Shivkumar Sharma – Re-inventor of the santoor
Ken Hunt talks to the man behind the mission to ‘free the voice trapped in the mulberry box’
14 September 2010
Issue-110
Post Natyam Collective: Negotiating Space in Making Contemporary Indian Dance
Ketu H Katrak describes the thinking and working practices of a quartet of dancer-academics who share a common concern of making socially relevant work, which reflects their twenty-first-century reality
14 September 2010
Pulse Guide to Music and Dance Festivals in India
Isabel Putinja helps the first-time-traveller to Indian Festivals to go with confidence
14 September 2010
Sunanya Hajari Lal
Banaras gharana exponent shares her knowledge of this lesser-known branch of kathak with fellow artist Abhay Shankar Mishra.
14 September 2010
Decreasing Infinity
Decreasing Infinity, performed at the Stage@Leeds theatre, is the latest piece by Balbir Singh Dance Company. Having previously worked with all female dancers for Play of Percentages and Trespass, the male duet was a new challenge for the choreographer.
14 September 2010
NaAsat
Traditionally an opening number in the bharatanatyam repertoire meant to warm up the dancer, here, in this extended performance space, the alarippu serves to warm up the audience. Invocation becomes invitation, and we are led up the stairs to the sounds of tha-thei-theium-thath-tha-kitathaka. The show has begun and we are not even in our seats yet. My curiosity is piqued.
14 September 2010
New Directions
The theme of waiting weaves the following three solos together. They are unique in that they are all based on Oriya literature and sung in the Oriya language.
14 September 2010
Odissi
Sujata Mohapatra is a well-known name in the Indian classical dance world. The daughter-in-law and disciple of eminent Guru Padmabhibhushan Kelucharan Mohapatra, she has gained international renown for her grace and technical mastery.
14 September 2010
Windows of the Soul
Organised by Kadam Dance as an adjunct of its summer school, and with a top ticket price of only £3, this modest roster of three solos represented incredibly good value for money.
14 September 2010
O Shakuntala!
Debashish Bhattacharya plays a trinity of so-called ‘slide guitars’ made to his own specifications. At his London concert in Milapfest’s Colours of India season, he played two – the biggest or Chaturangui and the smallest.
14 September 2010