Mahajatra, a festival of culture, traditions, dances and food from Maharashtra is on at Dilli Haat, I.N.A. Maharashtra is the home to Bollywood and entertainment is a forte of the state. But in today’s digital era, where do the traditional cultural forms of this state stand?
Jayabrabha Menon, a much felicitated Mohiniattam dancer performed at India Habitat Centre recently. She enthralled the audience with her aesthetic movements and meticulous mudras. Mohiniattam of Kerala, one of the eight classical dance forms of India is not very well-known in Delhi. Hence we look forward to more such performances in future.
We attended a piano concert by Anil Srinivasan at Habitat. The pieces that he played were a combination of Western Classical to Carnatic to popular Bollywood numbers. “Touch” was the theme of the evening and accompanying the performance were audio visuals that depicted experiences that had touched the artist. The melodious evening was a welcome break from the pre Diwali madness in Delhi.
The Contemporary Arts Week is an yearly arts festival organised by Friends of Art. Their programs cover music, theatre, paintings and other visual arts etc.) It is on from 3rd to 10th October at various venues across Delhi. The inaugural evenings were at Nehru Park and had a moderate entrance fee.
Kathak dancer Uma Sharma and her troupe from Bharatiya Sangeet Sadan presented a dance ensemble “Giridhar Gopal” at India International Centre (“IIC”) to commemorate Janmashtami. Dr. Sharma’s dances, Pt. Jwala Prasad’s vocals as well as the performances by the troupe kept the packed audience spell bound. Dr. Sharma organizes this program at IIC every Janmashtami and we hope to be back for many more such performances.
Classical dances of India have mesmerised the world. Manipuri is one of the classical dances originating eponymously from Manipur. In the course of the performance by Sovanabrata Sarkar and Nutan Sovan Sarkar, we witnessed the grandeur of this dance through gorgeous but tasteful costumes, soft and lyrical dance movements and the rhythmic accompanying music characterised by hymns, taals and drums. The performance was interspersed with candid chitchat by Sovan about Manipur dance form and Manipur. On hearing him speak, we had a strong urge of planning the next holiday at Manipur.
Delhi Drummers recently had a jamming session at the picturesque Zorba the Buddha, Mehrauli Gurgaon Road. This was an open event where anybody was free to get his musical instrument of choice and play along. The viewers swayed to the music and some of them formed circles around the drummers and danced with gusto. Overall, a very pleasant fuss free and “cool” do on a very warm summer evening.
Japan Foundation, in association with Gati Dance Forum, recently organized a contemporary dance performance by Takao Kawaguchi from Japan and Surjit Nongmeikapam from Manipuri. The abstract performance coupled with the simple seating arrangement and the opportunity of connecting with others in the audience was a most refreshing experience.
Debdhara held a three day classical music festival, at IHC featuring leading exponents from the fields of dance, vocal and instrumental music. Dancers such as Saroja Vaidyanathan, Ranjana Gauhar, Darshana Jhaveri, Uma Sharma performed during the mesmerizing festival.
Uttarayan, a Delhi based cultural organisation organised an evening of music and prose to commemorate the 154th birth anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore. The performers held the audience in rapt attention during the one and half hours program.
The capital city Minstrels-A Delhi based choir is holding a series of performance in Delhi NCR. Their music is serene but uplifting.
Mozart meets Malhar and Rhapsody embraces ragas…. The choir from Austria collaborated with our very own musicians on the tabla, pakhawaj, sitar and khartal to create a magical evening of Western classical music and Bhajans at Bahai temple of worship (Lotus Temple).
The Krishnaprerna Trust, organised a collaboration of flautists from India and overseas in Raas Rang World Flute Festival at the very picturesque Bahai (Lotus) Temple. The combined effort of musicians from India and overseas was magical and the performance left the audience mesmerized.
The Capital City Minstrels let their music speak for themselves. From the first performance “Adiemus” to the last number, Shakira’s “Wakka Wakka”, they had the audience at the edge of their seats, swaying their bodies, almost in ecstasy.
Venue: Zorba the Buddha World Dance Day was widely celebrated in Delhi. As part of these...
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