A stage for all — Music, accessibility and inclusion
1 year, 3 months ago

A stage for all — Music, accessibility and inclusion

The Hindu  

Picturise a village, not far from the sea, full of lush green fields with clusters of coconut palms swaying in the wind. uyyum vagai kaNdEn thuLangkA arakkar thuLangka mun thiNthOL nimirach silai vaLaiyach siRidhE munindha thirumArban vaNdAr kUndhal malarmangkai vadikkaN madandhai mAnOkkam kaNdAn kaNdu koNdu ugandha kaNNapuram nAm thozhudhumE This Tamil poem composed as a ‘Vazhinadai Chindu’ was authored by the enigmatic Tirumangai Azhwar, who holds the rare distinction of being a ‘narkavi perumal’ or a poet well-versed in the four major types of poems in the Tamil language. Discussions surrounding the usage of the words ‘classical’ and ‘folk’ to classify Indian art forms are certainly post-colonial. Many Carnatic musicians, at least in recent years, have made sincere attempts to engage with Tamil folk art forms such as naatupura isai, villu paatu and kattaikkoothu. Reading the written accounts by several European administrators and visitors, one realises that salon performances by hereditary dancers in Madras city incorporated several entertainment sections that can hardly be deemed ‘classical’ according to today’s definitions.

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History of this topic

PC Ramakrishna brings his play ‘Kamalakshi’ to Bengaluru
3 weeks, 5 days ago

PC Ramakrishna brings his play ‘Kamalakshi’ to Bengaluru

The Hindu  

Step back in time to 19th Century India with the English play, Kamalakshi, written by Sujatha Vijayaraghavan and presented by The Madras Players, the oldest English theatre group in India. Designed and directed by veteran theatre personality PC Ramakrishna, the play is a poignant tale of a temple dancer that entwines drama, classical music and Bharatantyam. “I had already done …

Performances, discussions enrich third day of international theatre festival
3 weeks, 5 days ago

Performances, discussions enrich third day of international theatre festival

The Hindu  

A panel discussion held at the 15th edition of the International Theatre Festival of Kerala on Tuesday debated if the boundaries between theatre and cinema could be distinctly defined in the context of cultural, political, and social ideas. The panel featured theatre personalities such as Sunil Sukhada, Manikandan Pattambi, Aliyar, Rajesh Sharma, Sandhya Rajendran, Kabani, Adatt Gopalan, Pooja Mohanraj, and …

Sarod maestro’s brilliance leaves audience spellbound
2 months, 2 weeks ago

Sarod maestro’s brilliance leaves audience spellbound

Deccan Chronicle  

HYDERABAD: It was a mesmerising evening at IIT Hyderabad on Monday, when sarod maestro Amjad Ali Khan weaved magic with his virtuoso performances that drew wholesome applause from the packed gathering, including students. The convention’s vision is to blend tradition with modernity, inspiring youth to find connections between music, science and holistic growth. Dr. Kiran Seth, founder of SPIC MACAY, …

Why music is crucial to the success of a Bharatanatyam performance?
2 months, 3 weeks ago

Why music is crucial to the success of a Bharatanatyam performance?

The Hindu  

Music and dance embellish, enrich and elevate each other. The legendary T. Balasaraswati has often been quoted as saying: “Bharatanatyam, in its highest moment, is the embodiment of music in its visual form.” There is a close relationship between abhinaya and raga. Balamma’s mother Jayammal, Kanchipuram Ellappa Pillai, the two musical giants Gnanasundaram and Narasimhulu, flute maestro T. Viswanathan, clarionet …

India’s cultural festivals blend art and music, creating immersive experiences across the country
3 months ago

India’s cultural festivals blend art and music, creating immersive experiences across the country

New Indian Express  

CHENNAI: The month of Margazhi has always been about rains, storms and lots of classical music in Chennai. Chennai’s very own Margazhi Sabha Season is a month-long festival, featuring hundreds of classical dance and music performances all over the city, with melophiles thronging from all over the world, to witness them. Art Festivals may seem far removed from such classical …

A celebration of Indian coasts on canvas at this exhibit in Chennai
3 months, 1 week ago

A celebration of Indian coasts on canvas at this exhibit in Chennai

The Hindu  

Traverse the sandy beaches of Goa and West Bengal at Sarala’s Artworld. Featuring Goan artist Shripad Gurav and Bengali sculptor Subrata Paul, the exhibition showcases the diverse culture of coastal India through mixed mediums. Drawing from his culture and the Indo-Portuguese architecture of his hometown Keri in Pernem, Goa, artist Shripad Gurav incorporates Indian classical structures into urban spaces. Also …

Attakkalari’s ‘World Dance’ in Bengaluru is a fusion of global and local stories
3 months, 1 week ago

Attakkalari’s ‘World Dance’ in Bengaluru is a fusion of global and local stories

The Hindu  

In an age when conversations about climate change, migration, and identity often play out in boardrooms and on social media, Attakkalari’s World Dance invites audiences to consider these themes in a visceral, physical medium: contemporary dance. World Dance features performances from Italy, Japan, and the United States alongside Indian artists, creating what Jayachandran calls “different kinds of physical articulations of …

Kolkata music festival celebrates guru-shishya tradition
3 months, 3 weeks ago

Kolkata music festival celebrates guru-shishya tradition

The Hindu  

Kolkata’s ITC Sangeet Research Academy celebrated Hindustani classical music from across India with stalwarts, including Shubha Mudgal and Rakesh Chaurasia, regaling captivated audiences. Artistes Sanjukta Biswas and Sabina Mumtaz Islam, who performed a duet on the second day of the event, started their journey with the ITC Sangeet Research Academy in 1996 as students, and now share the stage with …

Temple Artist on a Mission to Promote Kerala’s Heritage Arts at Global Event
5 months ago

Temple Artist on a Mission to Promote Kerala’s Heritage Arts at Global Event

New Indian Express  

Temple artist Vineesh Kammath showcases Kerala's rich art heritage at the latest Kerala Travel Mart (KTM). With a lineup of over 200 artists from the state delivering a variety of performances, Kammath aims to immerse audiences in the beauty of Kerala, offering a unique blend of music, storytelling, and cultural expressions. Through these performances, Kriti aims to highlight the cultural …

Enjoy music Made of Chennai at The Hindu festival on September 14 and 15
6 months, 2 weeks ago

Enjoy music Made of Chennai at The Hindu festival on September 14 and 15

The Hindu  

Festivals, almost by definition, ought to be egalitarian and collaborative. The Hindu’s upcoming 10-act musical event aspires to achieve exactly this by bringing musicians of diverse genres on a single platform The two-day celebration will explore Chennai’s music ecosystem, which is known for its proclivity to tradition, but is evolving to embrace new settings and sounds. Says Badhri Narayanan Seshadri …

Charming montage woven out of four traditional dance forms
7 months ago

Charming montage woven out of four traditional dance forms

New Indian Express  

KOCHI: The importance of the Ramayana in Kerala’s tradition is evident from the innumerable stories told by various classical art forms. Bhavayami, a dance drama directed by kathakali artist Kalamandalam Vaisakh, a teacher at RLV College, conveys the essence of the Ramayana in one hour and 45 minutes. An elegant fusion of the classical dances of kathakali, bharatanatyam, koodiyattam and …

Reverberations from an unequal music
11 months, 3 weeks ago

Reverberations from an unequal music

New Indian Express  

Much ink has already been spilt on the recent controversy around the conferring of the Sangita Kalanidhi award by the Madras Music Academy to T M Krishna. What is often overlooked in these discourses is that these values were put in place quite recently, over the course of the 20th century, when nationalism in its cultural iterations placed music and …

Echoes of dance
1 year, 2 months ago

Echoes of dance

New Indian Express  

WARANGAL: A few years ago, Himansee Katragadda, a 23-year-old resident of Warangal and a learned Kuchipudi dancer, visited the famous 12th-century stone temples, known as Kota Gullu, in Ghanpur of Jayashankar Bhupalpally district. During my visit, I thought of something: Why is the Ramappa temple in the limelight while the Kota Gullu remains in obscurity, despite both having similar sculptural …

Chennai Sangamam — A cultural confluence in Chennai where classical and folk art meet
1 year, 2 months ago

Chennai Sangamam — A cultural confluence in Chennai where classical and folk art meet

The Hindu  

December is the month of festivals, and music fills the air in Chennai, the actual and cultural capital of Tamil Nadu. Despite the clear divide between “classical” and “folk” which is also drawn on the lines of caste and location, the Chennai Sangamam created a platform for the coming together of classical and folk art performers, and offered a continuity …

Serendipity Arts Festival 2023: New language of creating art
1 year, 3 months ago

Serendipity Arts Festival 2023: New language of creating art

Live Mint  

Words like “un-theatre”, “non-dance” and “poetry of food” come to the fore while speaking to the 10 curators of the Serendipity Arts Festival. “Art in every form stands as a potent and transformative tool to illuminate changes or events that reflect the cultural churns a society is undergoing,” says Smriti Rajgarhia, director, Serendipity Arts Foundation. For instance, the culinary arts …

A monumental project to create a digital archive of Indian classical music and performing arts
1 year, 5 months ago

A monumental project to create a digital archive of Indian classical music and performing arts

The Hindu  

Published : Oct 12, 2023 17:20 IST - 14 MINS READ After a decade of active involvement in the Indian classical music ecosystem, which included documenting, filming, curating, and organising programmes across the country, Devina Dutt and Pepe Gomes, the founders of the performing arts company First Edition Arts, have undertaken an enormously ambitious endeavour. They are working on what …

5 Books Every Performing Arts Student Must Read
2 years ago

5 Books Every Performing Arts Student Must Read

News 18  

Performing Arts has always been a niche genre that very few dare to explore and while most people might lead themselves into believing that it is only practical portions of the study that matters, theoretical knowledge is extremely important too. If you are a Performing Arts student, here are some of the must-have books that you must get your hands …

India’s culture is rooted in spirituality and Sanatana Dharma: Governor R.N. Ravi
2 years, 1 month ago

India’s culture is rooted in spirituality and Sanatana Dharma: Governor R.N. Ravi

The Hindu  

February 22, 2023 09:29 pm | Updated 09:29 pm IST - CUDDALORE Tamil Nadu Governor R.N. Ravi on Wednesday voiced concern over the hesitation shown by the people for political and other reasons in making references to spirituality and Sanatana Dharma which are time tested and intertwined with the traditions. “We often say that our culture is rooted in our …

Ode to Indian arts: Bringing alive the legacy of classical music and dance
2 years, 4 months ago

Ode to Indian arts: Bringing alive the legacy of classical music and dance

Hindustan Times  

When maestros of performing arts gather to collaborate with young and upcoming artistes, it’s ought to be a feast for lovers of classical arts. The 26th edition of Natya Tarangini’s Parampara Series, which kick-starts today, is set to mesmerise the audience with enthralling performances by sarod exponent Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, Kuchipudi maestros Raja Radha Reddy and their troupe, Carnatic …

Know Your Classical Dances: Kathakali’s rich repertoire and elaborate costuming make the dance-drama a spectacle to behold
2 years, 11 months ago

Know Your Classical Dances: Kathakali’s rich repertoire and elaborate costuming make the dance-drama a spectacle to behold

Firstpost  

Kathakali demands arduous physical and emotional feats from its artists and the costumes only add to the remarkable portrayals of the mythological characters that come alive on stage. Historical narratives present a rather blurry narrative of the practice of this art form in the 16th and 17th centuries but anecdotal evidence hints at Kathakali’s origins in several variations of the …

Sharda Sinha: Folk music does wonders when used in films
2 years, 11 months ago

Sharda Sinha: Folk music does wonders when used in films

Hindustan Times  

Padma Bhushan awardee Sharda Sinha says folk music and Bollywood cinema complement each other and when combined well together it turns into a successful formula. Folk music when used in films surely makes it an incredible piece,” says the folk singer on her visit to Lucknow. Singer Sharda Sinha receiving Lok Nirmala Award from UP Governor Anandiben Patel in presence …

How Chennai’s performing arts communities are tiding through lockdown
4 years, 7 months ago

How Chennai’s performing arts communities are tiding through lockdown

The Hindu  

A three-fold cardboard parai ; a Zoom screen split in four; theory classes, and technical glitches — a typical day in folk and theatre artiste Vishwa Bharath’s life now looks like this. Muffled beats flow as students try different rhythm sequences: “It’s otherwise a very loud art form,” he adds. Similiarly, Sumanasa foundation, an arts collective, also organised an online …

When classical music meets cinema
4 years, 7 months ago

When classical music meets cinema

The Hindu  

For this generation, K.L. The news of Chaitanya Tamhane’s Marathi film, The Disciple, being selected for the Venice International Film Festival and Anand Tiwari’s Bandish Bandits dropping on an OTT platform have brought classical music back into popular culture. Bharat Bhushan, who featured in many musicals including Baiju Bawra, Basant Bahar, Sangeet Samrat Tansen, and Sohrab Modi’s Mirza Ghalib, was …

performing arts festival in Chennai
5 years, 1 month ago

performing arts festival in Chennai

The Hindu  

Picture this: an intimate concert entertaining a small group of rasika s in the pristine patio of a 250-year-old Dutch heritage structure: Luz House in Mylapore. Organised by Mumbai-based First Edition Arts, it will feature over 50 musicians, speakers and performers from all over India, led by a strong curatorial team of artistes. Devina Dutt of First Edition Arts, also …

Music for the Soul!
5 years, 1 month ago

Music for the Soul!

Deccan Chronicle  

When musicians hand the reins over to passion, they are bound to create extraordinary music! Talking about his album, Soumik says, “This album was born out of a long process of questioning: “What is my carbon footprint?” – something I’m still grappling with today. My music comes from questions that I ask about the world around me and the myriad …

At a time of nationwide protests, India's classical artists are missing a culture of dissent, and this needs fixing
5 years, 2 months ago

At a time of nationwide protests, India's classical artists are missing a culture of dissent, and this needs fixing

Firstpost  

With an interest in generating accessible writings that makes the connection between the larger social and political landscape of the country and its performing arts more evident, this monthly column is an attempt to un-bracket the dance discourse from its contained category of “Arts for Art’s sake”. Anuradha Venkatraman, a Bengaluru-based Bharatanatyam dancer who has come out with a series …

Cross Cultural Conversations: Narratives on art and life
5 years, 3 months ago

Cross Cultural Conversations: Narratives on art and life

The Hindu  

Senior dancers and dance aspirants gathered at Deonar for an evening of ‘Cross Cultural Conversations’ hosted by the Beej Garage in collaboration with Ankh. Chennai feels different now.” Back to roots Gauri Tripathi Sharma, daughter-disciple of Guru Padma Sharma, said that home is where dance is. When I come back home, it brings back the Urjaa.” Amrita Lahiri said that …

Classical approach to fine arts
5 years, 4 months ago

Classical approach to fine arts

Deccan Chronicle  

The notion that Indian Classical Music is hard to comprehend has been there for a long time. We wanted to increase awareness and get exposure among younger kids.” Another main objective of this music festival is to encourage upcoming artistes. Rajeev Taranath and Padma Shri Ustad Rashid Khan alongside Odissi dancer Vidushi Meghna Das and Vidushi Anjali Raj Urs will …

Five dances in India that capture the magic of the country
6 years, 4 months ago

Five dances in India that capture the magic of the country

CNN  

CNN — Whether it’s lyrical movements, classical Indian style or a hip-hop take on the wildly popular Bollywood genre, dance is, without a doubt, one of the great visual icons of India. Bharatanatyam Video Ad Feedback Bharatanatyam: India's ancient solo dance 02:08 - Source: CNN An ancient classical dance, Bharatanatyam traces it roots to the Hindu temples of Tamil Nadu, …

Meet this dancer who is fighting for the art form’s social esteem, one move at a time
6 years, 10 months ago

Meet this dancer who is fighting for the art form’s social esteem, one move at a time

Hindustan Times  

The choice of dance as a profession was not easy, says Jayachandran Palazhy, artistic director at Attakkalari Dance Company, who conducted workshops and auditions at Max Mueller Bhavan recently, to select students for the two-year diploma programme at the institute.. Jayachadran Palazhy, artistic director, Attakkalari Dance Company. Palazhy feels lucky and grateful to have had some of the best teachers …

The Dances of India and Elan: An exhibition of painted collages of Indian dance forms
7 years, 10 months ago

The Dances of India and Elan: An exhibition of painted collages of Indian dance forms

Hindustan Times  

One look at India’s dance forms, be it classical or folk, is enough to express how diversely rich India is. Artist Sailesh Sanghvi, whose exhibition, The Dances of India and Elan is on display in Delhi, says, “Some of these dance forms have been adapted into modern Bollywood-version and many from the new generation are unaware what Bhangra or Garba …

A cultural coupe of Indian classical dance performances for Gurgaon
8 years ago

A cultural coupe of Indian classical dance performances for Gurgaon

Hindustan Times  

“Kuchipudi is a form of dance, used in dramatic performances. A two-day long festival is being organised in Gurgaon, that will feature classical and folk dance performances. With a cultural coupe of classical dance performances under one roof in various forms such as Odissi, Kathakali, Manipuri, Kuchipudi, Manipuri and Haryanvi folk, the two-day festival of Indian classical and folk dance, …

Wide-ranging gaze
14 years, 11 months ago

Wide-ranging gaze

The Hindu  

Could a humble jalebi, the very one you eat by the roadside, be an architectural paradigm? Tyeb Mehta's ‘Celebration' is ironically titled, for, it shows women with agonised faces performing a Bacchanalian dance, their feet stamping in rhythm, their suffering transmuted into stylised movement. In an outstanding interview, the musicologist Ashok Ranade shows that sacred music in India provides the …

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