UNbox and outta box! - Dance Matters: Column by Ashish Mohan Khokar

UNbox is the latest attempt to brand Bangalore. Earlier attempts were worthy but faded away without staying power and change in admin. As part of the 11 days feast, classical dance was offered by the UNbox Bangalore Habba team at Medea in Koramangala....

Crowds came in abundance to NADAM's 24th year Kalanadam festival at ADA Rangamandira. The hall has seen better days. Even with enhanced facilities, especially parking and elevator, the staff is nonchalant, uncooperative and plain rude. They are getting a salary for work but act as though they are doing a favour! I would tell the owners to replace them with younger, more qualified professionals if these think they are doing social service. Lights go off when needed most; elevator switched off unless you can prove you are above 80 and can't climb steps. NONSENSE.

NADAM made sense despite that and for three days brought a dance palette of taste and substance. On day one were the popular local razz-m-tazz Kathak duo Nirupama and Rajendra. Day two was Odissi from the soil by Meera Das group and G. Narendra solo. Day three was Mohiniattam by Sunanda Nair, then Kathak by Nadam ensemble and Bharatanatyam by Poornima Ashok....

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Article - The music of the Geeta Govinda - Dr.Ileana Citaristi

(Excerpt from: I. Citaristi, Odissi and the Geeta Govinda, New Delhi, Manohar Publisher, 2022)

The first English translation of the Geeta Govinda to appear in the West was the one published by Sir William Jones in 1792. In the preface to the book he writes:
"When I first read the songs of Jayadeva who has prefixed to each the names of the mode in which it has to be sung, I had hoped to procure the original music, but the pundits of the South referred me to those of the West and the Brahmans of the West would have sent me to those of the North while they of Nepal and Kashmir declared that they had no ancient music but imagined that the notes of the Geeta Govinda must exist if anywhere, where the poet was born."

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Interview - Raja Reddy: We merge originality with traditional forms - Tapati Chowdhurie

The name of Raja-Radha Reddy is synonymous with Kuchipudi dance. Their illustrious career spanning over more than half a century has created a bench mark, which is hard to achieve. Their performances, public or private, in the country or outside have gained them a reputation for rare excellence and technical perfection. Both Raja and Radha Reddy got the Padma Shri and the Padma Bhushan individually and simultaneously for the same cause of propagating Kuchipudi dance. That created history. Similarly they were decorated with the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award too.

Sitting in the well-equipped library of his dance institution Natya Tarangini - running for the last 47 years - in Pushp Vihar in New Delhi, this writer had the rare opportunity of interviewing Raja Reddy, the doyen of Kuchipudi dance.  

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Book Review - Courting Hindustan: The Consuming Passions of Iconic Women Performers of India - Dr. Ragothaman M. Yennamalli

Picking up the book 'Courting Hindustan' by Madhur Gupta was a delight. It was a breeze reading through it. I loved how the chapters chronologically trace from the famous Amrapali to T. Balasaraswati. Within the ten chapters, there is a lot of information along with familiar content that as dancers/artistes we know about. The good thing about this book is that if you are traveling, you would have finished it before reaching the destination. Packed within the pages are stories of how strong-willed women, ostracized by the society, fought with the system, survived and shone like bright stars for everyone to be inspired about.

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Article - Mandala Nritta: Techniques of staging war sequences based on Naṭyashastra - Dr. Nancy Abraham

Art revives and readapts time and space. Indian performing arts transcends boundaries and enables global platform to communicate human experiences.  This study throws light on Maṇḍalas which is the core performing techniques particularly used to stage the war sequences mentioned in Bharatha’s Natyashastra. It emphasizes on war movements. Maṇḍala Nritta is a technique to perform war dance and usage of weapons. They are usually performed by movements of feet which are graceful and harmonic. It can be delicate movement of one leg or a combination of the movement of shank, feet and thighs. Bharatha’s Natyashastra mentioned only the lower limb movements which are divided into two types, Akasha mandala and bhu mandala or aerial and earthly mandalas. Indian dance research plays a significant role in ancestry of dance movement into the integral part of modern dance world. So texts and commentaries on the one hand and praxis on the other hand were essential to understand India’s dance tradition to reconstruct their history.

The Naṭyashastra encompasses all that belongs to the Indian tradition of art and aesthetics. It is a Sanskrit treatise on performing arts. The study of Indian art and culture derived through various layers such as theory and its application, oral and textual tradition, ethics and aesthetics, classics and folks (Margi and Desi tradition). 

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Profile - Vija Vetra: A century of dance - Prakhar Bajpai

Vija Vetra, the legendary star performer and renowned Latvian dancer from the USA, is a national treasure who specializes in Indian dance forms. She is a dance choreographer and the first dancer who started “the Indian dance movement” in Latvia. Her name carries profound significance and deep meaning. In Latvian, “Vija” means garland, and in Sanskrit, it is pronounced as “Vijaya”, meaning victory. “Vetra” means the storm or dark clouds of God Indra. Combining both words from her name simply means “Garland of Victory”. Vija, often called the priestess of Indian dance, was born on February 6, 1923, and celebrated her 100th birthday this year. She has resided in the heart of the West Village, New York, since the 1970s and is known as the Westbeth icon. She has been an ambassador of dance, bridging different cultures and hearts and uniting the world through her talent. She is a dance architect who expresses the emotions of life and nature through her dance. Dance is her way of connecting with the universe.

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Anita says...December 2023

 Where do stories come from?

They come from other stories
From deep within ourselves and from the cave of memories
Stories bind us and release our imaginations to swoop and soar
- Author SALMAN RUSHDIE award acceptance speech, Germany



We ask that same question each December!

"Where did the year go?"
"What? Already?"
"Gosh! How time flies!"

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