Raadha Kalpa presents
Raadha 2010
A collaborative arts festival
October 29 - November 15, 2010 Bangalore

October 10, 2010

This year Raadha Kalpa is having a dance and collaborative arts festival in the first two weeks of November. The purpose of the festival is to collaborate dance with other artistic media, thus bringing an experimental and parallel view to the presentation of dance. We are working with painters, musicians, puppeteers, mime artists, actors, singers, poets, film makers, designers and craftsmen to propound the same theme in both an Indian traditional classical as well as a contemporary context.

The theme for this year's festival is "Raadha". We are interpreting the idea or concept of the traditional Indian character of Raadha in several different themes of performance. In the traditional context we utilize the Krishnavatara of Munshi and the Geeta Govindam to tell the story of the character of Raadha. In the contemporary context we explore the idea of a search for oneself in urban society. In our busy lives we seldom find quiet time to contemplate. Societal notions of success bind us and we constantly strive to a goal that often carries us farther away from who we truly are. The modern and experimental work utilizes this theme and uses poetry, theater, movement etc to create visual representations of various perspectives of the same idea.
We have three main stage performances: "Raadha", a Bharatanatyam performance of the story of Raadha; "And Raadha too", a modern interpretative performance of the concept of Raadha & "Raadha Rani", a Bharatanatyam ensemble piece that is an abstract representation of the various aspects of Raadha's character as a woman. The two weeks will also have all the other collaborative work that the company and students are presenting at various venues all over Bangalore. The performances will have Bharatanatyam pieces, both abstract and concept based, Modern dance pieces, site-specific modern dance work, contact improvisation done with a painter and musician, dance work based on poetry, story and traditional mime with folk dance, and several other events that present the Raadha concept in the traditional and contemporary context. We have a series of workshops at various locations as part of the festival & there will also be a constant involvement of designers, photographers and painters who will present their work based on a similar theme.

Schedule

Raadha Kalpa founded by Rukmini Vijayakumar, is a company dedicated to the promotion of art and culture through performance, teaching, artistic collaboration, experimentation in the modern context and preservation of classical traditional ideals.

The company primarily uses Bharatanatyam, modern dance and theater as performance media.
There are traditional performances of Bharatanatyam, as well as experimental work in the realm of modern dance and theater. It is a small company recently founded, with five dancers.

Rukmini Vijayakumar is the artistic director and choreographer of Raadha Kalpa. Parshwanath Upadhye is a principal Bharatanatyam dancer and choreographer. The other company dancers are Ramya Nair, Alice Bordoloi and Sowmya Jaganmurthy.

The company is committed to maintaining the purity of each form of movement, as well as retaining the traditional context and content of the artistic medium. The Indian traditional ideals are communicated in Bharatanatyam, maintaining the purity of the classical form, and utilizing innovation within the classical context. The contemporary concepts are conveyed utilizing modern dance and experimental theater.

Raadha Kalpa is supported by Heritage, an NGO headed by V Vijayalakshmi committed to furthering Indian culture and arts, and works in combination to bring scholars and artists from around the globe to further artistic research and education.

Contact:
Cell: +91 - 97312 61359, 98451 64151
e-mail: raadhakalpa@gmail.com
Website: www.raadhakalpa.in / www.rukku.in