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H e r i t a g e
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H a r
m o n y
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From ancient
times, Man has been considered a living manifestation of a
greater, divine Life force called 'God' who came to be
addressed by different names across the world.
The Vedic
tradition recognizes that the Matter, a creation of God, is
composed from the primary elements - Wind, Water, Fire,
Ether & Earth. An ancient Indian temple-ritual employing
dance and music with Mantra-chants seeks the benevolence of
these elements for the welfare of mankind. Heritage presents
this ritual along with use of multi-media supported by
English narration.
People across the world are
bound together in the eternal quests for harmony. The
expressions may differ but the core of artistic Endeavour
remains the same. Harmony is celebrated
through two pieces adapting the ancient Temple-dance style Vilasini Natyam to contemporary music by Prem Joshua. In his
own words, Prem Joshua's work is "deeply rooted in the
ancient Indian raga music and its fascinating rhythms - at
the same time it is very contemporary as our musical
spectrum includes elements of jazz, funk, lounge, chill-out
and trance". |
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T h
e
B l
u e
G o
d
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The sound of
dancing bells, music and laughter had faded
away more than 60 years ago from the simple
homes nestling in the villages and towns of
Southern and South Eastern India. The old
faces across which a thousand expressions
had fleeted in the decades past, now shied
away at the mention of dancing and singing.
These homes and faces belonged to the
disenfranchised Temple-dancers and
descendants of erstwhile Court and Zamindaris. In this scenario,
Swapnasundari and scholar-historian Dr.
Arudra worked relentlessly to reclaim the
entire corpus of Vilasini Natyam. The
Scholar-dancer team traveled far and wide,
persuading these ladies to teach their art,
documenting their technique and repertoire.
After careful correlation with ancient
dance-treatises this dance-tradition was
reinstated to its original format and was
reborn as Vilasini Natyam. It is now
performed on the concert-stage as well as in
its original setting - the temple. Vilasini
Natyam evokes wide appreciation for its
grateful dance-technique, extensive
repertoire and staggering variety of
Abhinaya. The evolution of this
dance-tradition is traced in the feature -
"The
journey of Vilasini Natyam".
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One of the
most popular figures of Hindi Mythology,
Krishna symbolizes the eternal child, lover
and philosopher. But little is known about
his real mother Devaki beyond the
commonly-known episode of her imprisonment
by her brother Kamsa who was eventually
slayed by Krishna.
The Blue God
explores the thoughts and feelings that
might have been experienced by Devaki during
her long years of imprisonment. It
imagines the perspective of Krishna which
may have been nurtured by devaki during this
time. It voices Devaki's silent responses to
what she might have learnt about her son who
was growing up far away under the care of
his foster mother, Yashoda.
The production
The Blue God links the use of multimedia
with various live dances to portray this
unusual theme. |
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