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Dr. Pappu Venugopala Rao: Natya Shastra workshop in Chennai
- Bhavanvitha Venkatesh
e-mail: bhavanvitha@gmail.com

June 27, 2012


Pappus Academic and Cultural Trust in collaboration with ABHAI (Association of Bharatanatyam Artistes of India) is conducting a 'Natya Shastra Workshop' in Chennai by Dr. Pappu Venugopala Rao. He is a member of Sangeet Natak Akademi and Secretary of the Madras Music Academy. He has authored 15 books, more than hundred research papers on religion, philosophy, music and dance.

The Natya Shastra workshop is scheduled during July 9-14, 2012 at TAG Center and will be inaugurated by Dr. Padma Subrahmanyam and Chitra Visweswaran. N Murali, President of the Music Academy, will distribute the certificates on the last day.

Dr. Rao's earlier Natya Shastra workshops held in Bangalore, Hyderabad and USA were very well received. In the forthcoming workshop at Chennai, Dr. Rao stated that artistes from Ukraine, Hungary, Bulgaria, Dubai, Singapore, Sri Lanka, US and from many different places within India have confirmed their participation.

Bharata Muni's Natya Shastra is an ancient Indian treatise on dramaturgy, is the first and best source for reference on every aspect of dance. In recent times, the value of understanding the Shastra is gaining prominence, and at the same time the resources and the resource persons to teach this ancient Sanskrit work are limited. Dr. Pappu Venugopala Rao's workshops provide an opportunity to the participants to gain rich knowledge.

I spoke to Dr. Rao and feel the following details would prove useful to those wishing to take up the workshop. I thank him for taking time out of his busy schedule to talk about the scope, benefits, eligibility, and the material.

How it would benefit dancers
A dancer starts his/her journey as students or disciples and then goes on to becoming a performer. If they excel, they then graduate to the level of a teacher and composer. It becomes absolutely essential for them to understand the prime source of all aspects of dance at this stage. Classical dances have to conform to Natya Shastra and so a good teacher or a composer must also have an understanding of the Natya Shastra. Just like how gold is transformed into many ornaments, Natya Shastra too manifests into different Indian classical dance forms and styles. Further, it encompasses music, literature, stage design, make up, costumes etc.

About the scope
The workshop is planned to cover all the thirty-six chapters of the Natya Shastra, and not just the "aangika" aspects. Emphasis is on giving a complete over-all view of the great resource.

Who is eligible to attend the workshop
My earlier workshops consisted of dancers from different styles like Bharatanatyam, Kuchipudi, Odissi, Mohiniattam and also musicians besides a few that attended the workshop due to their interest. Here, it is to be noted that Natya Shastra covers sangeetham in six chapters. Sangeetham constitutes lyrics, instruments and dance.
"Geetam vaadyam tathaa nrityam, trayam sangeetamuchyate."

Study material provided in the workshop
Soft copy of the entire Natya Shastra in Sanskrit, English transliteration, translation of Natya Shastra by Manmohan Ghosh, Abhinaya Darpanam.

For info, contact ABHAI: (044) - 24994751 / abhaichennai@gmail.com
Dr. Pappu Venugopala Rao: pappuji@hotmail.com



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