In dance world, we often hear the word sastra or shastras. NATYA being
most known and cited, forget the fact very few dancers in the country
(except perhaps Padma Subrahmanyam who knows Sanskrit and its in-depth
meaning and follows its tenets to a T, or the Dhananjayans) maintain its
core essence, in form and use; in shape or size as NATYAshastra
describes!
So to see eager students graduating from Sastra University of Tanjore,
at a special ceremony, was interesting. I must confess had I not been
invited as one of main guests, I wouldn’t be privy to the proceedings
because it was not a public event. Just parents, pandits of arts and
President of the Music Academy N. Murali for the degree conferment of
BFA and MFA students of Bharatanatyam of Shanmugha Arts, Science,
Technology & Research Academy= Sastra University! Its Harvard
returned Dean, S. Vaidhyasubramaniam looked humble despite high
credentials but then this is Tamil culture. High thinking, simple
living. Not much show just substance. Mahati Kannan, with bright
shining eyes (shows tejaswa) sang in praise of Madurai Meenakshi by way
of an invocation, followed by a short dance presentation by senior
dancer Vasanthalakshmi Narasimhachari, MFA degree recipient and winner
of this year's DIRECTOR SUBRAHMAYAM ENDOWMENT AWARD. All this,
under the benevolent but stern watchful eyes of other Meenakshi-eyed of
Madras, the one and only truly academically inclined star senior
dancer-guru-scholar of India -- Dr. Padma Subrahmayam.
Read the article in the site
It was a strangely warming sight at the Habitat watching helpless
organisers turning away throngs of people waiting outside, because of no
vacant seat in the packed Stein auditorium! And this, wonder of
wonders, for Lalit Arpan, the annual classical dance festival
hosted by Kathak artist/teacher Shovana Narayan’s institution! With a
different theme each year, avoiding a feel of predictability, this event
has allowed itself sufficient elasticity to respond to varying
impulses. This year’s choice of the Ashta Nayika theme based on
Vidyapati’s poetry, featuring senior, ‘Padmashri awardees’ only (made
very clear in the introductions) certainly attracted a large turnout,
particularly on the opening evening. Rasa as an intellectual perception
calls for a deep mental culture an artist develops through years spent
in the art form. So the selection of seniors was dictated by wisdom, and
Vidyapati’s poetry given its Jayadeva like bold sensuality in
describing the sringar of the Radha/Krishna relationship, is hardly for
the less mature performer though the Radha of Vidyapati, a parakeeya like Jayadeva’s, is less brazen about her relationship with Krishna.
Read the review in the site
Health Recipes 6: Miso Soup
- Uma Pushpanathan
Serves 4
Per Serving: 360kJ
Preparation and Cooking Time: 15 minutes
View the recipe in the site
Everything in our body is balanced perfectly. Not too high or too fast,
not too low or too slow. All things – just right. Imagine the perfect
aramandi. An experienced dancer knows the exact angle at which to sit –
too much and the symmetry is lost, and too little, it is not an
aramandi. It is just right.
I am always struck by the parallels in our physiology. Take for example
sugar – it has to be maintained between 70 – 120 mg/dl, and our body
does this very elegantly. When we eat or are under stress, our blood
sugar levels start to rise, and the signal immediately goes to the
pancreas, which secretes hormones including insulin, and glucagon, which
go into the blood stream, and exert their effects, so that the blood
sugar almost immediately comes back into the normal range. Now imagine
this happening EVERY single second of our life. It is a wonder that more
of us do not develop diabetes, considering the abuse we throw at our
pancreas right from birth. We all know the problems that occur
from having too high blood sugars – it affects the heart, the kidney,
the eyes, the nerves, the brain – everything in our body works less
effectively when blood sugars are too high.
Read the article in the site
She was nine months pregnant with her fourth child and was an ardent
dance lover. Never learnt it formally, but over the years had developed a
deep understanding of the dance form as well as its content. She went
to watch the prima donna Yamini Krishnamurthy perform at the College of
Military Engineering, Pune, where her Army officer husband was posted.
So overwhelmed was she by the dance that the infant inside her womb
started kicking with great vigour. To top it all, much to the chagrin of
the people around her she with her huge belly stood up on a chair to
get a better view of the dancer’s feet dancing the Tarangam! “This child
inside me has to learn dance from this dancer!”she declared to herself.
Read the article in the site
The 8th edition of the international dance biennale Interface 2016 was
staged in Delhi at Habitat Centre, followed by its performances in
Kolkata at Satyajit Ray Auditorium and Kala Mandir on 9, 10 and 11
September. Interface festival for cotemporary expressions covers dance,
music, installations, paintings, fashion, theatre and cinema. This was
the 25th year of Sapphire Creations established by Sudarshan
Chakravorty, Artistic Director, dancer, choreographer and director of
Interface along with co-director and director of Artsforward, Paramita
Saha. They have been carrying on with grit and determination and deserve
congratulations for their sustained efforts.
Read the review in the site
(This article was published in a special edition 2015 book released
by Nrityanjali Cultural Organisation, Hyderabad, on the occasion of
World Dance Day, ‘Nrityanjali - A Tribute to Dance.’ Reproduced here
with permission.)
Dance and music has always been an integral part of existence of human
life right from time immemorial, probably suggesting that it has
descended along with human beings right from the source itself.
It is quite true for all life forms too, namely a bird chirping in the
woods, a peacock dancing, the nimble footed movements of some of the
animals akin to rhythmic dance, the swaying of the plants and trees to
the breeze, the perennial splashing of the waves of the seas, sound of
river flowing, the thunder and the accompanying rains are all but a
small simile of the endless dimensions through which nature expresses
itself in sound and motion in a captivating manner.
Influenced both by the surroundings and also responding to the natural
instinct, it is all but natural that the human being who is supposed to
be pinnacle of nature’s creation in this planet called Earth too have
found dance, music or together more often as an automatic choice for
expression of joy in particular and the varied myriad emotions that
humans are capable of emoting like happiness, pain, grief, fear, hope,
etc. It is often heard and seen that dance and music is not limited to
any particular creed or strata, it moves both the mass and class of the
society in its own way since it is basically an expression born out of
the inner core of one’s existence.
View the article in the site
