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Padma Subrahmanyam's first performance at Chidambaram was after her arangetram in 1956. She danced for the 21st consecutive Sivaratri night of the Chidambaram Natyanjali Festival on March 12, 2002. DANCE OF THE TEMPLES directed by Sohel Chawla is the brainchild of Kathak dancer Shovana Narayan. This 40-minute film made on the exquisite temple sculptures of Khajuraho attempts to explain the story and philosophy of Khajuraho. |
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The initial concept and design for Natarani Theater at the Darpana Academy of Arts in Ahmedabad was developed by John Martin and then by Ahmedabad based architect Kirti Patel. The amphitheatre overlooking the Sabarmati River is the first theatre in Ahmedabad to have wheelchair access. |
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Odissi guru Pankaj Charan Das is a direct descendent of the Mahari (devadasi) tradition of Puri Jagannath temple. His mother and grandmother were Maharis. |
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Ritha Devi was one of the first to present the Mahari style of Odissi in many parts of India, Europe and the US. In 1971, she was awarded a grant by the Sangeet Natak Akademi to do research on the Mahari tradition. By this time, with her guru's guidance, she had already reconstructed and re-choreographed rare dances from the Mahari tradition that included the rare pieces from the cycle of the “Pancha Kanya”. These solo dance dramas revolved around the tragic lives of the five legendary heroines - Ahalya, Draupadi, Tara, Kunti and Mandodari. In August 1971, she performed all the five dance dramas in a 3 ½ hour marathon show for the Mumbai based organisation Sur Singar Samsad. These had not been performed even in the temples for over a century. |
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Ritha Devi choreographed themes from the Bible and from Jewish and Greek mythology using Indian dance techniques. For this she was awarded the choreography fellowships in 1982 and 1984 by the prestigious National Endowment for the Arts. The choreography included 'Mary Magdalene', 'The Song of Solomon', 'The Garden of Eden', 'Bathsheba' and 'Lillith' and a videotape of all these dances is now in the archives of this institution. |
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