---

That Shakespeare can very easily be adapted to Indian forms and contexts is now almost a given, and there is more than a century and a half between today and the earliest Indian appropriation on record - Othello with an Indian actor in the lead amidst an all-white ensemble in a Kolkata staging from 1848. (‘Shakespearean tragedy, Kathakali style’ by Vikram Phukan, The Hindu, Dec 10, 2018)

At Aihole, the dancing Shiva is in parivrtta karana. The hand gesture is in a teaching attitude and the disciples are the sapta matrikas, who are also in a dancing mode. Brahmi in samotsarita mattali (NS-bhumichari), Maheswari in samanakha (NS-karana 5), Vaishnavi in suchi (NS- 76), Parvati in the initial movement of avrtta (NS-karana 59), Varahi in samanakha, Kaumari in Lalita sthanaka (NS-standing position for women) and Chamunda in final position of Bhujangatrasita recita (NS-karana 35). This panel best depicts the high standard of Natya Sastra tradition that existed in Karnataka during the early Chalukyan period. (‘Classical dance heritage of Karnataka’ edited by Dr. Choodamani Nandagopal, chapter ‘Dance heritage of Karnataka,’ Dr. Choodamani Nandagopal, 2012)

Snippets - Monthwise listing

---