world's most important center for dance for many decades. And for the past three weeks, all eyes were on Indian dance events that crowded the calendar.

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Punjab matters!: Column by Ashish Mohan Khokar

The state of Punjab in India is divided into four geographical regions: Majha, Doaba, Malwa, and Puadh. That's Amritsar, Jalandhar, Patiala and Chandigarh for you. These regions are divided by rivers: Majha is located between the Ravi and Beas rivers; the word "Majha" means "central" or "heartland". Doaba is located between the Beas and Sutlej rivers. Malwa is located below the Sutlej river and extending to the Yamuna river.

Taking Mohan Khokar (1924-1999) Centenary celebrations to his home state - the Punjab - was a commendable feat by the IGNCA under Dr. Sachchidanand Joshi. He has supported the centenary celebrations since Dec 30th last; the first one took place in Chennai at Kalakshetra on the occasion of the birthday of late Prof. Mohan Khokar. Dance icons Sonal Mansingh, Padma Subrahmanyam and guru Kalyanasundaram Pillai blessed on dais and many stars of the scene were in attendance. Dr. Achal Pandya gave full support to the publication of the 300 paged tome on Mohan Khokar: The father figure of Indian dance edited by yours truly. Functions later followed in Bombay, Baroda, Ahmedabad, Pune and now - Punjab. 

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Encouraging response to Aavartan Festival - Taalam: column by Leela Venkataraman

Established in 2020 by Madhur Gupta, to spread classical art education amongst the youth, Sangeet Vidya Niketan's valiant effort has worked on the principle of Marg Darshan through a Guru going far beyond the formal instructions inside of the classroom.

Its latest two day event Aavartan held at Stein auditorium of the Habitat, Delhi, not only provided recitals in both classical music and dance, but also blended in the same show, young talents along with the expertise of established artistes - demonstrating in the process, how Art survives through ages - by enriching on the one hand and in turn getting enriched. Above all making the two evenings ticketed events, for this critic, was a courageous and much needed step - especially for an art viewing community, which in the 'free for all' programs, seems to take for granted the dancer, who, living on air, has to provide programs!

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Obit/Tribute - Pt. Sunil Kumar Dubey - Sharon Lowen

In the recent passing of Pt. Sunil Kumar Dubey on September 17, 2024 at Seraikella at the age of 64, the performing arts of India has tragically lost a vital link in the continuity of the recently recognized as classical Seraikella Chhau dance of Jharkhand. 

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Article - Is it time to rethink the beloved nayikas? - S.Janaki

 The nayika holds a very important place in Indian art; she is the heroine of the story and is an integral part of most presentations in the performing arts. In classical dance, the nayika holds sway centrestage - most often describing her love for the nayaka/hero who is not with her. She adorns herself for his return, she waits for him, she pines for him, goes through all the avasthas or emotional states and sends her friend or messengers to convey her sorrow in separation, urging the hero to come to her.

The nayikas, who hold the pride of place in the performing arts, are numerous and of various types. So one wonders why the different classifications of the nayikas are given mostly relating to her nayaka or based on her reactions in love sport! We have classifications of the nayika as mugdha, madhya and pragalbha based on her experience specifically in the art of love. Sringara is indeed the king of rasas and keeps the world going, but it is not the be-all and end-all of existence, is it?

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Nrityantar's Naman 2024 an interactive delight - Taalam: column by Leela Venkataraman

In the present dance scenario, the performance aspect has assumed such pre-eminence, that interactions on dance between artistes, dance writers, and audiences have become too few and far between. It is in blending performance with the educational benefits of interaction with various agencies concerned with the dance, that the two-day event Naman 2024 (an annual event), hosted by Nrityantar, the Odissi school of Bangalore based artiste Madhulita Mohapatra, deserves high praise for.

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Crowded week starts with monsoon moods - Taalam: column by Leela Venkataraman

One recollects the time when late Manna Srinivasan, an arts activist, informally helping out IIC with ideas for its Programme Division, first mooted the idea of a Monsoon Festival as a seasonal event over two days of dance, built round presentations, in some way connected with the Monsoons. Today any idea of "Rimjhim Rimjhim Barase" ideas belong to the past - for now IIC's Monsoon Festival is like any other festival in terms of its content. This year's two-day event presented two Kathak dancers, each consummate in the art form in her own way. 

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Anita says...Sep 2024

 

No one leaves here alive.

So please stop treating yourself as an afterthought
Eat delicious food
Walk in the sun
Jump into the sea
Speak the truth that you carry in your heart like a hidden treasure
Be silly. Be good. Be weird
There is no time for anything else
- British film actor Anthony Hopkins

Wise words. Very few of us have the courage to follow through on every one of his prompts but we can keep this mantra in our hearts as we breathe through our days and pursue our goals.

Rape case protest
(Rupak De Chowdhuri / NurPhoto via AP)

As I write this editorial, many cities in India are still protesting and holding candlelight vigils as a response to the horrific attack on the medical trainee at RG KAR hospital in Kolkata on August 9. The soul-numbing rape-murder occurred in the middle of the night when the 31 year old was resting in the hospital's seminar hall. The incident has since turned political and updates and revelations are emerging every day.

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Moham and performances for Independence Day - Taalam: column by Leela Venkataraman

Performing after a fair gap in the capital, Ragini Chandershekar's Bharatanatyam recital at the Deshmukh auditorium, under the banner of Kalangan, displayed the power and depth of dance proficiency stemming from family inheritance, and the ambience of music and dance she grew up in. As Jamuna Krishnan's daughter / student, honed right from childhood with training under the best of Gurus - K.J. Govindarajan, K.N. Dakshinamurty, Kalanidhi Narayanan and Usha Krishnamurty, Ragini has been performing for over forty years. Heading Kalangan ever since Jamuna Krishnan's absence, the dancer would seem to have single mindedly further enhanced her music / dance, knowhow and performance.....

Time and tide wait for no man and soon after the mortal remains of legend Yamini Krishnamurti being consigned to flames, dance lovers entering the portals of Ganesa Natyalaya for the Swarna Saroja evening for Padma Subrahmanyam's lecture on the Natya Sastra, was for this critic, a pointer to the reality of life that marches on with arrivals and departures....

Supported by Ministry of Culture and the Habitat, Odissi exponent Ranjana Gauhar's Utsav held its annual two-day, handsomely attended festival Sare Jaahan Se Achha, at the Stein auditorium of Habitat. Several dance related personalities encompassing dancers, art sponsors, art bureaucrats, music composers, dance writers, not excluding costume and jewellery designers et al were honoured before the dance presentation started, both days. While the performance calendar, for the first evening, featured dancers of Utsav only, the second evening, starting with a short presentation by the hosts, featured Bharatanatyam, Manipuri and Kathak in that order....

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Article - Handing over a tradition - Renu Ramanath

Once again, the flames were flickering. Once again, the miniscule, multihued 'thiraseela' (curtain) was being held up. Once again, the petite figurines in Kathakali costume were held up in hands. But this time, the hands were new. And young.

Pulling back an endangered art form from the abyss of oblivion is the task that takes a lifetime. But, ensuring that the resuscitated art form does not slip back onto the brink of that abyss again, is the responsibility of another lifetime, another generation. When 'Pavakathakali,' the glove puppet tradition indigenous to Kerala, is being handed over to the next generation of artistes, it is the beautiful continuation of that uninterrupted flow of artistic endeavour taking its course from one generation to another.

The resuscitation of Pavakathakali had happened about forty years ago, under the auspices of Natanakairali, the research and performing centre for traditional and folk art forms of Kerala that was founded by G. Venu, scholar, performer and trainer. Spurred on by none other than Kamaladevi Chattopaddhyay, the then Chairperson of Sangeet Natak Akademi, New Delhi, and the prominent patron of India's handicrafts, handlooms and traditional and folk art forms, G. Venu had taken upon the responsibility of piecing together the almost-lost heritage of Kerala's glove puppetry tradition and breathing a new life into it. Supported with a meagre financial aid sourced through Kamaladevi, Venu had managed to create a troupe of Pavakathakali at Natanakairali with K.C. Ramakrishnan and K.V. Ramakrishnan, two youngsters from the village of Paruthippally in Palakkad district, which was the home of the art form in bygone days. Chamu Pandaram, the last of the Pavakathakali performer hailing from the Andi Pandaram community, the traditional community who were the guardians of the art form, had passed away a few years ago before that. Armed with a couple of puppets made by Thottassery Narayanan Namboothiri at Vijnana Kalavedhi, Aranmula, where the initial part of the revival project was conducted, and supported by his own training and knowledge of Kathakali, Venu managed to design a couple of Pavakathakali performances. 

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Natyarpana by Natyamurthy: Column by Ashish Mohan Khokar

While Yamini Krishnamurthy was forgotten soon enough (Delhi being Delhi or reality of life today in most metros), one function that stood out was by her mansik shishya, Abdul Khalid. He is an Eklavya of and in Kaliyuga. Ask him his thumb and he'd give his head for his guru. Possessed by dance like no one I've seen in recent years, he is a survivor. No money, no mentor no nothing in hand but dil ka dhani and dimag ka dabangg!

He dedicated his annual day Natyarpana to his mansik guru's memory and it was not tokenism as such things often become. It was genuine. The emotion, the energy, the eclectic audiences of babus, defence officers, business class, parents and all.

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Obit/Tribute - Yamini: The enigma - Leela Venkataraman

Words fail me even as I try hard to capture in writing, the magic of that meteor, streaking across the skies and illuminating the dance world - adding a different texture to Indian dance history. Even amidst changing socio/political contours with dance trying to steer a path between flagrant sensuality and punctilious religiosity, Yamini Krishnamurti burst on the scene - the sheer exuberance, joy, sparkle and effulgence of her dance making all arguments meaningless. The formal contours of Bharatanatyam, of Kuchipudi, of Odissi apart, what Yamini's magic gave to the dance was something that came from within her. It was Yamini's dance, which could not be replicated. The minute she stepped on the stage, that switch was turned on, and carried the audience along with its ecstasy. There will never be another Yamini! 

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Angikam bhuvanam... Aagnika Bhagyajainam!: Column by Ashish Mohan Khokar

Dr. Aagnika's Nritya Samarpane was a grand function at Chowdaiah Memorial Hall in Bangalore recently. The city's cognoscenti was in attendance and she with her guru were in top form.

What's top form? Three aspects ought to fall in place: Sangeet, sahitya, shastra. 3S. Add shishya! This one had beauty of form, clarity of delivery and depth of face to show fleeting emotions. One can see this talent enjoys dancing. Period. It comes through.

Kathak acharya Shalini Garg mounted her annual day in which she showcased students from age 5-50. All shapes and sizes. Most showed good tayari, much involvement and happy faces. Shalini Garg is an acolyte of guru Rajendra Gangani of the Jaipur gharana. 

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Obit/Tribute - Whispers of divinity: Yamini Krishnamurthy's dance odyssey - Navina Jafa

Yamini Krishnamurthy carved her place in the history of classical Indian dance from the 1950s to the 1970s, when India saw the emergence of the first generation of non-hereditary female performers take the centre of the stage. Her rigorous training in Bharatanatyam at Kalakshetra, along with Kuchipudi and Odissi under eminent gurus, and her music training expanded her artistic horizon. Her performances were infused with electrifying energy, leaving an indelible impact on the dance world and the modern stage, transcending the chaotic environment that often forces performers to constantly negotiate content and aesthetics dictated by the audience.

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Connection between poetics, music and abhinaya - Taalam: column by Leela Venkataraman

THREE-IN-ONE NEEDS MORE WORK

It was called Sangam - saga in Devotion with three dance traditions Bharatanatyam, Odissi and Kuchipudi sharing the Stein auditorium stage at the Habitat - the concerned dancers, in the order of traditions mentioned above, being Ritwika Ghosh who apart from four years at Rabindra Bharti University has trained under Jayanti Subramaniam, Seetharama Sharma and Kalanidhi Narayanan; Rina Jana trained under Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra and 'Sanjunani' (Sanjukta Panigrahi); and Bobby Chakraborty who studied under Madhuri Mazumdar and off and on has trained under Vanashree Rao. One wonders if such evenings, prompted largely by the dancer verses opportunities-for-performance being so stilted, plus a feel that something different from the usual can attract more attention, are worth the effort involved. Looking at the pitifully slender audience seated in the auditorium, though a few more joined in later after the inauguration by the chief guest Vanashree Rao, the long winding introductions for each dancer had no place and should have been avoided. Ultimately what is shown on the stage as performance, is what audience mind carries home. 

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Article - Drawing parallels between Taylor Swift's Eras Tour and Bharatanatyam - Prakruthi Kolay

Classical dancers: Time to be Fearless!
Classical dancers, it's time for a reality check! When was the last time you performed for 3 ½ hours in a dance festival? Today, normally at Bharatanatyam dance festivals, each dancer gets a maximum of 1 ½ hours. This time slot usually includes the Pushpanjali, varnam, padam (or javali), and thillana, followed by Mangalam. Sometimes, performances are even shorter, reduced to an hour or just 45 minutes to fit more dancers into an evening's lineup - a strategy driven by money hungry organisers.

In contrast, consider Taylor Swift's performances. She gives a full-length concert equivalent to a Sampoorna Margam daily. She not only sings, plays the guitar and piano, but also changes costumes, interacts with hundreds of thousands of audiences, and writes her own songs. Classical dancers could benefit from adopting some of her rigorous routines to truly excel rather than settling for mediocrity. She's truly a MASTERMIND. 

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Obit/Tribute - Dance was her life: Yamini Krishnamurthy (1940-2024)- Ashish Mohan Khokar

Purna Tilakam was her real middle name. Her art symbolised it. Born to a totally non-dance family of Madanapalle, Andhra, she became a benchmark in and of Bharatanatyam. The form can be divided into two broad phases: before Yamini and after Yamini. Everyone before her faded when she came on professional stage and everyone after her tried to copy her eye make-up, her blouse fan and her mannerisms, pout, spout and all. She was the first prima donna, if India ever had one. 

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PRIDE: Column by Janaki Patrik

The passage of time has allowed PRIDE to overcome prejudice. We now openly celebrate dancers whose lives were cut short during the 1980-1990 AIDS epidemic. And likewise we celebrate the "inclusion, diversity, equity and accessibility" for which so many have given their lives. This article is a tribute to their lives and their art; a memorial for their dancing and choreography, which could not reach full fruition; and a celebration of the promise found in more accepting attitudes and behavior, which are now being encouraged by corporate, government, social, legal and personal changes.

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Anita says...August 2024

 PATHS ARE MADE BY WALKING

- Franz Kafka, Czech author

This is an important quote and a very important signifier for everyone.

It's August - a time between the Indian seasons of summer, GRISHMA and the upcoming monsoons, VARSHA. This is also when many in South India take to health resorts and Ayurvedic centres to strengthen their immune systems. It is believed that this is a very important time when the rays of the sun weakens and our bodies become most susceptible to infections and illness.

So wherever you are, I hope you are well, in good health and taking the time to read my thoughts.

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Interview - Divya Goswami on Nadant: Even if people understand 10 per cent, it's okay - Shveta Arora

Divya Goswami is a well-known Kathak soloist whom I have watched and admired for many years. She brings a rare intelligence and depth to Kathak and the breadth of her influences is obvious in her productions. Last year, I watched an excerpt from her production Nādānt, which she premiered in Bengaluru in March 2024 in its full length of 75-80 minutes.

The press note about Nādānt describes it thus: 'There is a force of existence, which cannot be contained by space or bound by time, yet it is the one that creates the many dimensions, patterns and emotions. This is the perpetual dance of existence, Nādānt, without a beginning or an end, and at the very centre is Lord Shiva. Nādānt is an exploration by Divya Goswami navigating through the leela of the manifest form of the cosmic dancer and the visual discourse on the true purpose of existence; until there is no more.'

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Matters that matter - Dance Matters: Column by Ashish Mohan Khokar

Guru Shishya Parampara matters. In this month that was, last week was guru purnima on 21st July, a day when we propitiate our gurus. What's left of the tradition really? Does the core kernel remain or its mere shadow? Shops that are run for profit; egos larger than talents and output less than desirable basic quality in art of dance?

Okay, if that sounds too harsh then let's dilute it a bit to say, 30 years old as gurus sound childish; arangetrams done in six months of learning is a joke! And teachers who don't know much, except items, are a blot on this exalted soul of Indian traditional art learning systems.

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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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