On the 1st of August 2008  
At Seva Sadan, 14th Cross, Malleshwaram, Bangalore from 6:30pm onwards.  
 
Adhyaya as an evening of art and dance is a ground-breaking initiative through which promising talents are given the opportunity to present and promote their dance work to an appreciative audience and Advisory Panel.  

At Adhyaya this year Bangaloreans will have the opportunity to witness the works by Maja Dobrac, K H Haritha & Rajamally and Anuj Mishra.  
Maja Dobrac hails from Croatia and has a BA in Dance – Modern Theatre Dance from Amsterdamse Hoogelschool voor de Kunsten / AHK, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Maja has studied under guru Lalitha Srinivasan at Nupura School of Bharatanatyam in Bangalore. She also has to her name a diploma in Bharatanatyam from Bhaskara College of Fine Arts, Kerala.  

Maja Dobrac will be performing parts of work currently being developed. She will be showcasing THE DREAM CATCHER and THE EAST WARRIORS. The Dream Catcher is inspired by the Native Indians' story about the dream catcher. When a sleeper has a bad and negative dream, all those go into the web of a dream catcher which hangs above the head of a sleeper. "The dream catcher" is exploring the idea of dreams being tangled together in the spider web.  

The East Warriors is a dance piece that combines movements and characters from Eastern mythology, and it is danced on traditional Kodo drumming. Kodo, is a group of Japanese drummers that perform on a worldwide scale but remain rooted in the local community of Sado Island, where they all live together. The East Warriors gathers together some amazing movement patterns the artist came across while studying Eastern music and dance. It is a dance moment where the artiste’s body/mind/spirit easily goes beyond the "time and space."  

K H Haritha hails from Kerala and is no stranger to dance, having learnt under guru Vilasini from the tender age of three. She has earned a post diploma in Bharatanatyam from Kalakshetra, her thesis topic being “Bhagavathi Worship – Shakti – The Feminine Entity”. She is a recipient of the Sankara Menon Best Student Award and has been endowed with a scholarship from the Government of India.  

Rajamally also hails from Kerala, having been introduced to dance from a young age by her mother, Radhamani, a Bharatanatyam and Mohiniattam exponent who teaches in Kottayam, Kerala. She has graduated from Kalakshetra and is in the process of completing a post graduate course in the Foundation, her thesis topic being “Rasaleela of Manipur.” She is recipient of the Kalathilakam Award, bestowed by the Government of Kerala.  

The students of Kalakshetra Foundation, Chennai, K H Haritha & Rajamally will be performing YATHI - A KEERTHANAM which narrates the term “Yathi” through Lord Shiva’s Ananda Tandava. This keerthanam highlights the rhythmic concept of ‘Yathi’ which is one of the dasapranas, relating to the disposition of several angas and specific patterns for finishing a rhythmic combination within talam. The choreography uses the five different yathis, to portray Shiva’s dance in ecstasy. The lyrics have been written by Nirmala Nagaraj, music composed by S Rajaram and the choreography has been done by Sheejith Krishna.  

Anuj Mishra comes from a family of traditional musicians, Gharana of Banaras. His forefather Late Shiv Kishore Mishra was a renowned sarangi player. His grandfather Late Nanhu Mishra was a famous tabla player and his father and guru, Pandit Arjun Mishra is a famous Kathak dancer and maestro. Anuj Mishra was introduced to dance at the age of four and after high school he received training in Kathak from his father. His training in tabla was continued under the guidance of Pandit Ravinath Mishra and his eldest brother Vikas Mishra. He is also receiving vocal training under the famous singer Pandit Dharmnath Mishra and Ustad Gulshan Bharti.  

Anuj Mishra will be performing three unique performance pieces as part of BANDISH. SHIVA VANDANA, a piece that presents the peace and angry emotions of Lord Shiva. Aarambh – A sequence that is in teentaal (16 beats) keeping both slow and medium rhythm. Geetopadesh – An expressional piece enacting the part of Mahabharata where Arjuna is reassured by Lord Krishna that it is the war of the right against the wrong and therefore is righteous. The last item will be a special composition of Lucknow Gharana in teentaal dhrut laya (fast rhythm) ending with 103 chakkars.  

Adhyaya is funded by Nritarutya, a charitable Indian contemporary dance trust and an ICCR empanelled performing unit that aims to present original and innovative Indian contemporary dance work and co-funded by sponsors – Mr. Gurudutt (VP, Programmes -Asianet Suvarna), Mr. Balakrishna Rao (Mandovi Motors) and Mr. Ravindran (Home Stay).  

For further information, please email Nritarutya: info@nritarutya.com  
Website: www.nritarutya.com