Pulse

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Summer 2011 - Issue 113

�7.50|�15|�9.50

Celebrating sound in print

www.pulseconnects.com www.pulseconnects.com

INSIDE

Young Pulse Young Pulse Bhaktikalalayam of Florida Bhaktikalalayam of Florida Education Education Dance Courses Dance Courses -Roehampton Roehampton Reviews Reviews

Sonia Sabri Dance Co,

Arushi Mudgal, Alam Khan,

Arati Ankalikar-ikekar, Arati Ankalikar-ikekar, Dr. Jyotsna Srikanth, Dr. Jyotsna Srikanth, M.S. Subbulakshmi. M.S. Subbulakshmi.

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assianiandadancnceeandand m mususicic co commmumunnitiesities connecting

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Ravi Shankar

Celebrating his

tenth decade

Tue 21 Jun 8pm Tue 21 Jun 8pm Barbican Barbican An evening of Ragas with An evening of Ragas with a living legend of world music a living legend of world music accompanied by accompanied by Tanmoy Bose Tanmoy Bosetablatabla Ravichandra Kulur Ravichandra Kulur fluteflute

Parimal Sadaphal Parimal Sadaphalsitarsitar

Tickets £25–£75 Tickets £25–£75 lso.co.uk/shankar lso.co.uk/shankar 020 7638 8891 020 7638 8891 Promoted by

Promoted by London Symphony OrchestraLondon Symphony Orchestra Ltd Ltd Ravi Shankar appears by

Ravi Shankar appears by arrangemenarrangementt with Sulivan Sweetland Ltd with Sulivan Sweetland Ltd

Tickets £8 £14 £22

LSO St Luke’s, 161 Old Street

lso.co.uk/eclectica lso.co.uk/eclectica

UBS Soundscapes: Eclectica

The Singing Violin

Thu 7 Jul 8pm

Kala Ramnath incorporates jazz, ﬂamenco and African music with Kala Ramnath incorporates jazz, ﬂamenco and African music with Indian classical repertoire

Indian classical repertoire. Her performance features a . Her performance features a new worknew work by Max de Wardener and LSO players.

by Max de Wardener and LSO players. Kala Ramnath

Kala Ramnath violin violin

Sanju Sahai Sanju Sahaitablatabla

LSO Strings LSO Strings

Tickets £8–£22

LSO St Luke’s, 161 Old Street

lso.co.uk/eclectica

020 7638 8891

London Symphony Orchestra

LSO St Luke’s

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Published by Kadam Asian Dance and Music c/o Te Hat Factory, 65-67 Bute Street, Luton, LU1 2EY +44 (0) 1582 876 038

Editorial eam

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

Annual subscription £30 with free delivery. Pulse alkingPEN is priced at £14 with free delivery. Cheques payable to Kadam,

c/o Te 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. Te views/opinions expressed in Pulse are the authors’ and not necessarily those of the editor or publisher. While reasonable eﬀort has been made to avoid errors, no liability will be accepted for any that may have inadvertently occurred.

Pulse

asian music and dance

kadam

asian dance and music communitiesconnecting

Audio Content sponsored by Supported by

Upfront

2 Editorial and Letters

3 News

4 Listings

Features

6 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.

10 Swapnasundari on Vilasani Natyam

Dancer, scholar and researcher Swapnasundari took a break from her performance career to delve into the legacy of the elegu court and temple dancers. She shares her insights withIsabel Putinja.

12 A Proﬁle 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.

15 Young Pulse

Te Bhaktikalalayam dance troupe from Florida have grown up within the Hare Krishna community. Tey tellJahnavi Harrisonwhat moves them to keep up their practice.

6

Arunima Kumar

takes kuchipudi forward in the UK.

12

Kali Chandrasegaram

inspired by vaudeville and cabaret

16

Asha and Shujaat

in full ﬂow

Activate your alkingPEN with Issue 113 by touching the play symbol with your PEN

Start your Pen!

Reviews

Dance Performances 21 Kathakbox (Sonia Sabri)

Sutra (Arushi Mudgal) CD Reviews 22 Carnatic Jazz (Dr. Jyotsna Srikanth) Surdas Bhajans (M.S. Subbulakshmi) Music Performances

23 ‘A Tribute to Ustad Ali Akbar Khan’(Alam Khan)

Serene Morning Ragas

(Arati Ankalikar-ikekar) 24 In Conversation

Te late teacher, scholar and dancer Pt. irth Azad gave an interview toAbhay Shankar Mishra in which he explains the concept of abadakhadi .

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Dear Reader

We are very proud to present the kuchipudi style as the lead story in Pulse, for the ﬁrst time. Among the styles of classical Indian dance, kuchipudi, originating in Andhra Pradesh, is overshadowed by its more powerful neighbour, bharatanatyam, centred around amil Nadu. Social and political forces have a play on art forms too, and the highly articulate amil community’s 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. Te 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 asYamini Krishnamurthy andSwapnasundari. On our small island, the recent entry ofArunima Kumar has made us sit up and take notice of kuchipudi.

We are hugely indebted to photographersSimon Richardson andAvinash Pasricha, whose images are worth a thousand words. Te classroom picture in the Kuchipudi village dance school tells more about the dynamic lines of kuchipudi than any written

description. Tis is not to undermine the written word, but recognition of the knowledge that is stored in the visual.

Dancer and scholarSwapnasundari gives a fascinating interview to Isabel Putinja on the release of her new bookVilasini Natyam: Bharatam of elegu emple 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 highly-developed vocabulary of 102adavus (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 ﬁzz of Indian music and dance into your menu!

Sanjeevini

Correction

Pulse 111 published December 2010 contained an error in Dr. Jyoti Argade’s 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, “Tough 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’.

Letter from

the Editor

o mark the 150th anniversary of agore’s birth Akademi have brought together an eclectic artistic team in a production looking at the poet’s work and philosophy through the eyes of twenty-ﬁrst-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 agore 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 Playhouse’s Vaults on 5–6 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 Ghosh’s electro-beat score. With agore expert William Radice working in collaboration with ﬁlm-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 agore’s themes of contrast and duality to the fore.

Marking the culmination of an extensive heritage project, the British Arangetram Exhibition was held at Luton’s 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 reﬂections of dancers and

teachers have been presented in an exhibition and DVD documenting the importance of thearangetram to British-based bharatanatyam dancers today.

Listening to the voices of the thirty-ﬁve interviewees in the DVD, gurus, experienced performers and young dancers alike emphasise the importance of this milestone event and the reverence that surrounds it. Trough respect for their art form and teachers, the students express their dedication to what for some will become a career, while others a pastime. eachers reﬂect upon the shifting meaning of thearangetram 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

Akademi Premier

Song of the City

British Arangetram

Exhibition

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

British Arangetram Photo: Simon Richardson UPFRON - LEER FROM HE EDIOR

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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 UK’s leading Asian music promoter – Asian Music Circuit – who saw their Regularly Funded Organisation status disappear along with £500,000 annual funding to core costs. Tat such a well-established organisation founded by the Arts Council in 1989 in response to the

under-Annapoorna Kuppuswamy, bharatanatyam artist, neuroscientist andPulse

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.

aking the lyrics from the

kritis of Tyagarajah the saint-poet 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.

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). Tis relationship will allow the four organisations to work closely in programming and artist development across a wider area covering each group’s remit in London, the West Midlands, the East and the North.

Following a lecture representation of Asian music

has been excluded from the Arts Council’s 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 Agency’s funding puts Bristol ﬁrmly 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 signiﬁcant 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 Bhavan’s funding which will set alarm bells ringing for the capital’s music lovers. Bring storytelling into the picture and it is worth noting the complete cut of Vayu Naidu’s 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 oﬀ 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 conﬁdence given by NPO status: “...It’s been sheer hard work and dedication over the past six years to establish the festival as Europe’s premier Indian classical music festival, recognised as the largest of its kind outside of India. Te 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.”

Te 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 conﬁdence 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 England’s NPO. I see this as a new phase of existence for the company,” says Sabri. Balancing the bad news of the West Midland’s 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. Te latter artist is facing a bright future from his base in Huddersﬁeld 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. Te 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 elements of thearangetram

from its cultural signiﬁcance 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.

Te DVD and text from the exhibition can be viewed online at www.ﬁpa.org.uk

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

Funding Landscape

As Te Dust Settles

Tyagarajah’s

Ramayana

Kuchipudi Collective

and new partnership

announced at Kala

Sangam

Sonia Sabri

Photo: Courtesy the artist

Annaporna Kuppuswamy Photo: steveosbornphotography.com

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JUNE

16 Music Ravi Shankar:

Celebrating his tenth decade Symphony Hall, Birmingham www.thsh.co.uk

18 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)

Te 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)

Dance Tis or Tat?:

Divya Kasturi (bharatanatyam) Gordon Craig Teatre, Stevenage Festival, Stevenage

www.stevenage-festival.co.uk 20 Dance

Book Launch: Vilasini Natyam -Bharatam of elugu emple and Court Dancers: Swapnasundari Nehru Centre, London www.nehrucentre.org.uk 21 Dance

Kathakbox: Sonia Sabri Company he Pound, Corsham Festival, Wiltshire www.poundarts.org.uk

22 Dance

Kathakbox: Sonia Sabri Company Stephen Joseph Teatre, Scarborough www.sjt.uk.com

23 Dance

Bharatanatyam Performance: Devika Srimal

Nehru Centre, London www.nehrucentre.org.uk

In his lifetime Prof Mohan Khokar (1924–1999) 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 dance-related materials as posters, brochures, postage stamps, sculptures, textile, and objects such as toy dolls. Te 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 world’s ﬁrst 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. he 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

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. his 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.

Unveiling the Mohan

Khokar Dance

Collection

anjore Nautch Party 1890

Photo: Courtesy Mohan Khokar Dance Collection

Developing their already blossoming Bollywood dance ﬁtness brand, Just Jhoom! launched their ﬁrst 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

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 London’s Southbank Centre. Te 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 ﬁnalists received a sum of £1,500 to help them pursue their

choreographic ambitions. Anusha will be working on a contemporary bharatanatyam piece titledRevisiting Murugan ,

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.

and entrepreneur Shalini Bhalla brings her glitzy Bollywood-inspired workout to a home audience with 30 minutes of routines plus 30 minutes of clear and careful tuition: “We are the UK’s first and only accredited Bollywood fitness 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! dance-fitness DVD enables those who prefer to exercise from home to keep fit using our specially choreographed Just Jhoom! workouts” - Shalini Bhalla.

Presented in a down-to-earth manner by Shalini and a team of instructors, the DVD offers routines suitable for a range of abilities to develop aerobic fitness, co-ordination, mobility and flexibility, 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 fitness with a touch of sparkle to a living room near you!

For more information visit www.justjhoom.co.uk.

Bollywood routines in

the comfort of your

home

Anusha

Subramanyam –

double award winner

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

demonstration and workshop on vilasini natyam, presented by Akademi and Kadam at Akademi’s 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 oﬀer support to enable

dancers to pool their resources and work collaboratively. Kala Sangam will be oﬀering 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.

o ﬁnd out more about the Kuchipudi Collective or Kala Sangam’s work, visit

www.kalasangam.org UPFRON - NEWS

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24-25 Conference

From motivation to movement: owards 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 25 Dance

Chhau Dancers

St Ethelburga’s 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

26 Music Haveli Sangeet

Hindu emple, 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

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 emple, 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 Te Courtyard Teatre, Hereford www.courtyard.org.uk Music

Ustad Rahat Fateh Ali Khan in Concert Birmingham own Hall, Birmingham www.thsh.co.uk

30-2 July

Dance

Sacred Geometry:

Divya Kasturi (bharatanatyam) Fringe Festival, Exeter www.exeterfringe.org.uk

JULY

1 Music

Vedic Recitations & Haveli Sangeet Unitarian Church, Brighton www.srishti.co.uk 2 Music

Vedic Recitations & Haveli Sangeet Seven Arts, Leeds

www.sevenleeds.co.uk

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

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 Teatre, Newcastle-under-Lyme

www.newvictheatre.org.uk 5 _Music

Haveli Sangeet Hindu Mandir, Wembley www.amc.org.uk Dance

Just Dance: Srishti Yuva Culture Te Rose Teatre, Kingston-upon-Tames

www.iyafestival.org.uk 6 Lecture

Celebrating anjavur - A housand Years of Culture: Lakshmi Vishwanathan Nehru Centre, London www.nehrucentre.org.uk 7-9 Music

Anuradha Paudwal in Concert Shree Radha Krishna Mandir, Manchester www.radhakrishnamandir.co.uk 7 Music

Te Singing Violin: Kala Ramnath, London Symphony Orchestra Strings, Sanju Sahai (tabla) LSO St Luke’s, London lso.co.uk/lsostlukes 8 Music

Vedic Recitations

Sivaloka: AMA Dance British Museum, London

www.britishmuseum.org 9 Music

Vedic Recitations

Te Indian Hereafter Annapurna Dance Company Te Lowry, Salford Quays www.thelowry.com Dance

Just Dance: Srishti Yuva Culture Te 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.meanﬁddler.com/apollo 10 Music

Anuradha Paudwal in Concert Cadogan Hall, London www.cadoganhall.com Dance

Shishya’ Student Showcase: India Dance Wales

Bute Teatre, Cardiﬀ www.rwcmd.ac.uk

14-15 Dance

Exposure: iger-bharatanatyam: Devaraj Timmaiah, Mayuri Boonham, AMA

Clore Studio, Royal Opera House, London www.roh.org.uk

16 Music

Mid-day Mantra:

Ravichandra Kulur (ﬂute), 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 21 Music

Jaipur Maharaja Brass Band Hull ruck Teatre, Hull www.hulltruck.co.uk 21-22 Dance

Exposure: iger-bharatanatyam: Devaraj Timmaiah, Mayuri Boonham, AMA

Clore Studio, Royal Opera House, London www.roh.org.uk

23 Dance

raditional Bharatanatyam: Srishti Yuva Culture

Harrow Arts Centre, Hatch End www.harrowarts.com 24 Dance

Summer Production: Dancing Nikita Company Student Showcase Norden Farm Centre for the Arts, Maidenhead

www.dancingnikitacompany.com Festival

sampad Arts Mela Te Public, West Bromwich www.thepublic.com 26 Music

AMC presents: Shammi Pithia (bansuri) & Hari Sivanesan (veena) Southbank Centre, London www.southbankcentre.co.uk 30 Music & Dance

Classical Music and Dance Yehudi Menuhin School, Cobham, Surrey

www.bridgewater-hall.co.uk 31 Music

Music Drum Jam

Yehudi Menuhin School, Cobham, Surrey

www.chakardar.com

AUGUS

6 Festival

Ramayana Puppets

Leicester Caribbean Carnival 2011, Leicester

www.cicd.org.uk Music and Dance

Summer School Finale Concert: Bhavan Students

14 Dance

Dance India: Sujata Mohapatra (odissi), Ananda Shankar Jayant (bharatanatyam/kuchipudi) Te Capstone Teatre, Liverpool www.milapfest.com

15 Dance

Dance India: Leela Samson (bharatanatyam), Maulic Shah & Ishira Parikh (kathak)

Te Capstone Teatre, Liverpool www.milapfest.com

16 Dance

Dance India: Sanjukta Sinha (kathak), Shijit Menon & Parvathi Menon (bharatanatyam)

17 Dance

Dance India: Vijayanthi Kashi & Prateeksha Kashi (kuchipudi), Irina Komissarova (odissi)

18 Dance

Dance India: Karunakaran Nair (kathakali), Odissi Ensemble, Arianna Balabbio (bharatanatyam) Te Capstone Teatre, Liverpool www.milapfest.com

19 Dance

Dance India: Rhythm Ensemble, Priyadarsini Govind (bharatanatyam) Te Capstone Teatre, Liverpool www.milapfest.com

20 Lecture

Dance India: eachers and gurus in conversation including Leela Samson,Vijayanthi Kashi, Sujata Mohapatra & Kumudini Lakhi Te Capstone Teatre, Liverpool www.milapfest.com

SUMMER SCHOOLS

SOAS World Music Summer School 20-30

June South Indian Vocals and Violin -Nandini Muthuswamy 13-16

July abla - Sanju Sahai_{School of Oriental and African} Studies, London

www.soas.ac.uk/music/ summermusicschool Bhavan 2011 Summer School 16 July

– 7 Aug

Hindusthani vocals: Shubra Guha abla: Ansubha Banyopadhyay Kathak: Prashant Pravinchandra Shah Karnatic vocals: Sukanya Prabhakar Bharatanatyam: Surya N. Rao Mridangam: Nyveli Venkatesh Violin: Ganesh Rajagopalan Sitar: Sanjay Guha

Chakrardar Summer School 27-31

July

abla: Shankar Ghosh, Prabhu Edouard & Harkirat Singh Kathak: Hanna Mannila Yoga: Kanwal Ahluwalia

Yehudi Menuhin School, Cobham, Surrey

www.chakardar.com Demystifying Indian Music 6-13

Aug

Introduction to Indian Classical music with Sanju Sahai, Jaymini Sahai & Debipriya Sircar

Dartington Hall, otnes, Devon www.dartington.org/tagore150/ demystifying-indian-musict SAA UK Community Summer School 2011 15-21

Aug

Santoor, Sitar, abla, Vocals GNNSJ Gurdwara, Leeds www.saa-uk.org.uk Dance India

14-21 Aug

Hindusthani vocals: Shubra Guha abla: Ansubha Banyopadhyay 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

Aug

Kathak with legendary Guru Pundit Birju Maharaj and others

Kala Academy, Panjim, Goa, India Email: info@sujatabanerjee.co.uk elephone: 07466 488 354

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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 proﬁled

in

Pulse

do the same by imposing

the form on public consciousness?

Only time will tell.

Words by Isabel Putinja

2

850 dancers. 200 gurus. 11 minutes. Tis was the recipe for history in the making. When on 26 December 2010, 2,850 kuchipudi dancers of all ages performed an 11-minutethillana in a stadium in Hyderabad, they created a world record. Tis was the largest group performance of kuchipudi, an historical event clocked in the Guinness Book of World Records. Te 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.

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 magniﬁcent achievement not only for its scale but also for kuchipudi’s visibility. Tis landmark event also marked a milestone in the dance’s long journey from its origins in a sleepy village in rural Andhra Pradesh. Te dance presented on 26 December 2010 was

diﬀerent in many ways from its original form, for along kuchipudi’s 50-year-long-or-so journey, the dance has gone through a process of evolution and change, transforming itself on the way.

Over ﬁfty years ago in Kuchipudi village from which the dance takes its name, what we know today as

??

“…Bhagavatulu-s would dance, act and sing,

assuming both male and female roles”.

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kuchipudi was presented as dance drama, performed exclusively by Brahmin men, who passed on their art to their sons. Te performers (called Bhagavatulu-s) would dance, act and sing, assuming both male and female roles. Tey 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. Te 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 oﬀered behind the stage curtain. Te stage manager (Sutradhara) appears before the audience and recites the invocation. Indra’s banner-staﬀ is set up on the stage. Te presiding deities of the theatre are worshipped with holy water,

incense, lights, and flowers. An actor, wearing an elephant mask, impersonates the elephant-headed god, Ganesh, who blesses the actors and spectators. Ten the Sutradhara announces the play. He is always present on the stage, bearing a crooked stick, the symbol of his office, to conduct the play and lead the vocalists… Resin powder is thrown on the torches to effect a sudden flash 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 ). Tere are both masculine and femininedarus with dramatic gestures, postures, and dance sequences, rendered with grace and elegance.

Darus also provide the dance element throughout the play.”

Tis dance-drama tradition had developed during the Bhakti movement of the ﬁfteenth 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 non-hereditary backgrounds, mostly women. Te dance’s revival started, like for most of the other Indian classical dances, in the late 50s following India’s 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 signiﬁcant contribution to the popularisation of kuchipudi in the early 1940s and 1950s. He signiﬁcantly expanded the scope of the dance-drama form by choreographing manynritta andabhinaya items for solo dancers. He had a vast repertoire ofashtapadis,

padamsand javalis. He was also the ﬁrst 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 codiﬁed the technique of the dance based on the principles of the Natya Shastra. He classiﬁed the dance units or

adavusand introduced a systematic teaching method. He polished and perfected thenritta, 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 proliﬁc choreographer, having choreographed 180 solo items and ﬁfteen 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

“As the gurus moved out of the village to

large cities, the dance form...evolved for

the contemporary stage.”

“Guru Vempati Chinna Satyam…

codiﬁed the technique of the

dance based on the principles of

the Natya Shastra.”

L a t e R a t t a y a S a r m a t r a i n i n g s t u d e n t s a t S i d d h e n d r a K a l a k e n d r a i n K u c h i p u d i v i l l a g e | P h o t o : A v i n a s h P a s r i c h a G u r u V e m p a t i C h i n n a S a t y a m | P h o t o : A v i n a s h P a s r i c h a

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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.

Tanks 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. Te Reddys are probably the best-known kuchipudi couple. Tey have won numerous awards for the excellence of their dance, including the Padmashri. Radha’s 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.

Te 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 ﬁxed ‘recipe’ when it comes to a performance

repertoire, as is the case for the bharatanatyam

margam , for example. A kuchipudi performance may start with a prayer or an invocatory piece: an oﬀering of ﬂowers to a deity through a puspanjali , or akautavam

in praise of a certain god. Like in bharatanatyam, the

jatiswaram set toswara patterns is a popular item

(but performed on stage less often), as arethillanas

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. Te dramatic aspect ofabhinaya

characteristic to kuchipudi is an inheritance from its dance-drama tradition. Tere is a rich repertoire of

padams, javalis,kirtanams,shabdams,ashtapadis. Te padams andkirtanams by elugu poet and composer Kshetrayya are favourites. Vedantam Satyanarayana Sarma is a renowned kuchipudi artist famous for his compelling and versatileabhinaya and especially his convincing impersonation of female roles during which he completely transforms, adopting the grace of a woman with ease and conviction.

Tearangam is unique to kuchipudi, often

performed as a ﬁnale. Tis 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 istala chitra nritya . Using her feet dipped in coloured paint, powder or dye, the dancer traces the outline of an animal: a peacock inMayura Kautavam , lion inSimhanandanam or an elephant inGanesh Kautavam .

All of India’s classical dances went through a revival following independence, which involved a process of reconstruction and codiﬁcation. 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-shisya- parampara to institutionalised teaching; from the

Natya Shastra to the Guinness Book… Tis process of evolution continues with the contemporary kuchipudi gurus and dancers of today who inject it with their own perspectives, innovations and inspiration.

“Te dramatic aspect of

abhinaya

…

is an inheritance from its

dance-drama tradition.”

“Kuchipudi has a certain

light-footedness… that

distinguishes it from its cousin

(bharatanatyam).”

V e d a n t a m S a t y a n a r a y a n a S a r m a r e v e a l i n g b e h i n d - t h e - s c e n e t o a d o p t i n g a f e m a l e r o l e p h o t o s : A v i n a s h P a s r i c h a KUCHIPUDI IN FOCUS

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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: “Tere 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. Te 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 beneﬁt 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 well-known 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 Naidu’s 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 community-centred. Troughout 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. Te company has collaborated with several US-based and international artists, and has toured nationally and internationally. “I’m 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 she’s a well-known dancer and starting over in London where kuchipudi occupies little space has been a challenging experience for dancer Arunima Kumar. “Tere were quite a few obstacles at first,” she reveals. “Having to audition for a performance slot, for example, was a completely new experience for me. But after my first performance, things really took off.” 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 fifty 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 ﬁrst lessons in kuchipudi at the age of 7 from the renowned dancer Swapnasundari. She then trained for ﬁfteen 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 Akademi’s prestigious Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar.

She’s set on bringing more visibility to the dance form: “I would like to have a strong base for kuchipudi in London. I’m keen on creating a kuchipudi dance collective and developing a syllabus for kuchipudi under the ISD,” 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. She’s an active and dynamic ﬁgure in Bangalore’s dance scene with an infectious enthusiasm and passion for the arts.

Vyjayanthi grew up in a family of well-known theatre artists from Karnataka. She was drawn to dance at a young age, ﬁrst studying bharatanatyam before ﬁnding 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 diﬀerent styles to conduct workshops and oﬀer 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.

Dancer Proﬁles

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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. Te fruit of her

work has been distilled into a new

book

Vilasini Natyam: Bharatam

of elugu emple 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 ﬁelds. 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. Te 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 elugu-speaking region of India. How are they similar and dissimilar?

Tere is no direct relationship between the kuchipudi and vilasini natyam. In fact, one can discern some similarities between vilasini natyam, bharatanatyam and odissi. Te 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 elugu emple and Court Dancers). Interestingly, the elugu 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. Te 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.

Tough some similarity between kuchipudi and vilasini natyam is discernible in the operatic repertoire, the diﬀerences are many. Te Northern and coastal school of vilasini natyam alone contains over 100 basicadavus and their permutations and combinations. Another thirty-ﬁve to fortynrittha

units belong to its Southern school. None of these ﬁnd a place in the kuchipudiSampradayam taught to me by its traditional male Gurus. Equally vast and varied is theabhinaya repertoire and methodology earlier followed by theelugu hereditary female dancers which continues today in vilasini natyam. All this diﬀers from what is currently taught and performed in kuchipudi.

You have learnt from dance gurus as well as from hereditary temple-dancers. How has the experience been diﬀerent? 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

disappeared and solo kuchipudi dance is more sought after now. Te sweeping changes and innovations which have been made in kuchipudi over the last ﬁfty 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 temple-festival of Rang Bagh).

I respect the art which has been taught by my bharatanatyam and kuchipudi gurus as well as my devadasi gurus. Tey 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 didn’t vilasini natyam receive the same attention as other dance forms post-independence?

Tough 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 eﬀorts, 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. Tese ritual-dances (calledAgama Nartanam in Sanskrit andGudi-Seva in elugu) 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 ancienttalas and rareragas. 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. Teir experience while dancing vilasini natyam appears very similar to my own. Tey 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 can’t 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 elugu devadasi and the proud artistic legacy of the elugu rajadasi, that has brought me so close to the core of dance. n a s u n d a r i | P h o t o : C o u r t e s y t h e a r t i s t

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I

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 diﬀerential dance’. Te work documented there certainly gives ample indication of Chandrasegaram’s 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

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 conﬁdent. 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 ﬁguratively!”

So who is this man about whom others speak in such a vivid, positive manner? Onstage he cuts quite a ﬁgure: tall, muscular, imposing but with softer shadings, too. One’s eye is drawn to him, which makes

Te ﬁrst of a series focusing on

a new wave of performers and

dance-makers in the UK with

South Asian connections.

Kicking oﬀ the series is Kali

Chandrasegaram, ‘a rebel with a

cause’ who has come a long way

since he dropped into his sister’s

dance class in Kuala Lumpur

eighteen years ago. As he completes

the second of a two-year Akademi/

Arts Council choreographic

development bursary, he reﬂects

upon the radical re-haul he has

been through.

“A very perfumed dancer is

how I remember him.”

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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. Tey 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

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.”

Chandrasegaram’s 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 didn’t start at the tender age of ﬁve! But nothing was going to stop me. I worked my butt oﬀ 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 Chandrasegaram’s devotion to dance. Another turning point was being invited to further his dance education in the UK by an uncle and aunt. “Tis 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 oﬀ to work and tour with Shobana’s company and then went back and ﬁnished 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 it’s a rollercoaster ride of emotions conveyed through physical intensity.” Te goal, he says, is “to assimilate the many diﬀerent dance vocabularies in my body memory bank to create choreographies which usually don’t ﬁt 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. Tis 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 that’s enough.” Going freelance, however, has posed challenges. “It can be a constant struggle to get work, but it’s always good to have good friends and colleagues who trust you.”

Although he can be a ﬂamboyant performer,

oﬀstage Chandrasegaram comes across as both innately modest and quietly dedicated. “I don’t intend to

change the world with my art. What I’m interested in is taking traditional forms and breaking them by using

“...Began training there in

bharatanatyam at the ripe old

age of 18.”

K a l i C h a n d r a s e g a r a m | P h o t o : S i m o n R i c h a r d s o n

(16)

individual, personal experiences and belief in one’s self rather than structured, codiﬁed formulas. Tese 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-reﬂection, contrast, contradiction and exuberance!’ It’s all about the tease,

but with an insight.”

Te insights include his own. “I’d been happy just being a dancer and a ‘puppet’ choreographer working and re-interpreting ideas from others. Now I’m 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 ﬁnally had the chance to give myself time and space to think and work towards developing conﬁdence to go against the grain.” o 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, ‘Te real you is the energy force that created the entire universe!’”

Clearly Chandrasegaram combines drive with a fecund imagination. “I can’t 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 theBlack Swan within her using the sculptures of the Konarak emple 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 different 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 influences in kathak, finding 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 ofTe Ramayana for FIPA (Foundation for Indian Performing Arts) that saw him cast as Ravana, ‘a schizophrenic with ten diﬀerent personalities’. Elsewhere his

experimental side has sought release by collaboratively

mixing dance with trapeze, opera, swathes of fabric and site-specific work made in response to architectural space. He’s also continuing to develop JayKali, an androgynous alter ego cum alternative aesthetic that lends a distinctly different cabaret/burlesque flavour to his South Asian dance roots. Te precedent is

stri-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

InDance and choreographer of Chandrasegaram’s solo

Uma [reviewed inPulse Issue 111]. “I’m just revisiting an age-old tradition and giving it a new light,” he says. “Unfortunately it’s a struggle for the South Asian dance community to accept this. It will take time. Te 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?

“I’m interested in pursuing very diﬀerent and varied things,” Chandrasegaram continues, “working across disciplines rather than sticking to one form of dance or creativity. Only when I’m being dictated to by a director does my work have deﬁnition…reluctantly!” Again he repeats, “Te Asian dance community doesn’t comprehend my work because it’s far from the ‘safety’ zone. I feel like an outcast, but I absolutely believe in what I’m doing. Hopefully one day I’ll be looked at as an artist who dares...a true Daredeva!”

Pulse

INSIDE

INSIDE

ka

ka

da

da

m

m

Ravi Shankar

Ravi Shankar

Celebrating his

Celebrating his

tenth decade

tenth decade

UBS Soundscapes: Eclectica

UBS Soundscapes: Eclectica

The Singing Violin

The Singing Violin

Pulse

kadam

Upfront

Features

6

12

16

Start your Pen!

Contents

Reviews

Letter from

the Editor

Akademi Premier

Song of the City

British Arangetram

Exhibition

Funding Landscape

As Te Dust Settles

Tyagarajah’s

Ramayana

Kuchipudi Collective

and new partnership

announced at Kala

Sangam

Unveiling the Mohan

Khokar Dance

Collection

Bollywood routines in

the comfort of your

home

Anusha

Subramanyam –

double award winner

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 proﬁled

in

Pulse

do the same by imposing

the form on public consciousness?

Only time will tell.

Words by Isabel Putinja

2

“…Bhagavatulu-s would dance, act and sing,

assuming both male and female roles”.

“As the gurus moved out of the village to

large cities, the dance form...evolved for

the contemporary stage.”

“Guru Vempati Chinna Satyam…

codiﬁed the technique of the