Mind boggling excellence all the way in the 43rd Natya Kala Conference - Taalam: column by Leela Venkataraman

Conceived and curated by the Kathak and Bharatanrithyam couple Nirupama and Rajendra, Chennai's Krishna Gana Sabha's forty third consecutive annual Natya Kala Conference titled Navonmesha (quest for creative excellence), was an eloquent testimony to sheer excellence in every aspect of planning. Textured and insightful in the programming and selection of participants, alongside uncluttered eloquence and neatness in execution of every event (with Aalap helping), the three-day event was a feather in the cap of the organizers. The opening saw the curators refer to how this year's conference, with its searchlight on present day creativity, viewed from the long road of India's ancient wisdom, mentioned in texts like the Natya Sastra to the contemporary times of Artificial intelligence, was looking for, and putting the searchlight on, Artistic intelligence. 

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Profile - Sathya at 60: What endurance looks like in dance - Anurag Chauhan

There are dancers whose journeys are marked by applause and immediacy, and there are others whose lives unfold like a raga at dawn, slowly, deliberately, revealing their beauty only to those willing to listen. Sathyanarayana Raju belongs to the latter tradition. His life in Bharatanatyam has never been about arrival. It has been about staying. Staying with the form through doubt and discipline, through neglect and renewal, through years when the art asked more of him than it gave back.

As he turns sixty, Sathya stands not as a figure of nostalgia but as a living presence in Indian classical dance, one whose relevance has been earned through continuity rather than reinvention. His journey invites reflection on what it truly means to choose Bharatanatyam as a way of life, especially when that choice runs counter to expectation. 

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Interview - Dr. Arshiya Sethi on SADI - Shveta Arora

A novel might be just a story till literary analysis refracts it to reveal its influences, context and interpretative potential. Similarly, scholarship in dance can turn its beautiful practice from an aesthetic discipline into an exploration of our world - its geography, history, culture and even its politics. Hence, even though it is not required, it might be beneficial for practitioners to write about their discipline academically, to plan analyses, research their perspectives and use rigorous academic requirements to develop the habit of scholarship.

SADI (South Asian Dance Intersections) is a double-blind peer-reviewed journal housed at the University of North Carolina in Charlotte, USA, that provides a space for recognized academic writing on dance by anyone in South Asia, in any South Asian language. Its acronym is also a Punjabi word that means 'ours'. Its editorial board, which also includes its founders, consists of Dr. Rohini Acharya, Oberlin College, Ohio; Dr. Anurima Banerji, University of California, Los Angeles; Dr. Pallabi Chakravorty, Swarthmore College; Dr. Ananya Chatterjea, University of Minnesota; Sheema Kirmani, independent activist-scholar from Pakistan; Lubna Marium, A Center for Advancement of South Asian Culture; Dr. Sarah Morelli, University of Denver; Dr. Rumya Putcha, University of Georgia; Dr. Urmimala Sarkar, Jawaharlal Nehru University; Dr. Kaustavi Sarkar, University of North Carolina at Charlotte; Dr. Yashoda Thakore, guest faculty, Dance University of Silicon Andhra, California; Dr. Aishika Chakraborty, director, Women's Studies, Jadavpur University. 

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Article - Democracy as Natya: Toward civilisational renewal - Rohit Viswanath

Democracy today is outwardly ritualised, yet inwardly hollow.

When seen only as procedure, Democracy risks becoming a Nāṭya without rasa. Yet Bharata's Nāṭyaśāstra reminds us that Nāṭya is not mere spectacle but a mirror of life, a fifth Veda meant to harmonise society through Dharma and aesthetic experience.

If politics is reframed as poetry, and governance as dramaturgy, then citizenship itself becomes a sādhanā: a disciplined participation in the cosmic drama.

In this vision, the sabhā of world affairs is not a battleground of interests, but a stage where harmony, wisdom, and responsibility are enacted as Dhārmic roles. 

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Interview - Ashwini Kalsekar: Kathak beyond borders - Vijay Shankar

London based Ashwini Kalsekar, the Artistic Director of KKMUKCIC, is a professional Kathak exponent, teacher and choreographer for over two decades. She learnt under her mother, Guru Rekha Nadgauda, for 17 years that instilled foundational knowledge and a profound love for the art. She continued further training with Guru Shama Bhate in Pune for her MA.

Ashwini Kalsekar shares her thoughts with Narthaki.com

You have been teaching Kathak in London for over two decades. Have you noticed any changes in students and parents over the years?
I have always felt extremely fortunate to be surrounded by students and parents who are supportive and trusting. They have believed in my approach to teaching, my understanding of the form, and in me as an individual. While times have certainly evolved, Kathak continues to attract those who value authenticity and purity. My association has largely been with people who seek depth and sincerity, and that has remained a constant throughout my journey.

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Article - Finding Shiva: A process of rebuilding my own truth - Arnav Ajana

The stone amphitheatre in Old Nessebar keeps the day’s heat like a held note. The sea sits behind the stage as a dark, patient backdrop, and the audience arrives in layers: faces, silhouettes, then the soft static of anticipation. I step into the light with the kind of caution that is really concentration. My feet test the surface, my ribs find the first inhale, and then the body begins its argument with gravity. The turn that follows is not upright. It is angled, airborne for a breath, and it lands slightly before I feel ready.

From my experiences representing India in the International Children's Dance and Music Festival and performing with an ensemble in Bulgaria, the medal mattered far less than the question that brought me there: how does a hip hop body learn an Indian vocabulary without turning it into a costume?

Taking my learnings from Bulgaria with me after the XXIII International Children’s Festival “Sun, Joy, Beauty” in Nessebar (14–19 June 2025), where we won first prize in the International Folk Dance category, I set out with my choreographer to create a new solo piece called ‘Finding Shiva’. 

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When the Bansuri finds its voice: Bansuri Jab Gaane Lage as a living tribute to Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia - Ratikant Mohapatra calling

On the evening of 20 December 2025, Rabindra Mandap, Bhubaneswar, was transformed into a space of collective remembrance, reflection, and deep emotional resonance. The stage musical Bansuri Jab Gaane Lage unfolded not merely as a biographical narrative, but as a profoundly human and artistic experience that touched the audience at multiple levels. By the time the final moments arrived, the silence in the hall - heavy with emotion - stood as testimony to the power of this production. What the audience witnessed was the life of Pt Hariprasad Chaurasia rendered with sincerity, restraint, and aesthetic intelligence, allowing his journey to breathe organically through music, memory, and theatre. 

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Profile - Sathyanarayana Raju: A life in dance - V.V. Ramani

He wanted to celebrate the milestone moment, his sixtieth birthday with what he loved the most in his life - Dance. He felt that this opportunity had to be utilized meaningfully by way of an offering to the lord of dance Nataraja, who had bestowed and blessed him with the art. Sathyanarayana Raju embarked on a marathon effort to dance the Ashtaragamalika varnam composed by Tanjore Quartette sixty times before his birthday. The very next day after this thought surfaced, he got an invitation from Guru M R Krishnamoorthy of Kalakshiti to perform for his organization. Sathya began the first in the series there and subsequently more and more opportunities came his way, and on 6th January 2026 he completes the sixtieth performance of his Anjali. "It is the grace of the lord that I have been able to complete my offering," says Sathya.

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Interview - Dr.Sathyanarayana Raju: From AgriCulture to Culture, Paddy fields to the Proscenium - Srivatsa Shandilya

From the quiet rhythm of paddy fields to the disciplined geometry of the proscenium, Dr. Sathyanarayana Raju's journey is one of transformation shaped by perseverance, devotion, and grace. Rooted in an agricultural upbringing and guided by an unwavering inner calling, his life in Bharatanatyam spans four decades - cultivated with the same patience, discipline, and integrity that once defined the soil he grew up on.

Celebrating 43 years of Bharatanatyam through the Navarasa
Dance captivated me from a very young age, even though I grew up in an agricultural family where art was not part of daily life. Ours was a world shaped by farming, discipline, and physical rigour - my father himself was a kushti pattu wrestler.

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Obit / Tribute - Guru Prabha Marathe (1936-2025) - Ashish Mohan Khokar

Kathak Guru PRABHA MARATHE passed away on December 31, 2025 aged 89. She was the ace disciple of guru Birju Maharaj and first lot in Delhi at Kathak Kendra in the 1960s. She also created Pune's biggest (in land size) dance school - Kala Chhaya in 1965 - where many artistes got platformed in music and dance like Bhimsen Joshi, Amjad Ali Khan and others. She engaged Guru Munnalal Shukla to teach Lucknow gharana for years. She gave space to workshops by Prerna Shrimali and all other gharanas. The space had amphitheatre, exhibition galleries and more. Her niece Rashmi Jangam rook charge in the last decade to run it. Prabha Marathe is credited with popularising and documenting the techniques of Kathak She will be remembered by the art fraternity of Pune as a pioneer and patron. 

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Anita says...January 2026

 And just like that! It is 2026!

The Chinese year of the Horse. The sacred month of Margazhi or Margasirsha. The time of holidays, family gatherings, dance meetings and of transition when we watch another 12 months that has flashed past us and a brand new dozen appears, filled with the promise of an improved year ahead.

2025 has been a year of great fluctuations. Many of us in the performing arts have faced major life shuffles, dislocations, health challenges and many ruptures. But the year has also been important for personal development, career shifts and lifestyle readjustments. Global and geo political realities have impacted the arts and have reduced the flow of people and ideas. The rise and rise of digital technology has caught many of us by surprise and is presently overwhelming us with its astonishing complexity and sophistication.

And yet, here I am. Writing this monthly column, now in its 16th year. That means that this is the 190th monthly edition that I am sharing with you. It has been and continues to be a privilege to express my views and opinions as another generation of dance emerges to claim space and attention for Indian dance. Whether Gen Z and the Millennials read my thoughts or not, these will remain as a document of observations and reflections of a dance passionista!

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