Interview - S. Rajeswari: A satisfying journey in music - Hema Iyer Ramani

 “Two roads diverged in a wood , and I-

 I took the one less travelled by,

And, that has made all the difference.”
- Robert Frost

The story of musician S. Rajeswari who was conferred with the M.S. Subbulakshmi Award by Tamizh Nadu Eyal Isai Nataka Manram  earlier this year, is one such story where she had to make her choices when she came to the fork in the road.

She talks about her journey and her chance encounter with a dance legend, Kumari Kamala, which brought in a new facet to her singing and soon, she carved a niche for herself, and came to be applauded for her contribution to dance music. She soon was the voice behind several prima-donnas of her time.

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Teach India - Dance Matters: Column by Ashish Mohan Khokar

 

'Each one teach one' ran a popular slogan, some years ago. As we approach Teacher's Day (5 Sept, so named in India because when the scholar President of India Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan, a fine teacher himself, was asked how his birthday ought to be celebrated, he said he is what he was because of his teachers. Honour them; make it Teachers Day and celebrate all teachers), I fondly remember many of our teachers, who actually made us what we are today.

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Unmute - 'Unmute. Help': A Performers Guide to speaking up about Rights and Responsibilities of artists and Arts leaders - Dr. Arshiya Sethi

On 11th August this year, a group of three people committed to the arts took a step that had never been taken before, though there was a palpable need for it. The group of three were Kolkata based Somabha Bandopadhyay, lawyer, dancer and activist working with transgender populations, Kolkata and Bangalore based Paramita Saha, dancer and Arts entrepreneur, and me, Dr. Arshiya Sethi, Delhi based independent dance scholar, "Artivist" (Arts and activism) and columnist of the arts.

Between us we represented three organisations, Sruti Performing Troupe which was set up by Somabha's mother, Manipuri dancer and Dance Professor Sruti Bandopadhyay, Artsforward, co-founded by Paramita, that designs strategic encounters between Artists and Business communities and Kri Foundation that works on Arts, Activism and Knowledge creation and which was set up by me 18 years ago. We also represent three generations.

But we are not ageists and so worked collaboratively, drawing on each other's specific capacities and strengths, to set up together, in the commons, a website called Unmute.help, an Artistes' guide to serve as an online, open access resource centre on Arts and the Law.

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Profile - Guru Gopinath-An epic personality - VP Dhananjayan

In my childhood, I grew up watching Guru Gopinath's Navarasa pictures in Mathrubhumi weekly and every now and then got inspired to imitate his exquisite facial expressions, least expecting that I would become a performing artiste at that time. Providence brought me to Kalakshetra in 1953, and ever since, I started watching him at close quarters performing at various venues in Madras whenever there were cultural delegations from foreign countries, where Kalakshetra was also a participant. I was really excited watching him at close quarters and tried to imbibe his histrionic excellence.

My Kathakali Guru Chandu Panikkar was a great admirer of Guru Gopinath and used to comment that "the god given face of this man surpasses divinity of god himself." Listening to such comments from a legendary Kathakali Asan himself, we children took to heart Asan Gopinath as our 'manaseeka guru'.

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Profile - Gloria Mandelik - Celebrated ballerina turns glorious eighty (A bridge between Madrid & Madras) - José Luis Greco

Embracing Classical Ballet, Spanish and Indian Dance, the unusual and eclectic nature of Gloria Mandelik's career has been the subject of interesting controversies since its beginnings. The depth of her knowledge of the dance language of these three cultures can be appreciated by seeing the heights she has attained in her long career.

Born into a family immersed in the international film industry, Ms. Mandelik (1941) attended her first ballet class at the age of four. Soon afterwards she moved from the U.S. to her father's birthplace, France, where she was admitted to the Ballet Academy of the Opera of Monte Carlo. Between the ages of 8 and 12, under the tutelage of her mentor, Gérard Mulys (ballet master of the Operas of Nice and Paris), she studied and performed at the Opera of Nice. For the next three years she furthered her ballet studies with David Lichine in Los Angeles, returning to Paris to complete her scholastic studies and continue with ballet, drama and painting classes.

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Obit/Tribute - Vedantam Ramachandra Vara Prasad - Vijay Shanker

Veteran Kuchipudi exponent, mentor and choreographer, Vedantam Ramachandra Vara Prasad, left for his heavenly abode on 6th August 2021 in Hyderabad. A resident of Chennai, he was shifted to Hyderabad due to medical issues by his nephew and was in ICU for about a week and expired due to multi-organ failure. He was a bachelor and is survived by his two brothers in Canada and USA. He was 64. His immense contribution towards the enrichment and propagation of Kuchipudi spans more than three decades.

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The Immanent and Immaculate One - The Eastern Eye: Column by Dr.Utpal K Banerjee

Satyam Shivam Sundaram was a thematic Kuchipudi solo performance, presented online, by Dilip Diwakar, a Kuchipudi artist from Chennai and the senior disciple of Guru Sailaja. The theme of the presentation was a holistic appreciation of Shiva, as stated in the introduction: "Understanding that eternal reality which causes the Satchitananda. The Linga Purana states, 'the non-characterized is the root of characterized'. This characterized is endowed with the senses, which are of five -- color, smell, taste, sound and touch, and is called as Prakriti or Pradhāna or Shakti. On the contrary, that which is devoid of everything is the non-characterized, called the Purusha or Shiva, which is the substratum to the Prakriti. From this union comes the intellectual identical self, Atman/Brahman, the inside/outside. In turn, this trifurcates as 'truth, consciousness, bliss', 'Sat, Chit, Ananda', leading to Satyam, Shivam, Sundaram, the sublime nature of Lord Shiva." After such a profound introduction, one approaches the performed narrative with some trepidation, expecting a comprehensive enunciation of various manifestations of Shiva as visualized in sculptures through the ages, as very briefly mentioned above. In an over-70-minute presentation, one is occasionally left wondering whether he got a thorough initiation from his choreographer and mentor into this prerequisite. And one does wonder as to which Shiva iconic form allows him to don a thoroughly feminine makeup: complete with garish red lipstick, elaborate eye decorations and even using copious alta (red lac-dye) under both feet, to re-imagine the austere masculine countenance of Shiva!

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