Natya STEM Dance Company Perform at Khajuraho Dance Festival – 2005
On 27 Feb 2005, Natya STEM Dance Company presented their work at the Khajuraho Dance Festival. Given the dynamics of the space, they created pieces based on the concept of the union of energies, of Shiva and Shakti, of love; choosing to keep the feel traditional, they presented their Kathak work.
The items presented were Aum – Energies in Tandem, Ardhanaareshwar Shloka and Dhamaar – Prabandh, Thumri – the Music of Love, Sargam, Taandav – Reflections in Jhaptaal and Chaturang. Choreographed by Guru Maya Rao and Madhu Nataraj-Heri, the performers included Madhu Nataraj-Heri, Brinda Jacob, Aparna Kolar, Ramya Nagaraj, Ponamma, Varsha Sharma, Rochana Luckea, Prakash Naidu, Tushar Bhatt, Janardhana Urs, and Kartik Datar.
Music composed by Shankar Shanbhogue and Amit Heri as well as compositions of the Dagar Brothers, Altaf Hussein Khan were featured. Lighting was by Sai Venkatesh and sound by Luckesh.
Natya STEM Dance Company is a collaboration of two highly acclaimed dance companies – the Natya Institute of Kathak and Choreography and the STEM (Space. Time. Energy. Movement) Dance Theatre. Born out of a need to showcase both the traditional Indian classical dance idiom and the evolving contemporary Indian dance form, using our indegenous physical disciplines, the Natya STEM Dance Ensemble maintains a high standard of presentation.
Headed by internationally acclaimed choreographer Maya Rao and her daughter Madhu Nataraj-Heri, the performing unit has toured 28 countries worldwide winning appreciation from the audience and media alike.
RAMANAVAMI MUSIC FESTIVAL
The 67th annual Sree Ramanavami Music Festival of the Sree Ramaseva Mandali, Chamarajpet, got under way at the Fort High School Grounds, on 9 April 2005.
The inaugural concert for the year was a mandolin duet by U. Srinivas and U. Rajesh. The three-hour-long daily concerts beginning at 6.30 pm will continue up to May 14. Some of the noted musicians who will perform at the festival this year are Bombay Jayashree, Hyderabad brothers, Priya sisters, T N Seshagopalan, Ravikiran, Soumya, Sudha Raghunath and Nityashree.
It is indeed remarkable how the organisers have sustained audience interest for the last six decades.
Daily Concerts Venue: Special Pandal, Government Junior College, Fort High School Grounds, Chamaarajpet. Time: 6.30 pm. Ph: 26604031 / 26704061
NAVARANGAPRAVESHOTHSAVA: 07-2-05 TO 10-2-05
This event was started two years back with the intention to provide an opportunity for needy talented artists to fulfill their dreams of performing their Rangapravesha. A lot of people wondered if this would continue year after year.
Kudos to the efforts of Sri Vivekananda Kala Kendra and the Department of Kannada and Culture for successfully continuing to conduct the event. The artists who performed their Rangapravesha this year are:
- Sri A. M. Manjappa, Sri S. Sridhar (visually-impaired artists), disciples of Guru Smt. R. Swarupa Lakshmi, Sri Ramanashri Andhara Parishath.
- Sri K. Narayan, Kuchipudi, disciple of Guru Smt. Sunanda Devi.
- Kum. C. Shweta and Kum. P. Rupashri, disciples of Guru Smt. K. Vijayalakshmi Prakash.
- Kum. M. Manjula and Kum. Chukki B Gowda, disciples of Guru Sri Sudheer Kumar.
- Kum. K. G. Kavita, disciple of Guru Smt. Krupa Phadak.
- Kum. M. Varshini Priya, disciple of Guru Smt. Geetha Lakshmi
- Kum. L. Manjula and R. Mamatha, disciple of Guru Smt. Lakshmi Murthy.
- Kum. S. Purnima and G. Kum. Sushma, disciple of Guru Smt. Shubha Rani Bolar.
PADA VINYASA
On 29 January 2005 at Ananya Sabhangana, Malleshwaram, Ananya and Sumanasa Foundation, two organizations working towards the promotion of classical arts presented Pada Vinyasa, an exclusive programme on the musical and abhinaya aspects of padams under the Geetha Shastra Sinchana series by Padmabhushan Smt. Kalanidhi Narayan and Vidushi Rama Ravi.
As all of us know, Padmabhushan Smt. Kalanidhi Narayan is a living legend of dance and the custodian of Dhanamal Bani of Abhinaya. She is the most sought-after guru for abhinaya today. An exclusive documentation was done on the life of Smt. Kalanidhi Narayan on 28 January 2005. Bangalore dancers interacted on a one-to-one basis with Smt. Kalanidhi Narayan, bringing out the finer aspects of her life, her exclusive teaching abilities of abhinaya, her approach to abhinaya, and the method to be followed while learning and remembering abhinaya.
This documentation which gives an insight into the wonderful aspects of abhinaya will be available for the reference of artists and students at Ananya Sangraha.
Smt. Kalanidhi Narayan’s demonstration / performance on padams and javalis on the 29 January kept awestruck the audience, filled with artists, art lovers, and students. The highlight of her performance was her continuous rendering of padams and javalis, each with a different flavour of rasa, depicting various nayikas and nayakas with many variations and interpretations, executed with fine diligence.
Some of the padams and javalis she performed were:
- Kshetreya padams
- yantha Chakkanne Vade in Raga Abhogi, Tala adi
- Kodi Kuse Nayyayyo in Raga Sourashtram, Tala Adi
- Nannetiki Pommanave in Raga Panthuvarali, Tala Triputa
- Vadaraka Pove in Raga Khabhoji, Tala Tishra Triputa
- Vanapu Dasa Nene in Raga Varali, Tala Chapu
- Yetuvanti Vaade Vaadu in Raga Kalyani, Tala Triputa
- Chudare in Raga Sahana, Tala Mishra Chapu
- Aiyyayyo Vegatayana in Raga Naadanamakriya, Tala Triputa
- Ososi, a padam composed by Muttunateshar in Raga Mukhari, Tala Triputa
- Javalis composed by Pattabhiramaiah
- Nee Matale Mayanura in Raga Purvikalyani, Tala Mishra Eka
- Tarumaruladenu in Raga Natakuranji, Tala Adi
- Samayamide Rara in Raga Behag, Tala Rupaka
Singing padams and javalis is a difficult task that tests the calibre of a singer. Vidwan Nandita Ravi sang well and was very well supported by Sri T. K. Padmanabhan on violin, Sri Adyar Balu on mridangam and Sri Kumar on the flute.
The compering, finely interpreting every dance piece performed by Smt. Kalanidhi Narayan, was done by the well-known dancer Smt. Priyadarshini Govind.
This programme of nearly two-and-half hours is recorded and documented and will be available for reference at Ananya Sangraha.
Those who feel they missed out on learning abhinaya from Smt. Kalanidhi Narayan, or want to study her abhinaya in depth have the opportunity to fulfill their dreams by becoming members of Ananya Sangraha.
Ananya: 94/1, West Park Road, 16th Cross, Malleshwaram, Bangalore – 55. Ph: 23440409
Kudos to the efforts of Ananya, for organizing and documenting this event and, of course, the Sumanasa Foundation for supporting Ananya in this venture.
AIM – Artists Introspective Movement
To mark the year-long silver jubilee celebrations of the T. Chowdiah Memorial Hall, AIM (Artists Introspective Movement, started by noted musician, Smt. Suma Sudhindra, and renowned danseuse, Smt. Veena Murthy Vijay) conducted a music and dance festival on January 2 and 3, 2005 at the Chowdiah Memorial Hall.
Noted danseuse and Chairperson of the Sangeet Natak Akademi, Smt. Sonal Mansingh was honoured with the “AIM Excellence Award” in recognition of her achievements in the field of classical dance.
The successful festival saw performances by Dr. Suma Sudhindra and Gerard Machado and group, a Kuchipudi recital by Smt. Veena Murthy Vijay, the highlight of which was Simha Nandini (the danseuse traced the figure of a lion on a canvas through her exquisite footwork), a Bharatanatyam recital by Mythili Prakash, Kuchipudi by Smt. Shama Sanjay and Dr. Sanjay Shantaram, and a percussion ensemble of folk instruments by Anoor Ananthakrishna Sharma.