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Narthaki Monthly Newsletter

April 2016

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MEET THE ARTISTES

- Master moves by Anuj Kumar
Astad Deboo on his body of work and how socio-political context is crucial for contemporary dance.

- On his toes: An interview with Ramli Ibrahim
Legendary dancer and choreographer Ramli Ibrahim goes “on pointe” on the issue of youth and artistic traditions, and doesn’t tiptoe around the subject of our society’s failure to safeguard our cultural art forms.

- In his comfort zone by Liza George
The kalari at Margi Natyagriham is where Margi Vijayakumar fine tunes Kathakali characters he plays on stage.

- Alarmel Valli: ‘We forget that art can be humanly and spiritually correct’ by Afshan Ahmed

- Freedom of expression by Chitra Swaminathan
The void left by Veenpani Chawla is difficult to fill but Vinay Kumar from Adishakti says Veenapani thought beyond the now and had prepared a second line of creators.

- In the footsteps of her guru by M. Athira
Odissi exponent Sangeeta Dash talks about why she is determined to keep the legacy of her late Guru Deba Prasad Das alive.

- Inheritor of extraordinary dance by Manjari Sinha
Alpana Bajpeyi explains how she mastered Raigarh Kathak and the history behind it.

- Reaching a spiritual plane by Tapati Chowdurie
For Rahul Acharya dance is a process of self-discovery.

SANCHARI.. More on the arts

- Google pays tribute to Bharatanatyam dancer Rukmini Devi Arundale on her birthday

- Stepping back in time by Renuka Suryanarayan
Ashish Mohan Khokar traced the history of Indian dance.

- Akram Khan turns dance duet into a solo by Michael Crabb
Musicians take on a bigger role in Khan's re-imagined piece, which was developed after dance partner Israel Galvan was injured.

- ‘Trio Concertdance’ and ‘Rising’ by Robert Greskovic
A duo of intimately scaled dance programs from Aakash Odedra Company, Alessandra Ferri and Herman Cornejo.

- An enchanting evening by Ananda Shankar Jayant by Pallavi Nagesha

- Holding on to the thread by Rupa Srikanth
Custodian of a wealth of archival material, art historian and author Ashish Khokar shares his thoughts.

- It's back to roots by Shyamhari Chakra
‘Kubja’ was marked by an exploration of the body kinetic as well as excellent technical effects.

- Harmony, step by step by Anjana Rajan
Marie Elangovan and troupe presented a repertoire for world peace in New Delhi recently.

- Sea, sand and a stage by Chitra Swaminathan
Presenting the flavours of the Urur Olcott Kuppam Vizha.

- Lotus Lore by Pushkala Gopal
In Alapadma - The Lotus Unfolds, choreography, movements and music synchronised effectively.

- Exploring aesthetics of Manodharma by S. Senthalir
Bharatanatyam exponent, educator and vocalist Rajashree Warrier conducts the workshop.

- Myriad moods of Ashtapadi by Lakshmi Sreeram
A five-day festival held recently brought out the love, longing and lyricism in Jayadeva’s Gita Govindam.

- A spiritual conclave by T.K. Ganapathy
Dance and music - Carnatic, Hindustani classical and fusion – formed part of the Mahasivaratri celebrations, organised for the Yaksha fest, in Coimbatore.

- Tradition well preserved by Rupa Srikanth
Kalakshetra’s Ramayana series presented recently was a fitting tribute to the founder.

- From Nepal, a textbook of Bharatanatyam by M.T. Saju
Baratamuni's ‘Natyasastra’ has been a subject of discussion among scholars for centuries.

- Dancing to the rhythm of India-Spain ties by Ranjana Narayan
It’s a vibrant cultural coming together of India and Spain.

- Stage for artistic excellence by G.S. Paul
The Shivaratri festival at Vadakkunnathan Temple, Thrissur, featured a variety of superlative performances by some of the best classical artistes in the business.

- In a dialogue by Archana Nathan
Vyuti’s experiment resulted in an organic conversation between modernity and tradition.

- A different move by Renuka Suryanarayan
‘Malai Pozhudinile’ showcased M.S. Subbulakshmi’s love for dance.

- Heightening the epic appeal by Pushkala Gopal
‘Vidura Neeti’ based on the Mahabharata was a fine blend of different elements of natya

- Some old fire, some new spark by Nita Vidyarthi
Noted Odissi dancers showcased their skills at the second edition of Gurukupa Nrutya Samaroha in Bhubaneswar.

- Building bridges between Amritsar, Lahore through art by Neha Saini
Nighat Chaudhary, a Pakistani Kathak exponent, got on stage to present her inimitable style of the dance and owned it, at Saanjh, Indo-Pak peace festival, held at the historical Pul Moran.

- Jeeva Nayika: Annamayya all the way by Gudipoodi Srihari
Celebration of Annamacharya by Anupama Kylash reflected myriad facets of the composer.

- Dance in the divine precincts by Lakshmi Ramakrishna
Dancer Geetha Ganesan brings the famed ‘Natyanjali’ event to Hyderabad and hopes to host it within the temple premises every year.

- Sandhya Raju’s Kuchipudi: A string of tales by Lakshmi Ramakrishna
In a rare Sunday morning recital, dancer Sandhya Raju presented a plethora of Kuchipudi numbers.

ARTICLES

- Analysing the bane and the boon of dance `baanis’ by Ashish Mohan Khokar
The idea of `baani’ rose to prominence when music and dance masters from certain areas like Thanjavur or Pandanallur became widely known.

- Mikhail Baryshnikov and Joseph Brodsky, in a Song of Exiled Russians by Marina Harss

- The woman who said no: How Rukmini Devi chose dance over presidency by Gopalkrishna Gandhi

- Is that Dance? A writer’s response to recent dance trends by Paul Ransom

- Nudity on stage: The naked truth by Holly Williams
As Mrs Henderson Presents shimmies onto the London stage, Holly Williams looks at the colourful history of baring all while treading the boards.

- How Sonal Mansingh and others broke the patriarchy in Indian classical dance by Ashish Mohan Khokar
Is age important in Indian classical dance?

- Rediscovering the sculptural legacy of Shivas of the south by Veejay Sai
This is a selection of some of the finest sculptures and icons connected to Shiva you can find across some of the ancient sites in the south.

- What is folk dance actually? by Sharon Lowen
Folk dance can be learned quickly as there is minimal variety of movements needed to join in.

- Women behind the scene by Vasumathi Badrinathan
With each passing year, we salute women on International Women’s Day.

- Bharatanatyam - ‘Baani um ‘Paani?

- How Theater for Young People could save the world by Lauren Gunderson
March 20th is World Theater for Children and Young People Day.

- King of the arts by Amish Tripathi
Wajid Ali Shah, long defamed as a decadent cross-dresser, was a great son of India.

- The missing links of strategic sequencing by Geeta Chandran
Once again, the Union HRD Ministry is trying to achieve a breakthrough by including arts education in national syllabus.

- Sprawling mural pays homage to Cairo’s garbage collectors by Kareem Fahim
The intricate mural took shape over the past few weeks, little noticed at first, spreading across a harried quarter of Cairo where Egypt’s garbage collectors live, amid overflowing bundles of this overcrowded city’s trash.

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