August 2023
ANITA SAYS.....
"Truly great dance can be a window to the heart and soul, revealing our deepest selves and giving forms to memories and dreams."
- Judith Jamison
Former Principal dancer, Alvin Ailey Dance Company
It's August and time for the annual reflection and marking of yet another India Independence Day.
76 years after that fateful moment, there is much churning and tumult in this nation's tapestry.
Amidst the tumult, cheering, jeering, hooting and applauding, there is much to be hopeful about. And much to ponder as well.
As young best-selling author of Indic myths Satyarth Nayak said in his
latest talk about his book MAHAGATHA, "Ancient India reveals that
society was about a million shades of grey - not absolute black and
white. Our ancestors spoke about how even the Gods were not above
punishment and atonement. Arguments were prolific and the idea of Debate
- Vivaad was essential - unlike the binary polarisations we see today."
Today we are assaulted with a million voices claiming, "My way or the
highway!" Yet, there are so many wonderful moments of creative
expressions being birthed and shared in India and beyond. Imagination,
thought, inspiration, intention, wisdom - it is everywhere and artistes
continue to be the keepers of hope and buoyancy for the people.
As I write this month’s column, hashtags about food choices and personal
cutlery are trending on social media. Meanwhile, thousands of my
colleagues around the
world continue to persist in the face of increasing scrutiny and
cynicism about the arts. As money dries up for cultural expression in
many countries, there are resources to be tapped in heritage tourism,
cultural re-enactment, ritual restaging and other areas beyond the urban
lens.
Dancers are busy reinventing themselves for the new mediums that have
emerged, making impressive livelihoods and earning incomes that were
never imagined a decade ago.
Still, the charm of the classroom, rehearsal studio and the stage persists.
This month I speak about issues that surround our dance world and the pitfalls and seduction of social media.
My first report is about the salon performance of danced storytelling.
Read on....
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TAKITATOM
In the Tamil feature film 'Aneethi' (a thriller movie) directed by
Vasanthabalan, SHANTA DHANANJAYAN has quite a major role, a negative one
quite unlike her! It has been released in theatres. In 'Dhruva
Nakshatram' VP DHANANJAYAN has acted as an Ex-President of a country and
the film should be released soon.
RAMYA HARISHANKAR, artistic director of Arpana Dance Company in
California, was recently recognized as an INDIVIDUAL 'LEGACY' ARTIST by
the California Arts Council, one of 8 'legacy' artists to be recognized
in Zone 1 which is Orange County and the 5 counties to the south and
east.
MADURAI R MURALIDHARAN staged his 25th mega production on 'The son of
the wind' Vayu Puthra -The story of Lord Hanuman as a Broadway style
Bharatanatyam musical. He has composed the music and written all the
songs. For his role as Hanuman, he took training with stunt artistes for
the flying trick scenes with green screen effects. Almost 50
dancers, 14 stunt artistes, 40 musicians, 5 assistant dance directors, 4
makeup artists, 5 customers, 5 lighting technicians, 4 stage managers
and 3 sound engineers altogether supported him for this production that
premiered in Boston on July 23, 2023 for a charity event.
Kathak dancer RITA MUSTAPHI has been named 2023 McKnight Choreographer Fellow.
Bharatanatyam/Creative dancer SUBHAJIT KHUSH DAS and
dancer/choreographer PRATAP ROY have joined as choreographers in Zee
Bangla for a dance reality show Dance Bangla Dance season 12.
Kerala State's first exclusive museum for Kathakali is to be established
at a cost of ₹1.5 crore under the 'Destination Challenge' of the Kerala
government. It will come up on the banks of the Pampa at Ayroor,
Pathanamthitta by 2024. The three storey museum will comprise a display
of the Kathakali kalaris, facial make up, tapestry, ornaments and
various musical instruments.
On August 12, 2023 Anugraha Arts and Dhimahi Nourishing Artists premiere
MARGADESI featuring Bharatanatyam dancer Madhumanti Banerjee, disciple
of Indira Kadambi, along with Anugraha Sridhar, disciple of Dr. Padma
Subrahmanyam, at Gibney Dance in NYC.
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AWARDS
Abhinaya Dance Company's artistic director Mythili
Kumar was honoured by Navadharshana with the title NRITYA DARSHINI 2023,
in recognition of her pioneering work in the field of Bharatanatyam in
North America on July 4, 2023 at Cubberley Community Center, Palo Alto,
CA.
At its 34th anniversary on July 8, 2023 ABHAI presented the following awards in Chennai.
NATYA KALANIDHI: Saroja Vaidyanathan & Rhadha
NRITYA PERUNJYOTI: Meenakshi Chitharanjan
GANDHARVA NIPUNA: G Vijayaraghavan, NARTHAKA NIPUNA: TK Thiruchelwam
NAATAR KALAI KON: B Muthuchandran, THANJAI ARUNACHALAM PILLAI ENDOWMENT YOUNG ACHIEVER AWARD: Kavya Muralidharan
The BHARATA KALA PRAVINYA LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD was conferred on R.
Muthukannamal, hereditary Sadir artiste, by ABHAI at Viralimalai on
July 21, 2023. The award is endowed by Dr. Madhumathy Prakash in memory
of her father and Guru Udupi Lakshminarayan.
Dr. V.R. Devika is one of the awardees to be honoured with the KALA SEVA
RATHNA AWARD from Rasika Ranjini Sabha, Chennai, with a cash purse of
Rs.50,000 on August 18, 2023.
Odissi dancer Aloka Kanungo received the GURU SAMARPAN SAMMAN at the 4th
Samarpan Samaroh, organised by Odissi dance institutions Nrutyanilaya
and Nrutyankita at Rabindra Mandap in Bhubaneswar on July 22, 2023.
Kathak exponents Dr. Padma Sharma of Mumbai and Pt. Bipul Das of Assam
received NRITYA SAMRAT BIRJU MAHARAJ AWARD 2023 organized by Nandkishore
Cultural Society on June 21, 2023 at Pune. The YUVA PURASKAR was
bestowed upon the duo Saurav-Gaurav Mishra of Banaras.
On July 28, 2023 Silambam Academy of Fine Arts bestowed PRATIKSHA AWARD
on Bharatanatyam dancer Janani Murali at JSS auditorium, Bangalore.
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 Hoysaleswara temple, Halebid, Karnataka
Photo: Lalitha Venkat
ATMA SHANTI
V HARI MOORTHY, one of the youngest and talented dance costume
designers/tailors, passed away in Chennai on July 18, 2023 aged 37 due
to jaundice.
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FROM THE ARCHIVES
Choreography workshops for special needs
- Astad Deboo
My work with the deaf owes much to my involvement with the Gallaudet
University in Washington DC which is the largest university for the
liberal arts in the performing arts for the deaf.
Dance for the camera
- Ileana Citaristi
Dance is certainly a wonderful thing to film because it is all action and motion, which is exactly what film should be.
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