May 2024
ANITA SAYS.....
"Dance disappears almost at the moment of its manifestation. It is an
extreme expression of the present, a perfect metaphor for life. Dancers
sculpt space in real time, working inside a form that is constantly in a
state of vanishing. We have no artifacts. I find it strangely beautiful
to be creating something that is made of us - made of our breath and
blood and bones and minds. Something that is made of the space we occupy
and made of the space between us. We embody both the dance and its
disappearance."
- Crystal Pite, Canadian dancer & choreographer
A very special Hello to May born dreamers and achievers! This is
our month! Well... I am born in this month and so it is my favourite
time of the year. May is also the birth month of so many, many creative
people - singers, dancers, composers, painters - May is the month when
Taurus - the stubborn, loyal, imaginative and sensorial pleasure loving
bull collides with the cerebral, quick thinking, restless Gemini
twins - what a combination... and for me - born on the CUSP of both
months - it means there is a whole lot of stuff going on inside!
There is also lots to talk about in the world of dance and the current
spectacle of India's national elections and the vociferous protests
going on in US campuses. Both countries look like bristling performance
art when viewed from the outside!
Read on....
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Anita Says...by Dr. Anita R Ratnam
 
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TAKITATOM
The City of Irvine, California, selected EKTAA CENTER (Ramya Harishankar & Harish Murthy) as a 2023 WALL OF RECOGNITION
honoree. It recognizes those who have made significant contributions to
the city and community leaders who have helped shape Irvine and
establish a foundation of excellence for future generations.
On April 24 the Swathi Sangeethotsavam was organised by the Swati Sangeeta Sabha to commemorate the 211th birth anniversary of the celebrated poet-monarch SWATHI THIRUNAL, in Thiruvananthapuram.
Rathna Kumar's Samskriti and Lavanya Rajagopalan's Silambam Houston are mentioned in the list of notable dance companies in Neil Ellis Orts' article in DanceSpirit about Houston's thriving and vibrant dance scene.
The book BODY/LANGUAGE by Ranjana Dave was launched on
April 12 at New Delhi. Body/Language examines the relationship between
spoken language and the body in performance. Dave is the winner of the
Arts Writers Award 2022.
Coimbatore dancer G Sundaramoorthi showcased 154 varieties of traditional dances over 65 hours, earning him a coveted place in the Asia Book of Records.
Sinha Danses's short film 'Shared Breath' won the Audience Choice Award at the 9th Opine Dance Film Festival on April 6.
Filmmaker Indra Dhar Mukherjee's film 'Putul' starring Tanushree Shankar
among others, is to be screened at the Cannes Film Festival in mid-May.
Hari Krishnan, Professor, Department of Dance, Wesleyan University, is
one among seven recipients of a 2024 GUGGENHEIM FELLOWSHIP in the
Choreography category bestowed by John Simon Guggenheim Memorial
Foundation.
Hundreds of ballerinas set a new world record on April 17 at the Plaza
Hotel in Midtown, NYC, for the most ballet dancers en pointe (standing
on their tiptoes) simultaneously. The final tally of dancers was 353,
breaking the previous world record of 306 dancers en pointe. The event
was organized by the non-profit Youth America Grand Prix, which
organizes dance competitions, to coincide with the organization's 25th
anniversary.
During this summer's Paris 2024 Olympics, the Louvre will offer events,
including yoga, dance classes, and workout sessions, for Parisians and
tourists alike.
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AWARDS
 During the World Dance Day festivities, the 5TH NATYA VRIKSHA LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
was conferred on dance scholar, historian, author, critic and
commentator LEELA VENKATARAMAN, on April 20 at IIC, New Delhi. The award
consists of an angavastram and a purse of Rs. One lakh.
The title of NRITHYA RATHNAKARA was bestowed by Cleveland Thyagaraja
Festival upon Srekala Bharath and ACHARYA RATHNAKARA for Padmini
Krishnamurthy on April 13. Young talents Sutikshna Veeravalli (MA),
Adithi Arunkumar (IL), Sharanya Balaji (CA), received KALA RATHNA.
The MES KALAVEDI PURASKAR was presented to Kalamandalam Usha Datar on April 21, at MES College auditorium, Bangalore.
Vocalist Sudha Raghuraman received THE WOMEN ACHIEVER'S AWARD from
Aalekh Foundation on April 21, at Leela Palace, New Delhi. Mohiniattam
dancer Bharati Shivaji received the LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD. 
Anitha Guha received the LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD from the Rotary Club of Chennai Towers on April 25.
On April 7, the first ever EHSAAS AWARD FOR ARTS were given to the
following awardees at IIC, Delhi - Raja & Radha Reddy, Prof. Niren
Sengupta, Shovana Narayan, Ranjana Gauhar, Wasifuddin Dagar, Sharon
Lowen, Sonal Kalra, Rashmi Vaidialingam, Sadhna Srivastav, Radhika
Chopra and Sanjay Arya.
Murali Mohan Kalvakalva received the GURU GAURAVA AWARD on April 27, at
JSS auditorium, Bangalore, from Satish Hampiholli Foundation Trust.
 The LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD was given to Asha Gopal on April 27, 2024 by Soorya Performing Arts during American Natya Festival at St Louis, MO. Prathibha Prahlad received the AMOGHA KALA RATNA award.
On May 1, Shristi Center of Performing Arts confers SHRISTI NATIONAL
ACHIEVEMENT AWARD for dance on Lakshmi Gopalaswamy, at Ravindra
Kalakshetra, Bangalore.
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Natya Vriksha celebrated World Dance Day on April 20 & 21, 2024 at IIC, Delhi
Photos: Sarabjit Singh Dhillon
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ATMA SHANTI
DR.PAPPU
VENUGOPAL RAO passed away on April 7, 2024. Born on 30 June 1948, he
was a well-known Indian educationist and musicologist. He specialized in
Telugu and Sanskrit literature. He has written on varied subjects such
as music, culture and spiritual subjects. Dr Rao had three masters in
Telugu, Sanskrit, English, a PhD in Sanskrit and Telugu and D.Litt in
Indology. He worked with the American Institute of Indian Studies from
1978-2010 and retired as Associate Director General. He was a committee
member of the Music Academy Chennai for two decades and also one of its
Secretaries.
He has translated five volumes of Sangita Sampradaya Pradarshini. The
SVBC TV channel of Tirupathi produced and telecast a program titled
Annamayya Samkeertanarchana, with compositions of Annamacharya in 52 episodes each of 30 minutes duration
with Dr.Rao's detailed live commentary for all the 150 compositions and
Dr.Balamurali Krishna's lyrical guidance.
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NEW RELEASE
The e-book titled MAYA RAO: A LIFETIME IN CHOREOGRAPHY, one of the dance
world's most sought after, definitive autobiographies, will be released
on May 2, 2024 on the 96th birth anniversary of Dr.Maya Rao. This e-book
will be published and available on Amazon.in.
The book delineates not only Dr Maya Rao's impressive oeuvre as a
pioneering Kathak dancer, choreographer, writer, curator and Guru to
thousands of dancers globally, but is a valuable record of her path
breaking achievements, suffused with personal reminiscences, making this
memoir a significant chapter in the cultural history of India.
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FROM THE ARCHIVES
 The Chandrasekhars
- Lalitha Venkat
As naatyacharya CV Chandrasekhar celebrates his 90th birthday on May 22,
Narthaki revisits the interview done in 2011, as he takes a dreamy walk
down memory lane.
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