Pulse

asian music and dance

INSIDE
Young Pulse Bhaktikalalayam of Florida Education Dance Courses Roehampton Reviews Sonia Sabri Dance Co, Arushi Mudgal, Alam Khan, Arati Ankalikar-Tikekar, Dr. Jyotsna Srikanth, M.S. Subbulakshmi.

Swapnasundari Asha and Shujaat

Vilasani Natyam Naina Lagaike

Kuchipudi
In Focus

Kali C Daredeva

Summer 2011 - Issue 113 7.50|$15|9.50 Celebrating sound in print

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connecting asian dance and music communities

Ravi Shankar
Celebrating his tenth decade
Tue 21 Jun 8pm Barbican
An evening of Ragas with a living legend of world music accompanied by Tanmoy Bose tabla Ravichandra Kulur flute Parimal Sadaphal sitar

Tickets 2575 lso.co.uk/shankar 020 7638 8891

Promoted by London Symphony Orchestra Ltd Ravi Shankar appears by arrangement with Sulivan Sweetland Ltd

London Symphony Orchestra LSO St Lukes

UBS Soundscapes: Eclectica

Thu 7 Jul 8pm

The Singing Violin

Kala Ramnath incorporates jazz, amenco and African music with Indian classical repertoire. Her performance features a new work by Max de Wardener and LSO players. Kala Ramnath violin Sanju Sahai tabla LSO Strings

Tickets 822 LSO St Lukes, 161 Old Street lso.co.uk/eclectica 020 7638 8891
Tickets 8 14 22 LSO St Lukes, 161 Old Street lso.co.uk/eclectica 020 7638 8891

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Activate your TalkingPEN with Issue 113 by touching the play symbol with your PEN

Contents

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Upfront
Editorial and Letters News Listings 16 Naina Lagaike Ken Hunt catches up with Asha Bhosle, popular musics living legend and Shujaat Khan, son of the late Vilayat Khan, in London following their concert of Naina Lagaike at the Royal Festival Hall. Enhancing Dance Careers Dr. Avanthi Meduri speaks about the dance courses on oer at Roehampton Univesity and how academic study can give an edge to career-making.

Features
Kuchipudi in Focus Isabel Putinja gives a comprehensive background of the form and the personalities most closely associated with the development of kuchipudi as we know it today. Swapnasundari on Vilasani Natyam Dancer, scholar and researcher Swapnasundari took a break from her performance career to delve into the legacy of the Telegu court and temple dancers. She shares her insights with Isabel Putinja. A Prole of Kali Chandrasegaram Donald Hutera traces the journey of this multidimensional artist from a dance class in Kuala Lumpur to becoming one of the three ACE/Akademi choreographic bursary awardees. Young Pulse The Bhaktikalalayam dance troupe from Florida have grown up within the Hare Krishna community. They tell Jahnavi Harrison what moves them to keep up their practice. 18

6 Arunima Kumar

takes kuchipudi forward in the UK.

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12 Kali Chandrasegaram

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Reviews
Dance Performances Kathakbox (Sonia Sabri) Sutra (Arushi Mudgal) CD Reviews Carnatic Jazz (Dr. Jyotsna Srikanth) Surdas Bhajans (M.S. Subbulakshmi) Music Performances A Tribute to Ustad Ali Akbar Khan (Alam Khan) Serene Morning Ragas (Arati Ankalikar-Tikekar) In Conversation The late teacher, scholar and dancer Pt. Tirth Azad gave an interview to Abhay Shankar Mishra in which he explains the concept of a badakhadi.

inspired by vaudeville and cabaret

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Asha and Shujaat

in full ow

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Cover Photo - Arunima Kumar | Photo: Simon Richardson / Aunimas dress: Vanashree Rao, jewellery: Rajvi Vohra, Meenakshi Gupta This Page - Photos: 1 - Arunima Kumar | Photo: Simon Richardson, 2 - Kali Chandrasegaram | Photo: Simon Richardson, 3 - Asha Bhosle & Shujaat Khan | Photo: Janio Edwards of GDM.

Pulse
asian music and dance

Published by Kadam Asian Dance and Music c/o The Hat Factory, 65-67 Bute Street, Luton, LU1 2EY +44 (0) 1582 876 038 Editorial Team Sanjeevini Dutta Commissioning Editor S Ryan and J Harrison Assistants Subscriptions & Advertising subscriptions@pulseconnects.com advertising@pulseconnects.com Contacts info@pulseconnects.com Design Pritpal Ajimal Designer

Summer 2011 * Issue no 113

ISSN 1476-6019
Supported by

Annual subscription 30 with free delivery. Pulse TalkingPEN is priced at 14 with free delivery. Cheques payable to Kadam, c/o The Hat Factory,65-67 Bute Street, Luton LU1 2EY. For online subscriptions and payments please visit www.pulseconnects.com Disclaimer Pulse is published by Kadam Asian Dance and Music. No part of the magazine may be reproduced in any form without the written permission of the publisher. Copyright of the text is shared with its authors. Copyright of the photographs/ images reside with contributing photographers/artists. All other rights reserved. The views/opinions expressed in Pulse are the authors and not necessarily those of the editor or publisher. While reasonable eort has been made to avoid errors, no liability will be accepted for any that may have inadvertently occurred.

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connecting asian dance and music communities

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SUMMER 2011 PULSE

UPFRONT - LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

Letter from the Editor

Dear Reader We are very proud to present the kuchipudi style as the lead story in Pulse, for the rst time. Among the styles of classical Indian dance, kuchipudi, originating in Andhra Pradesh, is overshadowed by its more powerful neighbour, bharatanatyam, centred around Tamil Nadu. Social and political forces have a play on art forms too, and the highly articulate Tamil communitys support of Carnatic music and bharatanatyam dance has much to do with the domination of these forms. However, great artists cut through the politics and appeal straight to the heart. The late guru Kelucharan Mahapatra, for instance, took odissi, a lesser-known style, into an international arena, winning thousands of converts to the form. Similarly kuchipudi makes a mark when performed by such greats as Yamini Krishnamurthy and Swapnasundari. On our small island, the recent entry of Arunima Kumar has made us sit up and take notice of kuchipudi. We are hugely indebted to photographers Simon Richardson and Avinash Pasricha, whose images are worth a thousand words. The classroom picture in the Kuchipudi village dance school tells more about the dynamic lines of kuchipudi than any written description. This is not to undermine the written word, but recognition of the knowledge that is stored in the visual. Dancer and scholar Swapnasundari gives a fascinating interview to Isabel Putinja on the release of her new book Vilasini Natyam: Bharatam of Telegu Temple and Court Dancers. At the height of her performance career Swapnasundari stepped out of the limelight to learn with elderly temple dancers, piecing together a style which revealed itself to have a highlydeveloped vocabulary of 102 adavus (basic dance units). Finding new contexts for classical Indian dance, Kali Chandrasegaram tells Donald Hutera that he is about to embark on a cabaret circuit. In one sense Indian dance has always had a dual face: sacred and sensual, danced at temple and court, to entertain the gods and mortals. So perhaps Kali is only being honest in presenting dance as entertainment. If in London, come and experience it for yourself, at Battersea Barge on 10 August. Our listings are burgeoning: seventy-eight unique dance and music events. We are spoilt for choice. Enjoy the summer and throw the zz of Indian music and dance into your menu! Sanjeevini
Correction Pulse 111 published December 2010 contained an error in Dr. Jyoti Argades feature article, Carving a Corner for Contemporary Dance On page 7, in her discussion of the complexities involved in classifying Indian dance forms, in the sentence, Though the categories of classical, contemporary or postmodern dance in India are at best, useful in describing genre, and at worst, historical and arbitrary, modern dance in India is hardly a recent phenomenon, the word historical should have read ahistorical.

Dancers: Gian Luca Loddo, Kamala Devam, Kim Amundsen | Photo: Pete Schiazza

Akademi Premier Song of the City

To mark the 150th anniversary of Tagores birth Akademi have brought together an eclectic artistic team in a production looking at the poets work and philosophy through the eyes of twentyrst-century Londoners. Bucolic Bengali landscapes from days gone by are replaced by the grime, stone and metal of the inner city, in a narrative that sees three characters executive, artist and muse disrupted from their daily routines by a journey of discovery. I have been inspired by Rabindranath Tagore for many years, especially in terms of his innovation in writing. I wanted to explore how his songs might be used in 2011, giving his work a new perspective for contemporary audiences Mira Kaushik. Premiering in Southwark Playhouses Vaults on 56 August, Song of the City has been created with the dark urban mystique of the underground space in mind. Choreographer Ash Mukherjee brings together ballet, contemporary and bharatanatyam with a steampunk aesthetic enhanced by Arun Ghoshs electro-beat score. With Tagore expert William Radice working in collaboration with lm-maker William Huntley and dramaturge Deepan Sivaraman, Song of the City promises a sharp jolt to the senses in a multi-media exploration that brings Tagores themes of contrast and duality to the fore. teachers have been presented in an exhibition and DVD documenting the importance of the arangetram to British-based bharatanatyam dancers today. Listening to the voices of the thirty-ve interviewees in the DVD, gurus, experienced performers and young dancers alike emphasise the importance of this milestone event and the reverence that surrounds it. Through respect for their art form and teachers, the students express their dedication to what for some will become a career, while others a pastime. Teachers reect upon the shifting meaning of the arangetram and the risk of losing the integrity of the experience through the pressure to produce a grand occasion. However, the overall tone is one of positivity and pride in a tradition which continues to enrich the cultural and spiritual lives of new generations of dancers and their audiences. Charting the important

British Arangetram Photo: Simon Richardson

British Arangetram Exhibition

Marking the culmination of an extensive heritage project, the British Arangetram Exhibition was held at Lutons Hat Factory Arts Centre in May. In a Heritage Lottery-funded project by FIPA (Foundation for Indian Performing Arts) in partnership with Kadam, the experiences and reections of dancers and

PULSE SUMMER 2011

UPFRONT - NEWS

elements of the arangetram from its cultural signicance to the training the dancer must undergo and the programme of items performed, the exhibition was coupled with a collection of photographs. Indian Dance through the lens of Simon Richardson displays images taken over the last decade that show the vibrancy and vitality of South Asian dance in Britain and credit the aesthetic and humane approach of the photographer in presenting this genre for a modern sensibility. In a celebratory launch event, Artistic Directors Hi Ching (FIPA) and Sanjeevini Dutta (Kadam) introduced the guests to the background of the project, which was put in the wider context of national heritage by speaker Maggie Appleton (Head of Museums Luton Culture, Committee member Heritage Lottery Fund). Showcasing the dance form were two local bharatanatyam groups plus an inspirational workshop by Ash Mukherjee which got everyone on their feet. The DVD and text from the exhibition can be viewed online at www.pa.org.uk

Sonia Sabri Photo: Courtesy the artist

Funding Landscape As The Dust Settles

When the Arts Council England announced the details of their funding reforms on 30 March the shock story was the loss of support for the UKs leading Asian music promoter Asian Music Circuit who saw their Regularly Funded Organisation status disappear along with 500,000 annual funding to core costs. That such a well-established organisation founded by the Arts Council in 1989 in response to the under-

representation of Asian music has been excluded from the Arts Councils new National Portfolio came as a surprise to many who see the work of AMC as indispensable. With unparalleled experience in bringing a wide range of music traditions from across Asia to audiences around the country, running an extensive education programme and developing a rich collection of resources based at the Museum of Asian Music in London, it is hard to see how the Arts Council can justify such a body-blow to the Asian arts sector. Other national big hitters Akademi and Milapfest retained a similar level of funding while sampad saw a small decrease. A large increase in Asian Arts Agencys funding puts Bristol rmly on the map in terms of South Asian arts provision. However, elsewhere in the south the news was bleak for Art Asia in Southampton. Not only was the organisation dealt a cut of over 60 per cent to funding in their transition to the National Portfolio, they also currently face being sidelined by the Arts Council and their local authority in the development of a new arts complex to which Art Asia have contributed signicant investment. With Akademi and Akram Khan Company retaining the same level of funding, the dance scene in London seems relatively undisturbed. However, broadening the focus to include music sees the catastrophic loss to AMC plus a 19 per cent cut to Bharatiya Vidya Bhavans funding which will set alarm bells ringing for the capitals music lovers. Bring storytelling into the picture and it is worth noting the complete cut of Vayu Naidus funding. In some regions losses were balanced by gains, which echoed the statement by Chair Dame Liz Forgan that the Arts Council has taken the brave path of strategic choices not salami slices which has meant some painful decisions. In the north-east the Pakistan Cultural Society was denied a place in the National Portfolio, while Gem Arts saw their support almost double. In the East Midlands, Surtal Arts were left o the list as Darbar appeared as one of two newcomers to the National Portfolio from the South Asian music and dance sector. In

a statement Darbar director Sandeep Virdee expressed his delight in the vote of condence given by NPO status: ...Its been sheer hard work and dedication over the past six years to establish the festival as Europes premier Indian classical music festival, recognised as the largest of its kind outside of India. The funding will enable us to create capacity and develop our work in partnership to reach out to new audiences throughout the UK. Even though we are facing tough cutbacks in a recession, it is the arts that give us colour in what is seen as a black and white economy. The second newcomer to the National Portfolio is Sonia Sabri Company. Sonia Sabri is a respected classical artist who has upped her national presence by successful tours articulating her vision of urban kathak. By supporting her ACE is putting its condence in a second-generation artist, born and trained in the UK. I am delighted that my company has been included as one of Arts Council Englands NPO. I see this as a new phase of existence for the company, says Sabri. Balancing the bad news of the West Midlands disappointing loss of funding to Chitraleka Dance Company, Sonia Sabri becomes one of only three South Asian dance touring companies included on the National Portfolio. Sabri joins Akram Khan and Balbir Singh to make a strong case for contemporary kathak in the UK. The latter artist is facing a bright future from his base in Hudderseld as a massive increase in funding was awarded to Balbir Singh Dance Company. Elsewhere in Yorkshire, the support looks healthy as Kala Sangam and SAA-UK saw a small funding boost. With the 29.6 per cent reduction of funding to the Arts Council over four years announced by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport in 2010, there were always going to be painful losses to organisations on the front line. The question is, have the Arts Council dealt with these losses fairly and in the best interests to their mission to provide great art for everyone? Visit the following websites for more information on how you can show your support for AMC and Art Asia: www.amc. org.uk & www.artasia.org.uk. A

complete list of National Portfolio Organisations and their funding can be downloaded from: www. artscouncil.org.uk/funding/ national-portfolio-funding

Annaporna Kuppuswamy Photo: steveosbornphotography.com

Thyagarajahs Ramayana
Annapoorna Kuppuswamy, bharatanatyam artist, neuroscientist and Pulse reviewer, gave a solo performance based on the Ramayana at the Nehru Centre on 22 March 2011. In a non-stop seventy-minute performance Annapoorna entranced the audience by her technical precision, strong yet gentle expressions and the sheer stamina of her presentation. Taking the lyrics from the kritis of Thyagarajah the saintpoet of eighteenth century, Ramayana, Annapoorna choreographed the key episodes from the epic. A student of the famous guru Adyar Lakshman, Annapoorna keeps up her dance art alongside a career as a research scientist.

Kuchipudi Collective and new partnership announced at Kala Sangam

Yorkshire-based organisation Kala Sangam has recently announced its new partnership with Akademi, sampad and Kadam as part of the South Asian Dance Alliance (SADA). This relationship will allow the four organisations to work closely in programming and artist development across a wider area covering each groups remit in London, the West Midlands, the East and the North. Following a lecture
SUMMER 2011 PULSE

UPFRONT - NEWS

demonstration and workshop on vilasini natyam, presented by Akademi and Kadam at Akademis base in London, Kala Sangam will host the renowned kuchipudi artist Padma Vibhushan Swapnasundari presenting a kuchipudi Master Class on 18 June. Kala Sangam will be using this perfect occasion to launch the Kuchipudi Collective a new dancer-led initiative that aims to develop opportunities for kuchipudi dancers regionally and nationally to meet, create new work and perform collectively. UK-based kuchipudi dancers are few and far between, so following a call from a number of regional dancers Kala Sangam has decided to oer support to enable dancers to pool their resources and work collaboratively. Kala Sangam will be oering the Collective access to space for rehearsals and meetings, mentoring and technical and marketing support, with a view to developing performance platforms and touring opportunities in the future. To nd out more about the Kuchipudi Collective or Kala Sangams work, visit www.kalasangam.org

and entrepreneur Shalini Bhalla brings her glitzy Bollywoodinspired workout to a home audience with 30 minutes of routines plus 30 minutes of clear and careful tuition: We are the UKs rst and only accredited Bollywood tness course, with accreditation from REPs (the Register of Exercise Professionals). Whilst we will continue to train instructors to meet the increasing demand for classes, the Just Jhoom! dancetness DVD enables those who prefer to exercise from home to keep t using our specially choreographed Just Jhoom! workouts - Shalini Bhalla. Presented in a down-toearth manner by Shalini and a team of instructors, the DVD oers routines suitable for a range of abilities to develop aerobic tness, co-ordination, mobility and exibility, plus the all-important feel-good factor. With music from recent blockbusters by respected production company Yash Raj Films and a guest performance by the glamorous Bollywood Dance London troupe the Just Jhoom! DVD brings accessible tness with a touch of sparkle to a living room near you! For more information visit www.justjhoom.co.uk.

in which she will explore her childhood memories and growing up, particularly her South Indian roots, through her relationship with the deity Murugan. Hari Krishnan of InDance, who works extensively with solo artists and dance companies internationally, will be the co-director/ choreographer.

nevertheless be treated in India and internationally to sample part of its treasures. An extensive tour of the MKDC in conjunction with the ICCR (Indian Council for Cultural Relations), will take place following a launch at the Habitat Centre in Delhi on 17 July 2011 at a glittering event with attendance from the leading figures of Indian dance. This will be followed by a world tour to ten US cities, France and Italy in 2011 and in 2012 to the UK, Germany, Sweden, Poland, Singapore and Malaysia. Pulse welcomes proposals for UK organisations who would like to host the exhibition with Nehru Centre in 2012.

JUNE
16 Music Ravi Shankar: Celebrating his tenth decade Symphony Hall, Birmingham www.thsh.co.uk Dance Music, Ankle bells & Gestures: Menaka PP Bora (sattriya) Pittrivers Museum, Oxford www.prm.ox.ac.uk/spotlights.html Dance Akhilam Madhuram: Rama Vaidyanathan (bharatanatyam) The Lowry, Salford Quays www.thelowry.com Music NAAD: Present and Future 2011 Sanjay Guha (Sitar), Kiranpal Singh (santoor), Radha Mahta (vocals), Rajkumar Misra (tabla), Dinesh Venkateswaran (harmonium), Surjeet Singh (sarangi) Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, London www.bhavan.net Music & Dance Namaskar St Edmunds Church Hall, Leeds ticketsource.co.uk/saauk 18-19 Festival O2 Glasgow Mela: Various Artists Kelvingrove Park, Glasgow www.glasgowlife.org.uk 19 Dance Akhilam Madhuram: Rama Vaidyanathan (bharatanatyam) Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, London www.bhavan.net Dance This or That?: Divya Kasturi (bharatanatyam) Gordon Craig Theatre, Stevenage Festival, Stevenage www.stevenage-festival.co.uk 20 Dance Book Launch: Vilasini Natyam Bharatam of Telugu Temple and Court Dancers: Swapnasundari Nehru Centre, London www.nehrucentre.org.uk Dance Kathakbox: Sonia Sabri Company The Pound, Corsham Festival, Wiltshire www.poundarts.org.uk Dance Kathakbox: Sonia Sabri Company Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough www.sjt.uk.com Dance Bharatanatyam Performance: Devika Srimal Nehru Centre, London www.nehrucentre.org.uk

Tanjore Nautch Party 1890 Photo: Courtesy Mohan Khokar Dance Collection

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Unveiling the Mohan Khokar Dance Collection

In his lifetime Prof Mohan Khokar (19241999) collected every book written on dance, every journal and prospectus that he could lay his hands on and not stopping at that also included such dancerelated materials as posters, brochures, postage stamps, sculptures, textile, and objects such as toy dolls. The result amounts to the most extensive and fascinating private collection of dance resources held in India which is hailed internationally (Lincoln Centre, New York; UNESCO Council for Dance, Paris; and the worlds rst dance museum, Stockholm). As current holder of the MKDC, Ashish Khokar, himself a dance historian wryly points out on the website http://www. dancearchivesofindia.com, of the billion Indians only one thought it worthwhile to make a record for posterity on the subject of dance in a holistic way. The fact that the collection covers a period of growth and expansion of the dance art over the last century and a half to the dance form we know today makes it particularly crucial that such a collection be preserved for the sake of current and future generations. It has been awaiting a home, and although this is not yet forthcoming, the public will

Anusha Subramanyam double award winner

In a ceremony held on 19 May at the Park Lane Hilton in London, popular bharatanatyam dancer Anusha Subramanyam was selected for the Asian Women of Achievement Award in the Arts and Culture category. Anusha had to make a presentation to Jude Kelly, Artistic Director of Londons Southbank Centre. The overall award went to Amerdeep Somal, commissioner at the Independent Police Complaints Commission. In autumn 2010 Anusha was one of three to win the prestigious Bonnie Bird Award for New Choreography from choreographer Rosemary Butcher. Each of the three nalists received a sum of 1,500 to help them pursue their choreographic ambitions. Anusha will be working on a contemporary bharatanatyam piece titled Revisiting Murugan,

In the midst of filming one of the DVD dance routines Photo: Just Jhoom!

Bollywood routines in the comfort of your home

Developing their already blossoming Bollywood dance tness brand, Just Jhoom! launched their rst DVD on the 1st of June. Just over a year since Just Jhoom! arrived on the dancercise scene, it has grown to a 15-strong team of instructors who teach classes in eight counties across the UK. Now bharatanatyam dancer

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24-25 Conference From motivation to movement: Towards an empirical understanding of the role of dance in health: International Congress of Dance in Health Bedfordshire University, Polhill Campus, Bedford, UK www.beds.ac.uk/dancescience 24 Music Ustad Rahat Fateh Ali Khan in Concert Demontfort Hall, Leicester www.demontforthall.co.uk Dance Chhau Dancers St Ethelburgas Centre for Reconciliation and Peace, London stethelburgas.org Dance Vedic Recitations and Haveli Sangeet Wittenberg Devotional Music Festival, Wittenberg, Germany www.amc.org.uk Music Vina Performance: Geetha Krishnamurthy Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, London www.bhavan.net 26 Music Haveli Sangeet Hindu Temple, Nottingham www.amc.org.uk Dance Just Dance: Srishti Yuva Culture Kodak Sports Ground, Under One Sky Festival,Harrow www.paviliondance.org.uk Music Hindustani Vocal Concert: Kasturi Paigude Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, London www.bhavan.net Music Ustad Rahat Fateh Ali Khan in Concert O2 Apollo, Manchester www.o2apollomanchester.co.uk 27 Music Haveli Sangeet Indian Community Centre Association, Nottingham www.amc.org.uk Music Haveli Sangeet Hindu Temple, Nottingham www.amc.org.uk Music Ustad Rahat Fateh Ali Khan in Concert Royal Concert Hall, Glasgow www.glasgowconcerthalls.com 30 Dance Ek Awaaz (One Voice): Dr Vijay Rajput, Sri Shahbaz Hussain & Ustad Harbhajan Singh Seven Arts Centre, Leeds ticketsource.co.uk/saauk Dance Kathakbox: Sonia Sabri Company The Courtyard Theatre, Hereford www.courtyard.org.uk Music Ustad Rahat Fateh Ali Khan in Concert Birmingham Town Hall, Birmingham www.thsh.co.uk 302 July Dance Sacred Geometry: Divya Kasturi (bharatanatyam) Fringe Festival, Exeter www.exeterfringe.org.uk 9 6 3 Music Anuradha Paudwal in Concert: Popular Music De Montfort Hall, Leicester www.demontforthall.co.uk Music Haveli Sangeet Shree Nathji Sanatan Mandir, London www.amc.org.uk 4 Dance Kathakbox: Sonia Sabri Company New Vic Theatre, Newcastleunder-Lyme www.newvictheatre.org.uk Music Haveli Sangeet Hindu Mandir, Wembley www.amc.org.uk Dance Just Dance: Srishti Yuva Culture The Rose Theatre, Kingstonupon-Thames www.iyafestival.org.uk Lecture Celebrating Tanjavur - A Thousand Years of Culture: Lakshmi Vishwanathan Nehru Centre, London www.nehrucentre.org.uk Music Anuradha Paudwal in Concert Shree Radha Krishna Mandir, Manchester www.radhakrishnamandir.co.uk Music The Singing Violin: Kala Ramnath, London Symphony Orchestra Strings, Sanju Sahai (tabla) LSO St Lukes, London lso.co.uk/lsostlukes Music Vedic Recitations Hindu Temple, Nottingham www.amc.org.uk Dance Sivaloka: ATMA Dance British Museum, London www.britishmuseum.org Music Vedic Recitations Hindu Temple, Nottingham www.amc.org.uk Dance The Indian Hereafter Annapurna Dance Company The Lowry, Salford Quays www.thelowry.com Dance Just Dance: Srishti Yuva Culture The Scoop, London www.londondance.com Dance Just Dance: Srishti Yuva Culture Barra Hall Park, Hillingdon www.hillingdon.gov.uk Music Mridangam Concert, M. Balachandar Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, London www.bhavan.net Dance Kathakbox: Sonia Sabri Company Brewery Arts Centre, Kendal www.breweryarts.co.uk Music Jaipur Maharaja Brass Band Brewery Arts Centre, Kendal www.breweryarts.co.uk 9-10 Music Ustad Rahat Fateh Ali Khan in Concert HMV Hammersmith Apollo, London venues.meanddler.com/apollo Music Anuradha Paudwal in Concert Cadogan Hall, London www.cadoganhall.com Dance Shishya Student Showcase: India Dance Wales Bute Theatre, Cardi www.rwcmd.ac.uk 6 14-15 Dance Exposure: Tiger-bharatanatyam: Devaraj Thimmaiah, Mayuri Boonham, ATMA Clore Studio, Royal Opera House, London www.roh.org.uk Music Mid-day Mantra: Ravichandra Kulur (ute), Jyotsna Srikanth (violin) Symphony Hall, Birmingham www.thsh.co.uk Festival Southampton Mela: Art Asia Hoglands Park, Southampton www.southamptonmela.com 19 Music & Dance SAA-UK Family Variety Show Sheepscar Club, Leeds ticketsource.co.uk/saauk Music Jaipur Maharaja Brass Band Hull Truck Theatre, Hull www.hulltruck.co.uk 17 Dance Dance India: Vijayanthi Kashi & Prateeksha Kashi (kuchipudi), Irina Komissarova (odissi) The Capstone Theatre, Liverpool www.milapfest.com Dance Dance India: Karunakaran Nair (kathakali), Odissi Ensemble, Arianna Balabbio (bharatanatyam) The Capstone Theatre, Liverpool www.milapfest.com Dance Dance India: Rhythm Ensemble, Priyadarsini Govind (bharatanatyam) The Capstone Theatre, Liverpool www.milapfest.com Lecture Dance India: Teachers and gurus in conversation including Leela Samson,Vijayanthi Kashi, Sujata Mohapatra & Kumudini Lakhi The Capstone Theatre, Liverpool www.milapfest.com

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21-22 Dance Exposure: Tiger-bharatanatyam: Devaraj Thimmaiah, Mayuri Boonham, ATMA Clore Studio, Royal Opera House, London www.roh.org.uk 23 Dance Traditional Bharatanatyam: Srishti Yuva Culture Harrow Arts Centre, Hatch End www.harrowarts.com Dance Summer Production: Dancing Nikita Company Student Showcase Norden Farm Centre for the Arts, Maidenhead www.dancingnikitacompany.com Festival sampad Arts Mela The Public, West Bromwich www.thepublic.com 26 Music AMC presents: Shammi Pithia (bansuri) & Hari Sivanesan (veena) Southbank Centre, London www.southbankcentre.co.uk Music & Dance Classical Music and Dance Yehudi Menuhin School, Cobham, Surrey www.bridgewater-hall.co.uk Music Music Drum Jam Yehudi Menuhin School, Cobham, Surrey www.chakardar.com

SUMMER SCHOOLS
SOAS World Music Summer School 20-30 South Indian Vocals and Violin June Nandini Muthuswamy 13-16 July Tabla - Sanju Sahai School of Oriental and African Studies, London www.soas.ac.uk/music/ summermusicschool

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Bhavan 2011 Summer School 16 July Hindusthani vocals: Shubra Guha Tabla: Ansubha Banyopadhyay 7 Aug Kathak: Prashant Pravinchandra Shah Karnatic vocals: Sukanya Prabhakar Bharatanatyam: Surya N. Rao Mridangam: Nyveli Venkatesh Violin: Ganesh Rajagopalan Sitar: Sanjay Guha Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, London www.bhavan.net Chakrardar Summer School 27-31 Tabla: Shankar Ghosh, Prabhu Edouard & Harkirat Singh July Kathak: Hanna Mannila Yoga: Kanwal Ahluwalia Yehudi Menuhin School, Cobham, Surrey www.chakardar.com Demystifying Indian Music 6-13 Introduction to Indian Classical music with Sanju Sahai, Jaymini Sahai & Aug Debipriya Sircar Dartington Hall, Totnes, Devon www.dartington.org/tagore150/ demystifying-indian-musict SAA UK Community Summer School 2011 15-21 Santoor, Sitar, Tabla, Vocals GNNSJ Gurdwara, Leeds Aug www.saa-uk.org.uk Dance India 14-21 Hindusthani vocals: Shubra Guha Tabla: Ansubha Banyopadhyay Aug Kathak: Prashant Pravinchandra Shah Karnatic vocals: Sukanya Prabhakar Bharatanatyam: Surya N. Rao Mridangam: Nyveli Venkatesh Violin: Ganesh Rajagopalan Sitar: Sanjay Guha Creative Campus, Liverpool Hope University, Liverpool www.danceindia.org.uk Sujata Banerjee Company presents: International Dance Camp in Goa 21-31 Kathak with legendary Guru Pundit Birju Maharaj and others Aug Kala Academy, Panjim, Goa, India Email: info@sujatabanerjee.co.uk Telephone: 07466 488 354

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AUGUST
Festival Ramayana Puppets Leicester Caribbean Carnival 2011, Leicester www.cicd.org.uk Music and Dance Summer School Finale Concert: Bhavan Students Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, London www.bhavan.net 14 Dance Dance India: Sujata Mohapatra (odissi), Ananda Shankar Jayant (bharatanatyam/kuchipudi) The Capstone Theatre, Liverpool www.milapfest.com Dance Dance India: Leela Samson (bharatanatyam), Maulic Shah & Ishira Parikh (kathak) The Capstone Theatre, Liverpool www.milapfest.com Dance Dance India: Sanjukta Sinha (kathak), Shijit Menon & Parvathi Menon (bharatanatyam) The Capstone Theatre, Liverpool www.milapfest.com

JULY
1 Music Vedic Recitations & Haveli Sangeet Unitarian Church, Brighton www.srishti.co.uk Music Vedic Recitations & Haveli Sangeet Seven Arts, Leeds www.sevenleeds.co.uk 10

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To submit a news story or an event listing, please email info@pulseconnects.com

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KUCHIPUDI IN FOCUS

Kuchipudi in Focus
??

Isabel Putinja gives a fascinating account of the origins, development and personalities behind kuchipudi, a lesser-known dance style, which has evolved from a dance-drama tradition performed by Brahmin men in one Andhra village to a solo form with an international presence. Dancers such as Yamini Krishnamurthy and Swapnasundari have popularised kuchipudi on the bygone stages. Will the young dancers proled in Pulse do the same by imposing the form on public consciousness? Only time will tell.

850 dancers. 200 gurus. 11 minutes. This was the recipe for history in the making. When on 26 December 2010, 2,850 kuchipudi dancers of all ages performed an 11-minute thillana in a stadium in Hyderabad, they created a world record. This was the largest group performance of kuchipudi, an historical event clocked in the Guinness Book of World Records. The world record was celebrated with much pomp in the Indian media as a majestic occasion, which showcased this South Indian classical dance to the world.

Bhagavatulu-s would dance, act and sing, assuming both male and female roles.
For an Indian classical dance form, which is often overshadowed by more popular classical styles, the event was considered by many of its practitioners to be a magnicent achievement not only for its scale but also for kuchipudis visibility. This landmark event also marked a milestone in the dances long journey from its origins in a sleepy village in rural Andhra Pradesh. The dance presented on 26 December 2010 was dierent in many ways from its original form, for along kuchipudis 50-year-long-or-so journey, the dance has gone through a process of evolution and change, transforming itself on the way. Over fty years ago in Kuchipudi village from which the dance takes its name, what we know today as

Words by Isabel Putinja

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Late Rattaya Sarma training students at Siddhendra Kalakendra in Kuchipudi village | Photo: Avinash Pasricha

kuchipudi was presented as dance drama, performed exclusively by Brahmin men, who passed on their art to their sons. The performers (called Bhagavatulu-s) would dance, act and sing, assuming both male and female roles. They would travel from village to village, staging night-long performances, presented outdoors on makeshift stages. Writing in 1972, Ragini Devi describes a Bhagavata Mela performance in Kuchipudi village: Dance dramas are staged at night in Kuchipudi on an improvised stage facing the temple. The audience sit on the ground. A multi-coloured curtain is held up by two torch-bearers, who provide the stage lighting. Musical accompaniment consists of vocal music, a bagpipe drone, drum (mridanga) and cymbals Preliminary prayers are oered behind the stage curtain. The stage manager (Sutradhara) appears before the audience and recites the invocation. Indras banner-sta is set up on the stage. The presiding deities of the theatre are worshipped with holy water,

As the gurus moved out of the village to large cities, the dance form...evolved for the contemporary stage.
incense, lights, and owers. An actor, wearing an elephant mask, impersonates the elephant-headed god, Ganesh, who blesses the actors and spectators. Then the Sutradhara announces the play. He is always present on the stage, bearing a crooked stick, the symbol of his oce, to conduct the play and lead the vocalists Resin powder is thrown on the torches to eect a sudden ash of light with the dropping of the curtain when certain powerful characters appear. Each actor introduces himself with a pravesa daru, an entrance dance appropriate to his role, accompanied by song and rhythm syllables (daru). There are both masculine and feminine darus with dramatic gestures, postures, and dance sequences, rendered with grace and elegance. Darus also provide the dance element throughout the play. This dance-drama tradition had developed during the Bhakti movement of the fteenth and sixteenth centuries, along with other forms of vernacular theatre, as a mode of religious expression through the recounting of religious stories. According to a legend, Siddhendra Yogi, an ascetic and Krishna devotee, is

credited as the founder of kuchipudi dance drama. From its origins as a dance-drama tradition performed in rural villages exclusively by Brahmin men, today the dance has evolved into a solo dance form performed on city stages by dancers from nonhereditary backgrounds, mostly women. The dances revival started, like for most of the other Indian classical dances, in the late 50s following Indias independence. As the gurus moved out of the village to large cities, the dance form and its repertoire inevitably evolved for the contemporary stage. Guru Vedantam Lakshminarayana Sastri had made a signicant contribution to the popularisation of kuchipudi in the early 1940s and 1950s. He signicantly expanded the scope of the dance-drama form by choreographing many nritta and abhinaya items for solo dancers. He had a vast repertoire of ashtapadis, padams and javalis. He was also the rst to teach female dancers, including temple dancers. His students included none other than Balasaraswati, Mylapore Gauri Amma, and Vazhuvoor Ramaiah Pillai who all became legends in their own right. Guru Vempati Chinna Satyam is credited with having made the biggest contribution to the development of kuchipudi. He developed and codied the technique of the dance based on the principles of the Natya Shastra. He classied the dance units or adavus and introduced a systematic teaching method. He polished and perfected the nritta , or pure dance movements. He developed his own particular individual style, which is referred to as the Vempati style or new style of kuchipudi. Characterised by strong clean lines, crisp energetic jatis and vibrant footwork, the Vempati style seems to be the most popular style of kuchipudi today. Guru Vempati Chinna Satyam is also a prolic choreographer, having choreographed 180 solo items and fteen dance dramas. He has received many awards for his contribution to kuchipudi including the prestigious Padma Bhushan from the government of India. He established the Kuchipudi Art Academy in Chennai in 1963. Some of his students who went on to

Guru Vempati Chinna Satyam codied the technique of the dance based on the principles of the Natya Shastra.
SUMMER 2011 PULSE

Guru Vempati Chinna Satyam | Photo: Avinash Pasricha

KUCHIPUDI IN FOCUS
Vedantam Satyanarayana Sarma revealing behind-the-scene to adopting a female role photos: Avinash Pasricha

become celebrated kuchipudi exponents include Yamini Krishnamurty, Sobha Naidu and Swapnasundari. His son Vempati Ravishankar has followed in his footsteps and is an established dancer and guru. Thanks to some prominent dancing couples, kuchipudi has also developed as a duet form. Jaya Rama Rao is from a traditional Bhagavatulu family. He and his disciple and wife Vanashree are well-known and respected kuchipudi dancers and gurus based in Delhi. Chennai-based gurus Narasimhachari and Vasanthalakshmi are better known as bharatanatyam dancers but they are also accomplished kuchipudi dancers known for their innovative choreographies created for duos. The Reddys are probably the bestknown kuchipudi couple. They have won numerous awards for the excellence of their dance, including the Padmashri. Radhas sister Kaushalya is also a prominent dancer, as are their daughters Yamini and Bhavana Reddy. Compared to the other Indian classical dance styles, kuchipudi is perhaps closest to bharatanatyam in terms of technique, but it has its own unique characteristics. Both styles feature a half-sitting posture as the basic position and strong, rhythmical footwork. But kuchipudi has a certain light-footedness and many graceful hops and leaps. Compared to bharatanatyam, it is less angular, with rounded arm movements and characteristic bobbing, bending and swaying movements, which are unique to kuchipudi. The kuchipudi repertoire presented by the solo dancer on the contemporary stage is still evolving and though there is a trend to standardise it, there is no xed recipe when it comes to a performance

(but performed on stage less often), as are thillanas as concluding pieces. Episodes from the traditional dance dramas are also popular, the most famous being Bhama Kalapam which tells the story of Satyabhama, a consort of Krishna. The dramatic aspect of abhinaya characteristic to kuchipudi is an inheritance from its dance-drama tradition. There is a rich repertoire of padams, javalis, kirtanams, shabdams, ashtapadis. The padams and kirtanams by Telugu poet and

The dramatic aspect of abhinaya is an inheritance from its dancedrama tradition.

composer Kshetrayya are favourites. Vedantam Satyanarayana Sarma is a renowned kuchipudi artist famous for his compelling and versatile abhinaya and especially his convincing impersonation of female roles during which he completely transforms, adopting the grace of a woman with ease and conviction. The Tarangam is unique to kuchipudi, often performed as a nale. This is a technique where dancers stand on the edges of a brass plate, sometimes balancing a pot on the head and holding oil lamps, as they move to complex rhythmical patterns. Another technique unique to kuchipudi which was popularised by guru C. R. Acharyulu is tala chitra nritya. Using her feet dipped in coloured paint, powder or dye, the dancer traces the outline of an animal: a peacock in Mayura Kautavam, lion in Simhanandanam or an elephant in Ganesh Kautavam. All of Indias classical dances went through a revival following independence, which involved a process of reconstruction and codication. Over the past few decades, kuchipudi has made many transitions: from a dance-drama tradition to a solo repertoire; from hereditary male performers to a proliferation of female dancers; from the makeshift stages of rural villages to the theatres of metropolitan cities; from guru-shisyaparampara to institutionalised teaching; from the Natya Shastra to the Guinness Book This process of evolution continues with the contemporary kuchipudi gurus and dancers of today who inject it with their own perspectives, innovations and inspiration.

Kuchipudi has a certain light-footedness that distinguishes it from its cousin (bharatanatyam).
repertoire, as is the case for the bharatanatyam margam, for example. A kuchipudi performance may start with a prayer or an invocatory piece: an oering of owers to a deity through a puspanjali, or a kautavam in praise of a certain god. Like in bharatanatyam, the jatiswaram set to swara patterns is a popular item

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Chitra Kalyandurg | Photo: Courtesy the artist/ Arunima Kumar | Photo: Simon Richardson/Vyjayanthi Kashi | Photo: Courtesy the artist

Dancer Proles
Chitra Kalyandurg Chitra Kalyandurg is a kuchipudi performer, educator and choreographer based in Maryland, USA. Speaking about the current state of kuchipudi in the US today, she says: There are very few kuchipudi dancers who are solely performers, and who are regularly creating and performing new work that moves beyond the various banis or styles. The stalwarts are performing much less nowadays; however, new work is being created, much of it by choreographers from India who work with kuchipudi schools in the US. Many schools bring kuchipudi exponents from India during the summer to conduct workshops and we benet from their creativity. Chitra began learning kuchipudi at a young age with Mrinalini Sadananda. In 1994, she began training with renowned kuchipudi artist and guru, Anuradha Nehru, a disciple of the renowned Vempati Chinna Satyam. She also had the opportunity to learn with Guru himself during intensive summer dance camps, as well as with his son Vempati Ravishankar, and wellknown guru Jaikishore Mosalikanti. In the US there is a predominance of teachers following in the Vempati Chinna Satyam style, she explains, which makes sense, as he trained many kuchipudi artists who relocated here in the 1990s. Dr. Sobha Naidus school also has a large community of disciples here. Since there are many kuchipudi teachers who run dance schools, a lot of the performances are student- and communitycentred. Throughout the country there are pockets of kuchipudi activity that stay regional, and which remain more of a cultural tradition rather than an artistic movement. Along with her guru Anuradha Nehru and two fellow students, Chitra co-founded the Kalanidhi Dance Company in 2005. The company has collaborated with several US-based and international artists, and has toured nationally and internationally. Im part of a group of young kuchipudi dancers who have been learning in this country for over twenty years and who are taking up the art form and running with it. As American dancers of Indian origin, these artists bring to kuchipudi a new perspective that I believe only enhances it and adds to its evolution. I am optimistic that the art form will continue to grow artistically, and am really hopeful that classical Indian dance can one day reach the level of national recognition here, as it does in the UK, she concludes. Arunima Kumar Moving from India where shes a well-known dancer and starting over in London where kuchipudi occupies little space has been a challenging experience for dancer Arunima Kumar. There were quite a few obstacles at rst, she reveals. Having to audition for a performance slot, for example, was a completely new experience for me. But after my rst performance, things really took o. In the space of only two years, Arunima has managed to attract much attention and establish herself as a dancer to look out for in a scene dominated by bharatanatyam and with little exposure to kuchipudi. She has presented over fty shows and workshops across the country and already has a dedicated group of students. Arunima had the good fortune to study under eminent gurus. She had her rst lessons in kuchipudi at the age of 7 from the renowned dancer Swapnasundari. She then trained for fteen years under well-known gurus Jaya Rama Rao and Vanasree Rao. Arunima has performed extensively all over the world and is the recipient of many awards including the Sangeet Natak Akademis prestigious Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar. Shes set on bringing more visibility to the dance form: I would like to have a strong base for kuchipudi in London. Im keen on creating a kuchipudi dance collective and developing a syllabus for kuchipudi under the ISTD, she says. Arunima is also interested in broadening her horizons by exploring new productions, and developing and promoting choreographic works and collaborations with dancers of other styles. In this way she hopes to explore new dimensions while retaining the classical identity of kuchipudi. Vyjayanthi and Prateeksha Kashi Vyjayanthi Kashi is a highly respected kuchipudi performer, choreographer and guru. Shes an active and dynamic gure in Bangalores dance scene with an infectious enthusiasm and passion for the arts. Vyjayanthi grew up in a family of wellknown theatre artists from Karnataka. She was drawn to dance at a young age, rst studying bharatanatyam before nding that her passion was for kuchipudi. She studied with numerous eminent kuchipudi gurus. I have been able to take something from each guru, she says. From senior guru C. R. Acharyulu I learnt the old style of kuchipudi and temple rituals. Gurus at that time were looking for students who could continue their teaching. You will be my dancing daughter is what he told me. I got a government of India scholarship to study in Andhra Pradesh. I studied with Vedantam Prahalada Sarma who gave me my foundation. We would have intense classes from morning to evening. Having strong basics is extremely important. I learned Yakshagana from Korada Narasimha Rao and Kalapam from Vedantam Satyanarayana Sarma. I also learnt the new style of kuchipudi from guru Vempati Chinna Satyam. I have been able to absorb the best from my gurus and I take the best from both styles. Vyjayanthi started her dance centre, Shambhavi School of Dance, on the outskirts of Bangalore in 1993. Over the past year, through her Celebrate Dance series, she has invited top gurus of dierent styles to conduct workshops and oer dance students a taste of each classical dance tradition. Her annual Dance Jathre (dance fair) is a celebration of dance and the performing arts and brings together practitioners and connoisseurs from all dance styles. She has won numerous awards including the prestigious Puraskar award from the Sangeet Natak Akademi. Her daughter Prateeksha is only 21 but has already made her mark on the kuchipudi scene. She has performed in many prestigious festivals in India and abroad and has featured in many dance productions for television.

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SWAPNASUNDARI ON VILASANI NATYAM

Swapnasundari on Vilasani Natyam

Vilasani Natyam, the form practiced by the devadasis of Andhara Pradesh co-existed with the Bhagavatalu tradition, which gave rise to kuchipudi as we know it today. Swapnasundari took a break from her performing career to investigate and study, through document research and by learning the form herself. The fruit of her work has been distilled into a new book Vilasini Natyam: Bharatam of Telugu Temple and Court Dancers. Isabel Putinja speaks to Swapnasundari for Pulse.

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You have had an interesting journey as a dancer. While most dancers devote their lives to a single dance style and focus on a career as a performer, you have not been afraid to change trajectories and explore other dance forms and elds. At the height of your bharatanatyam career, you turned to kuchipudi and later you devoted yourself to the revival of vilasini natyam. What was the catalyst which inspired you each time to change direction? I agree that my artistic journey has been very untypical. The change in my trajectory has been spurred by many factors. Both my mother and maternal grandmother were knowledge-seekers and enthusiastic explorers of new skills. Perhaps I am similar to them - I sincerely believe that continuous growth is essential for an artist. Whenever I have sensed stagnation in the external environment, I have sought to build an artistically rich inner world. Other than dancing three dance styles, I also sing, teach and write. Both kuchipudi and vilasini natyam have their origins in the Telugu-speaking region of India. How are they similar and dissimilar? There is no direct relationship between the kuchipudi and vilasini natyam. In fact, one can discern some similarities between vilasini natyam, bharatanatyam and odissi. The historical connect between the solo Bharatham forms which were danced in these parts of southern and south-eastern India has been discussed in my book on vilasini natyam (Vilasini Natyam: Bharatam of Telugu Temple and Court Dancers). Interestingly, the Telugu hereditary dancers of vilasini natyam from whom I have learnt, have never studied from kuchipudi masters. Most of them had not even seen kuchipudi until television entered their lives. The name of the late Balasaraswati is unknown to them as is that of odissi dance. Physical behaviour, mannerisms, language, customs, and preferences of people invariably leave a characteristic stamp on artforms. Any passing resemblance between kuchipudi and vilasini natyam is an outcome of their shared culture. Though some similarity between kuchipudi and vilasini natyam is discernible in the operatic repertoire, the dierences are many. The Northern and coastal school of vilasini natyam alone contains over 100 basic adavus and their permutations and combinations. Another thirty-ve to forty nrittha units belong to its Southern school. None of these nd a place in the kuchipudi Sampradayam taught to me by its traditional male Gurus. Equally vast and varied is the abhinaya repertoire and methodology earlier followed by the Telugu hereditary female dancers which continues today in vilasini natyam. All this diers from what is currently taught and performed in kuchipudi.
Swapnasundari | Photo: Courtesy the artist

disappeared and solo kuchipudi dance is more sought after now. The sweeping changes and innovations which have been made in kuchipudi over the last fty years, may have even rendered it unrecognisable to the generation which has lived through this period. In the case of vilasini natyam its new performers including myself, do not belong to the devadasi community. We present the artform in a new context. We dance on the proscenium stage, not in the royal court or the temple (except in the annual templefestival of Rang Bagh). I respect the art which has been taught by my bharatanatyam and kuchipudi gurus as well as my devadasi gurus. They have sincerely bequeathed to me what they had inherited and nourished assiduously through their lives. Now it is for me to handle this inheritance carefully and take it further. As has been happening over past centuries, it is natural that the dance styles I perform and teach would acquire new dimensions through my interpretations. Why didnt vilasini natyam receive the same attention as other dance forms post-independence? Though I have mentioned some key facts in my book, it is the cultural administrators of our country who have to answer this question. I pursue vilasini natyam for purely artistic reasons. I am not a part of any lobby, political or otherwise. Organisations such as Sangeet Natak Akademi do nothing to support my eorts, although vilasini natyam as an artform has already gained great appreciation among connoisseurs as well as the discerning media. You have taken vilasini natyam not only to the stage but also back into the temple during an annual festival at a temple in Hyderabad. Does this feature the ritual and ceremonial aspects of the dance? It is only the ritual and ceremonial dances of vilasini natyam that we perform annually in Sri Ranganatha Swamy temple in Rang Bagh, Hyderabad. These ritual-dances (called Agama Nartanam in Sanskrit and Gudi-Seva in Telugu) can be seen here every day during the Brahmotsavam, which usually falls in the months of January-February. As a part of worship in the temple, we dance these to the accompaniment of religious chanting and traditional music that includes ancient talas and rare ragas. Every vilasini natyam dancer looks forward each year to this one-of-a-kind experience. Please feel free to mention anything else you think is important or relevant. Besides performing vilasini natyam, I have also been teaching it over the past ten years to a select few. Some of my disciples are multi-stylists, like myself. Their experience while dancing vilasini natyam appears very similar to my own. They tell me that they feel centred and sense a certain kind of inner equanimity within themselves, not just while dancing temple-rituals, but even during their stage concerts. I cant help thinking that indeed, this is the true purpose of art. If I am able to lead people there I am deeply honoured and humbled, especially by the fact that it is the honest art of the much-maligned Telugu devadasi and the proud artistic legacy of the Telugu rajadasi, that has brought me so close to the core of dance.

You have learnt from dance gurus as well as from hereditary temple-dancers. How has the experience been dierent? Is one experience more authentic than the other? So far as traditional performing arts are concerned, I do not ascribe much importance to claims of purity and authenticity which are frequently heard. Adaptations have always taken place as and when necessary. In kuchipudi the operatic tradition has all but

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A PROFILE OF KALI CHANDRASEGARAM

The rst of a series focusing on a new wave of performers and dance-makers in the UK with South Asian connections. Kicking o the series is Kali Chandrasegaram, a rebel with a cause who has come a long way since he dropped into his sisters dance class in Kuala Lumpur eighteen years ago. As he completes the second of a two-year Akademi/ Arts Council choreographic development bursary, he reects upon the radical re-haul he has been through.
f words are clues to understanding how a person thinks and functions in the world, there are a few key phrases that pop up in relation to the versatile, London-based dancer and choreographer Kali Chandrasegaram. One comes from his extensive website www.kalidance.net which is subtitled Gateways to dierential dance. The work documented there certainly gives ample indication of Chandrasegarams varied interests as a dance-based artist. Another, more basic notion appears at the end of his emails, which simply reads: May you always be happy. Combining the two ideas, the sense is that here is someone who is perhaps happiest when striding into new creative territory. Now in his late thirties, Chandrasegaram is also a person to whom the various gatekeepers of South Asian dance want to give opportunities. For proof look no further than the ringing endorsement of him as an intriguing, upcoming performer and choreographer of his generation. So says Mira Kaushik of Akademi, the organisation through which Chandrasegaram has just

He Who Dare A prole of Kali

Words by Donald Hutera

Chandrasegaram

A very perfumed dancer is how I remember him.

completed a two-year stint as one of three recipients of a choreographic development award jointly administered with the Arts Council. Or consider this praise and encouragement from Piali Ray of sampad, Birmingham: Kali is more than a dancer he is a performer who loves to think outside the box and has a creative energy that is gentle but condent. I always believe that to capture the hearts and minds of an audience, an artist has to be a good human being besides having acquired technical expertise. And Kali is that artist. Even Shobana Jeyasingh, for whom Chandrasegaram worked a decade ago, retains a strong impression. He had his own highly individual way of moving, she recalls. A very perfumed dancer is how I remember him, both literally and guratively! So who is this man about whom others speak in such a vivid, positive manner? Onstage he cuts quite a gure: tall, muscular, imposing but with softer shadings, too. Ones eye is drawn to him, which makes

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Kali Chandrasegaram | Photo: Simon Richardson

es...

him in particular a magnetic soloist. Born in Kuala Lumpur, Chandrasegaram began training there in bharatanatyam at the ripe old age of 18. It was 1991, and he was realising a dream of which his parents initially disapproved. They had, he says, the orthodox mentality that boys should not be dancers but should instead become a lawyer, doctor or engineer. His response to this familial plan? Yeah, right! I guess you can say that after my basic education I became a rebel with a cause and started training at a

...Began training there in bharatanatyam at the ripe old age of 18.

dance school where my oldest sister went for classes. She also performed in the big theatre productions there, which I secretly desired to be very much a part of for many years. Chandrasegarams determination still shines through two decades later. I was ready to face my destiny to become an eminent dancer, he says, jokingly adding, not quite world-famous since I didnt start at the tender age of ve! But nothing was going to stop me. I worked my butt o for seven years, playing the lead in many productions, performing for local television and on international tours. I literally lived my life in that school starting at 6am with yoga classes right up to 9pm or, if there was a performance, 11pm. Eventually his family changed their tune and started being supportive of Chandrasegarams devotion to dance. Another turning point was being invited to further his dance education in the UK by an uncle and aunt. This was in 1998, he explains. After completing my Arangetram (South Asian dance graduation) in Malaysia I did a Higher National Diploma in Performing Arts at University of Hertfordshire, took a year o to work and tour with Shobanas company and then went back and nished my third year in dance performance at Middlesex University. Already grounded in an array of South Asian dance styles, the Western strings Chandrasegaram added to his bow included training in Graham, Cunningham and Humphrey techniques. Learning to free my body from the constraints of South Asian classical dance was a stepping stone in my maturity in terms of thinking about and creating new dance. For me its a rollercoaster ride of emotions conveyed through physical intensity. The goal, he says, is to assimilate the many dierent dance vocabularies in my body memory bank to create choreographies which usually dont t in boxes created by social and cultural norms. Professionally he has enjoyed some lucky breaks. I was one of very few South Asian dancers in the UK to land a regular job as an artist in residence for seven years straight after graduation, Chandrasegaram says. This was thanks to Kadam Asian Dance and Music. He tried forming a company and failed miserably. So I decided to be an independent artist who works with others rather than be branded with a company. I have my name, and thats enough. Going freelance, however, has posed challenges. It can be a constant struggle to get work, but its always good to have good friends and colleagues who trust you. Although he can be a amboyant performer, ostage Chandrasegaram comes across as both innately modest and quietly dedicated. I dont intend to change the world with my art. What Im interested in is taking traditional forms and breaking them by using
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A PROFILE OF KALI CHANDRASEGARAM

Its all about the tease, but with an insight.

but with an insight. The insights include his own. Id been happy just being a dancer and a puppet choreographer working and re-interpreting ideas from others. Now Im going through a complete overhaul. He lays much of the credit for this radical re-invention to the Akademi/ Arts Council bursary mentioned earlier. I nally had the chance to give myself time and space to think and work towards developing condence to go against the grain. To Chandrasegaram this means a pursuit of cross-pollinating (and poly-amorous!) acts of creation made with a mix of authenticity and audacity that instigates change whilst embracing and then purging ingrained, pre-determined and stereotypical mind-sets until you begin to understand how, in the words of [the genderbending American actor and singer-songwriter] Ru Paul, The real you is the energy force that created the entire universe! Clearly Chandrasegaram combines drive with a fecund imagination. I cant think of choreography without the entire aesthetics of it. Mine usually come as a complete package with the design of sets, costumes and lighting. Among his current projects are a solo for odissi/contemporary dancer Katie Ryan that will bring out the Black Swan within her using the sculptures of the Konarak Temple in Orissa as a metaphor, paying importance to the coarse texture of the stones rather than just their beautiful shapes; a solo for himself that plays on the layering of two dierent personalities, one a Japanese geisha and the other Rebekah from the Bible (Genesis 24:60), and celebrates the power of women through a male form; and a piece drawing upon Hindu and Muslim cross-cultural inuences in kathak, nding the transition from one to the other using the ideology of the Chaotic Node, a transition state to do with the collapse of the collective lies of a culture. It all sounds pretty heady for someone who champions frivolity and proclaims, After all, life should not be taken that seriously. As a performer Chandrasegaram has of late been dancing and acting on stilts in an adaptation of The Ramayana for FIPA (Foundation for Indian Performing Arts) that saw him cast as Ravana, a schizophrenic with ten dierent personalities. Elsewhere his experimental side has sought release by collaboratively

vesham, or cross-dressing as evinced in the classical dance forms of bharatanatyam, odissi, kuchipudi and kathakali. For this he was inspired by his training with Hari Krishnan, director of the Canadian company

I feel like an outcast, but I absolutely believe in what Im doing.

InDance and choreographer of Chandrasegarams solo Uma [reviewed in Pulse Issue 111]. Im just revisiting an age-old tradition and giving it a new light, he says. Unfortunately its a struggle for the South Asian dance community to accept this. It will take time. The bottom line is I love dressing up; since childhood I secretly desired to do it and what better way than the performing arts to express my innermost desires? Im interested in pursuing very dierent and varied things, Chandrasegaram continues, working across disciplines rather than sticking to one form of dance or creativity. Only when Im being dictated to by a director does my work have denitionreluctantly! Again he repeats, The Asian dance community doesnt comprehend my work because its far from the safety zone. I feel like an outcast, but I absolutely believe in what Im doing. Hopefully one day Ill be looked at as an artist who dares...a true Daredeva!

He lays much of the credit for this radical re-invention to the Akademi/Arts Council bursary.
mixing dance with trapeze, opera, swathes of fabric and site-specic work made in response to architectural space. Hes also continuing to develop JayKali, an androgynous alter ego cum alternative aesthetic that lends a distinctly dierent cabaret/burlesque avour to his South Asian dance roots. The precedent is stri-

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PULSE SUMMER 2011

Kali Chandrasegaram | Photo: Simon Richardson

individual, personal experiences and belief in ones self rather than structured, codied formulas. These experiences are presented in a widely accessible, fun, exciting, light-hearted way with references to current social issues. What I want to say [to an audience] is, Come with me on a journey of self-reection, contrast, contradiction and exuberance! Its all about the tease,

YOUNG PULSE

The members of the Bhaktikalalayam troupe, bharatanatyam-trained dancers, based in Florida are on their rst tour outside the USA. They talk to Jahnavi Harrison on what motivates them to practise this form of dance with such dedication.
Im on the phone at midnight. Thousands of miles away in Florida, the six girls of the Bhakti Dance Seva troupe are taking a break from rehearsals to chat. They laugh and scream as one of their group arrives, after being in India for nine months. Their Bhaktikalalayam Academy studio is secluded they share the wooded setting with a few curious peacocks and even cows. Though theyve travelled almost every summer performing their bhakti-lled bharatanatyam at festivals across North America, their upcoming European tour is their rst ever trip outside the US. As members of the Hare Krishna community, they were introduced to dance from a young age as a way of oering love and devotion to God, and sharing that with an audience. Their teacher, Anapayini Jakupko felt a calling to South Indian dance from early childhood, and spent extensive time in Bangalore and Chennai with her guru, Smt. Indira Kadambi. As an adult, she began teaching this form to the local girls of the community, some of whom began to take their training and performance very seriously. It gives me physical and mental discipline, says Nadia, 22. Its so much more than just a hobby or a form of exercise its a deep devotional practice. Sita, 21, was attracted to this art form because of its deep capacity to express emotion: It almost

gives a freedom of speech, she says. And performing dances that explore such unique, spiritual topics gives an audience a chance to examine their emotions too. Practitioners of the Hare Krishna lifestyle often attend daily temple services and classes, and practise meditation at home. Many of the second generation nd little time or relevance for these activities, but for some of the girls, dance has been their unbroken connection. It is my spiritual life, Prtha stresses. Im in college and Im working, and I have no time, but dance has been my saving grace. You cant dance and not feel close to Krishna there is no separation. The other girls murmur their agreement. But how do six non-Indian girls from po-dunk Alachua fare dancing this traditional form among audiences outside their home community? People usually say stu like Youre American girls, how come you didnt do ballet? Theyre usually surprised but when they see us dance, they can see we feel it it is a form of worship, it is an oering, Jahnavi adds, otherwise what would our connection be? Anapayini has pushed the girls even harder for the last few years, choreographing new repertoire, most interestingly that which explores the spiritual tradition they practise coming from the Bengal/Orissa region, in the idiom of bharatanatyam. These include Jaya Jaya Jagannath, a fteenth-century Bengali bhajan recomposed in Carnatic style, and a special group alarippu that depicts the opening of a lotus. Every dance is a deep expression of their faith, and performances are normally oered as a voluntary service,

hence the troupes name Bhakti Dance Seva. This year marks an exciting shift. With almost every girl graduating from college, they will be embarking on a seven-month tour rst to Europe where they will perform a marathon sixty-four times! They then travel to India, where they will be undertaking intensive training in Chennai for the rst time and staying for the December season. We never have a chance to just focus on dance, says Sita. We also never get to see other professional dancers perform. They just dont come to Florida much. Weve seen plenty of uninspiring ones who obviously dont put in much eort, but this will be a chance to have a new level of exposure to this art form. And what of the future? It seems no dance teacher escapes the fate of most students giving up dance once they hit their late twenties. Like many, the girls dont want to depend on dance as a source of income, and want to pursue dierent career paths. But they unanimously stress that it has an eternal value in their lives. I want to dance, whether I perform or not, says Jahnavi. The joy of the sadhana is separate from the performance. Kalindi agrees, Im so grateful for the opportunity to dance and I cant imagine life without it. It trains me to be condent but also to be humble. This is a service, its not about me being on stage. If youd like to catch the troupe on their brief stay in England, check the Pulse website for up-to-date listings. Bhaktikalalayam perform 18 June at the Leicester City Festival and 19 June at the Bhaktivedanta Manor, Watford. Visit their website for more photos, videos and information: www.bhaktidance.com
SUMMER SUMMER 2011 2011 PULSE PULSE

Photo: Courtesy the artists

15

ASHA THE RISK-TAKING LEGEND

Asha
T

the Risk-Taking Legend

Words by Ken Hunt

Asha Bhosle and Shujaat Khan talk to Ken Hunt about their recent project Naina Lagaike studio recording and live performance at the Royal Festival Hall as part of an international tour.
he promise inherent in the pairing of Asha Bhosle and Shujaat Khan for Naina Lagaike and their subsequent concerts promoting that recording was mighty. She is one of the worlds most haloed and popular singers note, the worlds, not the subcontinents or the diasporas and he is a sitarist and truly gifted vocalist in his own right. Expectations were doubly raised because, one, both principal musicians come trailing clouds of glory, but very dierent ones in the popular imagination; and, two, because when they entered the Mumbai studio they had decided to lay the music down live in the studio and bounce o each other. What generally happens is that Ashajis used to having everything written down and xed, explains Shujaat Khan. Like, Shujaat sings this line once; Asha sings this line three times; Shujaat sings line number surname, Mangeshkar. It drew on his ancestral village of Mangeshi, to which he added the protective hand (kar) of the family deity Lord Mangesh. He specialised in the Marathi dramatic song-form known as Sangeet Natak. Like many regional drama forms, during performances Marathi drama generally interspersed songs as light relief or employed them to move the action on. Tried and tested, this theatrical convention guided the subcontinents lm-makers when India went walkies with talkies from 1931. Filmi sangeet lm song captured annapaying audiences interest even when they could not understand the language or follow the intertitles. The subcontinent was going multilingual and little Asha grew up in the era of pictures, as lms were called in Raj-era India. It was a transitional world of Silents, Partial Talkies and One Hundred Per Cent Talkies. Their fathers sudden death in 1942 forced the family to move, nally relocating to Bombay where Ashas eldest sister Lata established a toehold in its booming lm industry as one of the open-secret playback singers who put words in lip-synching actors mouths uncredited in case, as industry moguls feared, audiences were turned o and stayed away. Asha Mangeshkar made her rst cinematic entrance aged 10 in the Marathi lm Majha Bal. She liked the singing but not the acting, which nipped acting in the bud very early. Only in 2011 did she give it a second chance for the lm Maaee (mother, more colloquially mum). Days before Maaees going on oors, jargon for shooting, that April, she condes, Its a mothers role. And Im a mother, so I dont have to act. I thought now Ive done playback singing, shows, everything apart from one area and that was appearing on the big screen. She is a musician who genuinely deserves the title of legend. After all, she has recorded more songs than

Here nothing is xed. Its just eye contact, feeling and how you feel.
three; Asha sings line four Here nothing is xed. Its just eye contact, feeling and how you feel. Thats the whole fun of it. Asha Bhosle (the familys preferred spelling over Bhonsle) is a stalwart of the Indian lm industry and not only the one later nicknamed Bollywood. Born Asha Dinanath Mangeshkar in September 1933, she and her four siblings would recontextualise the Mangeshkar name. Their father Dinanath Mangeshkar worked in Marathi- and sometimes Hindi-language drama. With a view to advancing his professional status, he adopted the gotra (sub-caste) name, a species of Hindu

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PULSE SUMMER 2011

Ken Hunt has worked with Asha Bhosle on three projects, two that won Grammy nominations and the third with her and the Kronos Quartets re-interpretations of R.D. Burmans Hindi and Bengali lm industry legacy.

any musician in history. Musically speaking, she is a risk-taker, a role originally foisted upon her during her early years as one of many low-ranking playback

She has recorded more songs than any musician in history.

singers in Bombay. With three children to support her rst, Hemant, was born in 1949 and as the familys de facto head breadwinner, she took whatever potboiler singing jobs came up. Bombays studios, lmmakers and music-directors (composers) operated a preferential and hierarchical system. It opened doors so long as the face t and slammed them shut if it didnt. It took years for her to be recognised and championed. By then risk-taking was a default disposition hotwired into her psyche and creativity. It was made most deliciously manifest in her singing for her second husband, music-director Rahul Dev Burman, and her singing for the actress Helen. Shujaat Husain Khan is the son of one of the most magisterial sitarists of the twentieth century, Vilayat Khan. He rst performed in public in 1966 and on his parents separation he lived with his father, who

becoming a manager on an Assamese tea estate as hand-picked a way to go stir crazy in them thar hills as human brain could devise. But he read his tea leaves, persevered and emerged as arguably the deepest and nest next-generation sitarist of the late twentieth century. With the Iranian kamancheh (stick-ddle) maestro Kayhan Kalhor, he fronted Ghazal, an ensemble dedicated to nding common ground between the related Persian and Hindustani modal systems and their improvisation-based forms. But lets rewind. Before Shujaat made his name in Hindustani classical music, he pounded the Bollywood treadmill, too. People, especially people with regular pay packets can aord to look askance at classical musicians lowering their standards (surtitles: dumbing down) by taking other musical work. What looks like the allure of the profession from the outside looking in must be balanced by the freelance musicians need to put food on the plate. Thus, for every piccolo trumpet solo that excited peoples imaginations or got him into obituaries worldwide the session in question being the Beatles Penny Lane David Mason put in unnumbered hours of rehearsing and bum-numbing trumpet chair work in orchestral settings, sessions and so on. India was no dierent. Top-ranking soloists and musicians starting out alike jumped at the chance of lm work. A far from comprehensive bead-roll of classical talent might include Begum Akhtar, Zakir Hussain, Hariprasad Chaurasia, Ali Akbar Khan, Rais Khan, Vilayat Khan, Ravi Shankar, Shivkumar Sharma and Parveen Sultana. Famously, the music-director Naushad Ali (Asha: A very great musician. He was very disciplined and a very nice person) after much pleading even enticed the stone-walling purist Bade Ghulam Ali Khan to sing live to screen during the delightfully named feather scene between the prince and his beloved Anarkali in K. Asifs Mughal-e-Azam (1960), the year Shujaat was born. Shujaat explains, See, I grew up in a family where my father was a great, big, old legend of his time. I was not star-struck, so, when I nished school and started working with backgrounds in movies, very often I used to go to the studio and theyd give me my piece and wed wait for the singers to come. Ashaji or Mohd. Ra or Kishore Kumar used to come, sit in their dierent room because we were just musicians. Very often she came, she worked and she went away. There was no connection between her and us.

Asha Bhosle and Shujaat Khan photos: Janio Edwards of GDM

I have a space, a very small pond but Im the king of that pond.
Although he found himself on the same sessions as her on occasion, this dividing line was rmly in place. Trespassing was not an option, so long as he retained his anonymity, rather than admitting to being Vilayat Khansahibs son. In March 2004 his father died and ve years on, he contacted her about celebrating his fathers memory. She agreed to attend and sang. The next day when he went to thank her again and say goodbye, she threw the prospect of doing something together musically into the ring. I was overjoyed, he chirrups. I have a space, a very small pond but Im the king of that pond. I play classical music and some Su and folk and what I do no-one else does. Cmon, shes twice my age and a legend. Everyone wants to do something with her. I couldntve had the courage to go up and say that she and I should do something together.
SUMMER 2011 PULSE

Risk-taking was deliciously manifest in her singing for her second husband, music-director Rahul Dev Burman.
doubled as his guru. Music was in his bloodstream but he attempted to kick against the pricks and get out of music. He considered, he told Deepak Raja in 1996,

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ASHA THE RISK-TAKING LEGEND

It gelled, his role becoming one of sourcing and putting together Naina Lagaikes Hindi-language repertoire and the accompanying musicians. Naina mean eyes, he translates for anyone whose Hindi is rusty, unnuanced or non-existent. Naina Lagaike would be the locking of the eyes, so the meaning of the song [title] would be, I rue having locked eyes with you. The decision was reached to record live in the studio eye-to-eye. Shujaat winkled her out of her comfort zone, so to speak. The material he brought to the table included a song that appeared in two versions on his Waiting For Love (1998). Called Aaja Re Piya Mora (Come back my love) there, on Naina Lagaike it is titled Aaja Re Piya (Come back love). In some ways it is the albums signature song, perhaps even over the title song that appears in three versions for solo singer and duo. His classically inected sitar part sets the scene before they indulge in a call and response passage. Then nearly a minute in, electric bass re-positions the performance rmly within the modern song genre. Step by step other instruments enter. The full team consists of his regular tabla player, Amit Choubey, his son Azaan Khan on guitar, autist Ajay Prasanna, Bheem Rao on dholak and arranger-orchestrator Upmanyu Bhanot on whatever else was needed to nish the portraits. Having worked with Ashaji on three projects, most notably her two Grammy-nominated recordings, she and I know each other some. The rst was her and her guru, the sarod maestro Ali Akbar Khans bandish (xed composition) classical project Legacy (1996). The second was Youve Stolen My Heart (2005), her and the Kronos Quartets re-interpretations of R.D. Burmans Hindi and

Enhan
Roehampton Universitys Dance Department has been declared number one in the eld of dance research. Its alumni include performers, choreographers and entrepreneurs. Dr. Avanthi Meduri, the Convenor of the MA and Postgraduate courses describes what is on oer for dancers looking towards making careers in the wider eld of dance
ost readers of Pulse know that a postgraduate South Asian Dance Studies (SADS) course is oered at Roehampton University. But how many understand its relevance to dance practice or production, whether it be in India or the UK? In the course of this article I would like to take the opportunity to describe how the MA and the Postgraduate certicate in SADS may be useful to you as dance-makers, choreographers and teachers, and equip you to work broadly as cultural entrepreneurs in the rapidly-expanding South Asian Dance sector. Briey, the South Asian Dance MA was launched as a new international postgraduate research programme at Roehampton in autumn 2005, following the huge success of the large-scale Leverhulme-funded SaDiB (South Asian Dance in Britain) research project led by Professor Andree Grau at the university in 2001. The SADS MA does not exist separately but is part of a cluster of seven dance MAs. In the recently-published National Research Audit (2008), Roehampton Dance Department was assessed as number one in the country for dance research, and South Asian Dance Studies was declared an area of excellence. This acknowledgement is signicant as it demonstrates that South Asian Dance has come of age, not just in mainstream British dance production but also in higher education! To promote the research vision of the Department, Roehampton oers two graduate bursaries: an AHRC bursary for professional dancers, and a specic bursary for South Asian Dance. The latter, oered by Milapfest, the UKs South Asian Arts Development Trust, was set up in 2010. Urja Desai Thakore from the UK and Sabina Sweta Sen from Poland are recipients of the award this year. I joined the Roehampton dance team from India/ the US and was asked to lead on the programme. Since we are living in what we call the age of globalisation, I conceptualised a global arts pedagogy for South Asian performing arts including classical, contemporary and popular forms like Bollywood and Bhangra. We created

So, its (improvisation) fun and its new for me.

Bengali lm industry legacy. Candour is a watchword. She corrects my faulty Hindi pronunciation and I tell her that Naina Lagaike is a grown-up project, reecting the dignity of the artist she is now. Remixes and retreads of lmi sangeet are not my thing. How does she feel about the project? At rst I was not really happy, she answers frankly. And a little bit afraid. I didnt know Shujaat; I didnt know his musicians. But after one rehearsal, after that I had condence that it could be good. In the spirit of the Stage Sound studio sessions, the concerts allow spontaneity. On stage its not rehearsed, she continues. We dont know what they will play. They dont know what Im going to do when Im improvising in a song. So, its fun and its new for me. So, is it an adventure? With comic timing, she says, Sort of! before bursting into laughter. One of the most welcome aspects of the Naina Lagaike experience is their eagerness to take risks on stage. Talking the morning after its public unveiling at Londons Royal Festival Hall in March 2011, Shujaat says, One of the pieces I started had a completely dierent pitch. She looks at me and it was, Really, you want me to go that high? OK I dont know why people are presenting music as if its a presentation where everything is absolutely set up and xed. Cmon man, wheres the element of fun and spontaneity and pleasure gone from our lives? You make a mistake on stage? Laugh! With thanks to Anand Bhosle, Atul Churamani, Sareata Gindha and Scheherezade King at Saregama. Photography: Janio Edwards of GDM, courtesy of Saregama.

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ENHANCING DANCE CAREERS

ncing
this pedagogy by taking as inspiration the work and vision of contemporary/classical Indian and British Asian choreographers, dancers and dance teachers. These include Akram Khan, Shobana Jeyasingh, Pushkala Gopal, Mavin Khoo, Hari Krishnan, Nina Rajarani, Sonia Sabri, Anusha Subramaniyam, Kumudhini Lakia, Mrinalini Sarabhai, the late Chandralekha, Rukmini Devi Arundale, T. Balasaraswati, Ram Gopal and Uday Shankar, to name but a few. Drawing on my doctoral research completed in the US in the late 1990s, and the pioneering work of dance scholars in Britain, we positioned Indian dance production within the globalising framework of South Asia and focused on themes revolving around dance modernism, dance migration, dance history, British multiculturalism, diversity, dance politics, and British/Indian arts policy. How are cultural traditions preserved and transformed in the British, American and South Asian diaspora? What links these diverse productions? Does travel change the historical identity of dance traditions? These are key questions that students research at Roehampton. Since arts organisations helped mainstream South Asian dance, Roehampton students research the work of national organisations like Akademi, sampad, Kadam and Milapfest, and write research papers on the unique manner in which they mainstream and develop South Asian arts within the multicultural fabric of Britain. Since its inception the programme has attracted practitioners and all have used their academic degrees creatively to create new proles for themselves. Graduates of Roehampton include Paya Ahuja (India/Australia), Shrikant Subramaniyam (India/ UK), Shalini Bhalla (Kenya/UK), Jasmine Lail (UK), Madeleine Hull (USA), Rupa Nathwani (UK/India), Divya Kasturi (India/UK), Urja Desai Thakore (India/ UK), and Sabina Sweta (India/Poland). Students enrolled on the programme have the option of writing a dissertation as part of their nal assessment, or as a

through Research and Reection

Dance Careers

pratice-based submission. Shrikant Subramaniyam, for instance, completed a practice as research dissertation focused on the emergence of the male dancer on the global stage. Divya Kasturi and Urja Desai Thakore have also taken this option and will present their practice dissertations in summer 2011. Mavin Khoo, enrolled on our PhD programme, will be pursuing a Practice-based dissertation on bharatanatyam, while Suparna Banerjee is working towards a traditional PhD on South Asian dance. In addition to the MA, Roehampton now oers a Postgraduate Certicate in South Asian Dance Studies. This introductory or taster programme, compressed into three months, is aimed at professional dancers who do not have the time to pursue full-time study. We oer this foundation course because we think it will be useful to South Asian dance teachers, students and choreographers, and also to students interested in arts management, arts administration, arts curation, dramaturgy and arts journalism. This certicate, combined with an ISTD (Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing) qualication or even an arts management degree can create professional pathways for South Asian dancers and aspiring arts managers and producers of culture. Although the South Asian Dance MA has generated international interest, the programme has not recruited as well as we had hoped, perhaps because South Asian students are unaware of career opportunities available to them in Higher Education. I believe it is time to think outside the box and embrace the positive benets of acquiring an academic/practice degree or certicate in South Asian Dance Studies. As a researcher/practitioner, I would be delighted to enter into such a dialogue with the South Asian dance community and forge new collaborations that could help us expand the South Asian arts sector, both within local communities and Higher Education practices.
SUMMER 2011 PULSE

Dr Avanthi Meduri | Photo 1: Courtesy the artist Photo 2: Courtesy Milapfest

19

song of the city - unconventionally Tagore 150

5th - 6th August 2011, Southwark Vaults For more information visit our website at www.akademi.co.uk Tickets: 10

REVIEWS DANCE

Dance Performances
Kathakbox
17 February 2011

Sonia Sabri Company

Mac, Birmingham Reviewed by Shezad Khalil

he seventy-minute world premiere of Kathakbox at the mac, Birmingham was the result of an eighteen-month project, led by British-based kathak dancer/choreographer Sonia Sabri. Featuring seven artists-collaborators including Sabri herself and musicianhusband Sarvar Sabri, it took place and to an excited and expectant full house on the Companys home turf. Kathakbox successfully portrayed the meeting points or the artistic parallels between the performative genres of kathak, contemporary dance, hiphop culture, spoken word and beatboxing, making a case for the relevance of kathak in a twentyrst-century multi-cultural, multi-linguistic and multi-

Sonia Sabri and Suzanne Grubham | Photo: Simon Richardson

movement-based Britain. Not narrative-driven, but rather a vocalisation of a hybridised dialogue between various artistic styles and how they correlate and overlap formed the main thrust of the piece. A key element running throughout was the confrontation of the tick-box culture. From the opening motif of each artist occupying their position within a square, each performer, in turn, demonstrated his or her particular skill. This was mirrored by the chessboard check design suggesting identities conned and constrained by boundaries, too anxious to think and move outside the box. However, as the performance developed, there was a loosening-up between the

artists: rst tentative and then increasingly more condent as they engaged with each others artistic discipline. From Geerings hip-hop sequence that involved him balancing on his head while his torso and legs were slanted towards the adjacent box, to Marcina Arnold and Shan Bansils expressive musical vocalisations and beatboxing exchanges, Kathakbox challenged the frontiers between static and xed traditions of both dance and music. The most interesting elements were the new conversations by artists taking on unfamiliar forms and lending a new twist to their personal dance and musical vocabularies. For instance, in one particular section of Kathakbox, the audience witnessed how all of the artists, regardless of their dance training (Amayra Fuller and Suzanne Grubham, contemporary dancers), executed the tatkar; the rhythmic compositions of kathak, and how they altered these cadences through the use of clapping with their hands and body parts rather than the conventional employment of footwork. Even though this device of striking body parts for rhythm creation has already been executed in many of Sabris previous compositions, its use here was particularly striking. It also reiterated Sabris vision of the inter-connections between these artistic modes. The second skilful and enjoyable feature was the use of humour throughout this composition. For example, in one arrangement Sabri and Geering took it in turns to exhibit the conventional aspects of kathak and hip-hop, but could visually laugh at themselves and the connements of the tick-box culture that they reside in. Also worthy of mention was the sweet and sharp text of poet Zena Edwards and delivery in song lyrics by Marcina Arnold which raised the quality bar of the experience. The fact that there were no musical instruments, not even the ubiquitous tabla, and that all music was generated by the vocal chords of dancers and musicians was another rst for South Asian dance. Overall, Kathakbox was a thoughtful and entertaining

piece that demonstrated Sabris vision of expanding kathak into new territories, particularly to embrace the urban environment so that Kathakbox becomes the song of Birmingham. The performance left the viewer hungry for more, a sequel perhaps?

Sutra Creativity in Tradition

8 May 2011
Arushi Mudgal
The Lowry, Salford Quays Reviewed by Katie Ryan

frontal and did not achieve the exploration of space suggested in the introduction. However, the choice of movement vocabulary gave the item an engaging thread of tension: a playful push and pull pervaded the choreography, which successfully showcased the dancers crisp, eet footwork. In an Oriya Champu choreographed by Guru

ondon audiences missed out in May as the North-West was treated to a feast of odissi, performed by Arushi Mudgal the recipient of Milapfests 2010 International Touring Fellowship. In recent years, the 24-year-old niece and student of celebrated odissi artist Madhavi Mudgal has been establishing herself as a talented soloist. With impressive stamina and condence, Arushi sailed through a programme of six items with ease and mastery, engaging both South Asian dance fans and newcomers to the genre. Arushi presented choreography from three generations of artists: the pioneering Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra and his disciple Madhavi Mudgal, plus her own creative work. Opening with an iconic Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra piece, Ardhanarishwar, Arushi showed perfect poise and a mesmerising centredness. With rock-solid balance, her leg movements were as articulate as her arms as she executed poses depicting the contrasting male and female energies of Shiva and Parvati. Conveying the required masculinity of Shivas Tandava is a daunting task for a dancer of slender stature, but as Arushi moved from the more static section to rhythmic compositions, her strong footwork gave the performance the necessary authority. Choreographed by the dancer herself, Bageshree was introduced as exploring the architectonics of the dance form. Although there were tantalising moments where the dancer posed facing away from the audience, generally the choreography was very

Arushi Mudgal | Photo: Courtesy Milapfest

Kelucharan Mohapatra, Arushi showed that her talent for clarity and articulation is not conned to her execution of nritta, as she adeptly portrayed the layered characterisation of a sakhi mocking Radha for her lovelorn behaviour. Arushi imparted a jovial scorn of a friend as the sakhi compared Radhas pursuit of Krishna to that of a dwarf attempting to pluck the owers of heaven. Arushi added a suitable touch of comedy to the role as a teasing sakhi, her warm and accessible performance defying any cultural or language barriers. This accessibility would have been enhanced throughout the evening had Arushi simply reduced the pace of her poetically and concisely-worded introductions. Her audience would have benetted from more time to absorb each new idea, especially when dealing with an unfamiliar narrative. Madhavi Mudgals beautifully composed Vasant from Kalidas Ritusamhara ended the rst part of the programme. With a long shloka setting the scene, the dancer roamed about the space, allowing time for each new image of spring to develop. It was particularly captivating to see the agitated bees ight as Arushis hands trembled, circled and danced around each other. With eective use of space and projection the dancer evoked an idyllic spring setting, which remained in the minds eye during the celebratory
SUMMER 2011 PULSE

21

REVIEWS CDS

rhythmic conclusion. The highlight of the evening came after the interval, with Kumarasambhavam, another epic poem by Kalidas, choreographed by Madhavi Mudgal. The subject of Parvatis extreme penance to win the heart of her beloved Shiva is a narrative less familiar to odissi audiences. The rst part of the composition depicted the episode of Kamadevas destruction to ashes on attempting to rouse Shiva from meditation. Then, in three succinct sections aided by atmospheric lighting, Parvati was shown serenely enduring the trials of exposure to re, mountain-top storms and immersion in the ice-cold water of a lotus pond. The sense of devotion and drama was well conveyed. A hint towards Parvatis suering might add a note of more humanity to the portrayal. With a complete sense of the context, the audience was brought to the crux of the piece: a dialogue between Parvati and Shiva disguised as an ascetic. Again Arushi successfully portrayed the complex characterisation of Shiva as he acts out a role mocking himself and discretely reacting to Parvatis attering responses. Cleverly, as the dialogue progressed, the dancer switched between the roles of Parvati and Shiva with increased frequency, allowing the presence of two separate characters to grow stronger. At the point when Shivas identity is revealed, one feels a tangible sense of both characters. As the lights fade Shivas presence is dened in the space created by the dancer as Parvati: eyes closed with her face uplifted in rapture towards her beloved. In her self-choreographed nale, Aahlad, Arushi really took the brakes o: weaving through the space in extended phrases of continuous movement. The unpredictable use of phrasing and exciting leaps gave the brief static moments punctured by crisp gestures and glances all the more impact. Conveying the authentic joy of an artist comfortable in her own skin, Arushi Mudgal is a performer who approaches every aspect of her dance with conscientious detail and depth coloured by her infectious vivacity.

CD Reviews
Carnatic Jazz
Dr. Jyotsna Srikanth
Swathi Soft Solutions Reviewed by Ken Hunt

he principle of Carnatic jazz is fairly long-established. By that, lets agree on a fusion of the Carnatic also Karnatic art music tradition system of South India and jazz predominantly, maybe exclusively jazz in its post World War II, multicultural manifestations. The commonality, the common ground is that both extemporise to varying degrees on the three organising principles of melody, rhythm and harmony. And many people deem that common principle to be enough. It is not enough. Better put, it is no longer enough because the bar was raised in the 1970s with, say, Stu Goldberg, Larry Coryell and L. Subramaniams Solos-Duos-Trio and most important of all, Shakti.

Carnatic Jazz | Photo: Courtesy the publisher

It is not entirely accidental that violin has played a signal role in those two highlighted cases. L. Subramaniam and, in Shaktis case, his brother L. Shankar created new ways of expressing Carnatic sensibilities. In the subcontinent the violin is a borrowing on long-term loan but one especially dear to southern hearts through its employment in art, religious and demotic musical forms. Those brothers succeeded because they had the wit and imagination to be alert to the tradition, the day and the moment. But when balance tended towards the day, there were spectacular train crashes Nobody big word remembers the Epidemics with fondness. Jyotsna Srikanth represents one generation on. On Carnatic Jazz she distinguishes herself as alert to the tradition, the day

and the moment. That is highest praise. Previously, I had marked her out as an accompanist in art music contexts. Here she is joined by autist Ravichandra Kulur, Arun Kumar on rhythm programming, sitarist Suma Rani, Praveen D. Rao and Shadrach Solomon on keyboards. Given those credits, it is presumably Kumar who contributes the mooring (Jews harp), an instrument that counts as percussion in the South Indian rmament. The album opens with Haunting Thoughts, a piece harnessed to ragam Sallapam which to the forefront at the beginning, at times wittily edgy, at times so subtle as to be hardly noticeable, runs through the piece like a pulse. What is especially good about Carnatic Jazz is the way Srikanth lls the head with ideas. The melodic variations in, notably, the albums eighteen-minute centrepiece Folk Dreams (a South Indian folk theme) resonate especially well in foodfor-thought ways. You cannot pre-conceive this music. It has to contain spontaneous composition around themes. The opening pianistic inventions (alas, the credits are pretty useless) act as a prologue before she reveals herself; by the end rhythmicality is the watchword. It feels more like a pan-South Indian folk theme than anything specic, but I have been wrong before. It is not a complete thumbs-up. It is hard to justify this in writing, but the percussion programming sounds too tabla-esque. On this crews next voyage and there must be another stronger mridangam, ghatam or even thavil sonorities are advised. Beginning with Insight based on Chakravaka through to the concluding bleep rhythmicality of Penta Tone based in Ratipatipriya Jyotsna Srikanth creates a remarkable journey. Truly an advance on the chessboard.

chamcha (sycophantic) designs. The Madurai-born, Carnatic singer Madurai Shanmugavadivu Subbulakshmi (19162004) was one of very few for whom greatest could, should and because she lives on through recordings such as this can be used justiably. Surdas Bhajans comprises twelve Surdas-themed settings recorded live in Calcutta at the Vidya Mandirs Prayer Hall on 23 September 1978 with P .S.

MS S | Photo: Courtesy the publisher

Surdas Bhajans
M.S. Subbulakshmi
Charsur Digital Workstation Reviewed by Ken Hunt

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n some elds of music it is possible to use a superlative like greatest without fear of charges of partiality or

Srinivasa Rao accompanying on harmonium, uncredited percussion (notably mridangam) and Radha Viswanathan supporting vocally. Ne Radha Sadasivan, she is her mothers daughter. When she comes in on Madhuban Tum Kyon Rehat Hare, for example, her unison vocalising creates an uplift and quite dierent vocal dynamic. Its to do with heightenedartistry buzz that only blood-kin delivers whether that is, to do a western number, dear readers, the Bee Gees, the McGarrigles, the Watersons or the Stanley Brothers. At this recital M.S.S. was one week to the day past her 62nd birthday. Her youthful voice had changed, had deepened as had her command of her repertoire and her interpretative skills. Surdas was a blind seer (supposedly) and epigramstrewing Hindu poet-composer associated with the bhakti (devotional) tree of reforming Hinduism and Krishna worship. He was also associated with its saguna branch. This addressed the paradoxes of illusion on the earthly plane through theological metaphors, including both the entrapment of the senses and how we use our senses ttingly for Surdas, especially darsan (sight). Surdas, idiomatically slave to sound, was a late medieval saint-composer whose life was rst described in a hagiographical, sectarian work attributed to Gokulnath but whose life and works spiralled into the stu of bigger legend,

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including roping in the Mughal emperor Akbar (much like tales of Robin Hood rope in King John and Richard the Lionheart). Now read on Listening to archival recordings of whatever provenance frequently calls for a suspension of audiophile ears (whatever that means) and this M.S.S. recording is no exception. The point is that ears attune and adjust. That will happen as you listen to Surdas Bhajans. One thing that you can leave like shoes at the threshold is presumptions of perseverance and weightiness. This is too easy on the ears to count as work. This songcraft runs like the sheerest silk scarf through the ngers. And another thing, now you ask. This recording presents a less familiar side to M.S.S.s work. Each composition is set in a northern Indian raga Desh, Behag, Bageshri and so on but she delivers them in a delightfully inected foreign accent. Imagine the seductiveness of a Frenchman or woman purring in your ear in accented English. Go on: its as naughty as a second helping but its very nice indeed. Plus, there is humour in the way Muraliya Ab Kaahe ends with its slinky outro slide. When mother and daughter nish, you can see the smiles on their faces. Eidetic artistry.

Music Performances
A Tribute to Ustad Ali Akbar Khan
8 May 2011
Alam Khan
Kings Place, London Reviewed by Ken Hunt

have known. Given the chance, he would revel in cooking Bangla dishes sh with everything from start to nish. When the chamchas the spoons (literally and metaphorically) that ladle out sycophantic praise werent there to hosanna his every kitchen move because it was Him that had cooked, you could see that he was so at ease in his own skin the maestro, whom Yehudi Menuhin described to me as the greatest musician on the planet, and the maker. So, clearly there could have been no pressure on his son, Alam Khan, born in 1982, to deliver a recital with this concerts title. The rst half of the recital was a well-chosen, sunny afternoon Bhimpalasi eventually unfurled in 16-beat teentl. His opening lap movement was really good, a gentle unfolding with some lovely wa-wa (excellent) expressivity. Par for the course, given that his old man called one of his nest albums Ustad Ali Akbar Khan Plays Alap. But the way he revealed the jr the movement with unmetered rhythm that many Hindustani audiences kinda ho-hum through was exquisite. I repeat the word exquisite. Any narrative that is being told needs introductions characters, settings and motives, that sort of lap thing but then it needs its plot development or jr, as we Indians call it before the denouement. However much he is steeped in the familys musical tradition, Alam Khan is not his father. Clearly the deal is him delivering a dierent sort of deal. Yet his Bhimpalasi still

gist, Mishra Piloo as its backgarden trampoline. It brought to the fore the sensitivities of Anubrata Chatterjee (another son, in his case, of the tablaplayer Anindo Chatterjee) incidentally the Darbar festival literatures proofreading proved pretty lame and Alam Khan with some ne calland-response interludes. Its concluding segue or fantasia, sometimes known as a garland of ragas, ew. Alam Khan is never going to be his father, however much or how long he plays sarod. However curious that may sound, that is part of the joy of what happens from father to son. Speaks a father. Loved the concert.

Raag Jaunpuri followed. But again it failed to elevate myself or the audience who, by now, should have developed a rapport with the artists through spontaneous verbal

Arati Ankalikar-Tikekar | Photo: Courtesy Sursagar flickr.com

Serene Morning Ragas

23 April 2011
Arati Ankalikar-Tikekar
Kings Place, London Reviewed by Kulbir Natt

hat amount of courage and focus does it take to get up on stage and perform? Of all the many and I mean very many supreme musicians, it has been my inordinate pleasure and privilege to sneak an inner glimpse of their world at, the sarod maestro Ali Akbar Khan sahib is contender for the one that (a) educated me the most; (b) illuminated my appreciation of music (note, not Indian music) the most; and (c) released music of uttermost numinosity into the world the most. He was also more down-to-earth than any other top-ranking musician I

Alam Khan | Photo: Courtesy Look ickr.com

produced a number of chipo-the-old-block resolutions of the unexpected twist kind, resolutions showing an awareness of pace, speed and balance, and two or three that prompted you little rascal smiles. The concluding half similarly reected unseasonably warm, summer-come-early sentiments with, if you get my

s it possible to go to any concert without expectations? Arriving at the Darbar Festival, expectations of a memorable concert were high. These were formed by seeing Arati Ankalikar give a fabulous performance a few years ago in Mumbai (faint traces of it re-surface every now and again in my memory). There were also expectations set by Darbar, which has regularly presented some outstanding concerts over several years. Sadly, the event did not live up to these high hopes. It was at best a routine concert, which at times appeared a bit disjointed. Beginning with raag Ahir Bhairav, Arati gradually picked up the tempo to long sustained notes that enveloped the beautiful oak-panelled auditorium at the Kings Place. The hand gestures began to ow but then, during a break for a bit of tabla-tuning by Anubrata Chatterjee, Arati looked distinctly bored. Something was not right. The music recommenced but somehow the voice didnt sparkle, the hand gestures became less eusive and several times for the rest of the performance she touched her ear, an artistic apology perhaps to her Guru, the celebrated Kishori Amonkar, for not getting things quite as they should be.

and physical appreciation. At one point, Arati was directing the tabla player on what to play. Not right. Young Anubrata, son of the illustrious Anindo Chatterjee brought in at the last minute to replace the tabla-player programmed in the brochure was looking a little uneasy. The next two pieces were short and more enjoyable. Mirabais famous bhajan Mhare Ghar Aao Ji, and a wonderfully light classical song celebrating the rst month of the Sindhi year Cheti Chand, describing nature and a newly-awakened yearning for the beloved. At this stage, Arati became aware of pakhawaj-player, Omkar Dalvi, seated just behind Anubrata. Oh, you were there, Arati says in Marati. (I dont think the audience was not meant to hear this.) As I left the auditorium to the stirrings of raag Bhairavi, my thoughts turned to how important it is for the artists to gel together, or at least rise above minor irritations to present a polished performance. And maybe one should leave ones expectations outside. PostscriptUnlike most UK concerts, this concert was a morning performance that allows artists to play raags specic to the time of day. A conversation with Arati later in the day was revealing. It concerned how the level of the sun (or not, as the case may be), the air and nature aect the mood of dierent raags played during the 24-hour daily cycle. But, said Arati, once youre in an auditorium it really doesnt matter what time of day it is outside.

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Pt. Tirth Ram Azad

Why did you feel inspired to start learning kathak dance? You may be surprised to know that twelve years before I started kathak, I worked in the theatre in which I was commended for my dance. During the time I was working in the theatre, I went to see Param Narayan Prasads Kathak Karyakram in Delhi, after which I took the decision that I too wanted to learn kathak. Of the many dierent gharanas, which would you say is better known for the particular qualities which have sustained its presence till today? Each gharana has its own palette of qualities, some emphasise more expression where others may emphasise more speed; however, no gharana is any less than another as it is all these qualities from all these gharanas that make kathak well-known and enable the dance to expand and develop further. However, these could be present-day qualities, whereas some qualities are traditionally passed down in the gharanas. What is required to dierentiate a particular gharana from the rest? In this day and age this seems quite dicult, because in the process of everyone accepting and appreciating each others qualities, theyve ended up mixing them! Still there are certain things, which in the bigger picture, portray and highlight the dierences of a gharana; for example the use of the limbs, of the particular bols of the gharanas, things like that still dene each gharana today.

What is a badakhadi? A denite or xed order of compositions presented in the performance is what we call badakhadi, comprising 12 or 14 bols. The demonstration of the bols clearly depicts the gharanas form. Recently, this topic was brought up by the well-known dancer and Guru Rohini Bhate in a seminar. Luckily I had a paper on me in which the badakhadi for many dierent gharanas was written on it. On request I responded by reading it out to the audience, who received it well. Can you shed light on any one gharanas badakhadi? For example take Lucknow gharana, in which you start your kathak programme with vandana and that in which you use the bol thei ta thei tat ta on khaali (matra 9) or matra 13 and according to requirement, you can increase the matra. The second item in the repertoire is amad, which has bols ta thei tat, aa thei tat, aa thei tat. After this kramash, salaami, natwari, paran, amad, tej, amad, tihai, gat bhav or some bhajan or thumri. Following that in drut laya: paran, chakardar paran, parmelu, ladi towards the end of the performance. This way the type of sequenced bols comes inside this badakhadi. Similarly every gharana has its own type of badakhadi, which according to the type of programme can be adjusted slightly; however, not to a greater extent, as it has to follow the kram (sequence). If it is done in a sequence completely outside its kram then the dance is not really referred to as pure original dance, hence why some qualities still dene each gharana and yet cannot be mixed.
Abhay Shankar Mishra belongs to an established family of Benaras tabla gharana. He trained under great Gurus like Pandit Birju Maharaj, Smt Urmilla Nagar and Pandey Maharaj. Abhayji has been the resident kathak teacher at the Bhavan, London for the last ten years. www.abhayshankar.com

Bhavo Ki Alag Hi Bhasha Hoti Hai Expression has its own language
The late kathak dancer, teacher and scholar Pandit Tirth Ram Azad was associated with some of Indias best-known dance institutions and contributed three seminal texts on kathak. Here he talks to Abhay Shankar Mishra and throws light on the concept of the badakhadi that denes the gharana.
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Pandit Tirth Ram Azad | Photo: Courtesy the Artists estate

But the bols depend on the pakhawaj or an expressional song, which may be commonly used by many people. Yes. This is correct and keeping this in sight, many dierent gharanas famous dancers have made their own dierent badakhadi for their own gharanas.

Open Minds
In the eld of dance, Roehampton University is world class. Not just our words, but those of the Governments Research Assessment Exercise, which placed Roehamptons dance department ahead of every other university in the UK. We are a large and vibrant community of staff and students with a passion for dance. Were renowned for cutting-edge choreography and performance, a reputation earned by the quality of our teaching and our world-leading research. Visit us at www.roehampton.ac.uk/dance call 020 8392 3232 or come and see us. Youll nd details of courses as well as performances on our website. Postgraduate courses in dance include: MA Ballet Studies MFA Choreography MPhil/PhD Dance MA Dance Anthropology MA Dance Studies MA South Asian Dance Studies And new for 2011: MRes Choreography & Performance MA Community Dance MA Teaching Dance: Science & Art

Open Spaces. Open Minds.

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