Santoor Recital by Pandit VISHWESVARAN (SUNDAY, 29th April 2007 6.30 pm)
Arch
Western Classical Ballet in London at the age of five, her first Guru,
at the age of three, was actually her mother, Smt. Rukmini
Padmanabhan, who was an excellent dancer trained in the Uday Shankar
School of dance and Bharatanatyam. It is to her that Chitra owes her
artistic and creative vision . To this was harnessed an insatiable
intellectual and cerebral quest which she owes to her father, Sri. N.
Padmanabhan, a brilliant Engineer. After initiation into dance by her
mother, Chitra undertook training in Western Classical Ballet in
London, which was followed by training in Manipuri and Kathak in
Calcutta . At the age of ten, she went under the tutelage of one of
the best devadasis of Tiruvidaimardur , Smt.T.A Rajalakshmi, who was
settled in Calcutta. Her Arangetram (first maiden performance) took
place with ten months, an astonishingly short period to achieve the
degree of proficiency that Chitra Did.
She continued her Bharatanatyam training in Kolkata and in parallel,
studied the Uday Shankar School of dance. Her youth spent at Kolkata
was studded with frequent, laudable, noteworthy stage appearances. Not
confining herself to the physical aspect of dancing alone, Chitra,
taking full advantage of the frequent closures of Calcutta University
studied dance theory, dance history, philosophy and world religion
entirely on her own and subsequently became deeply involved in
interdisciplinary search and research. In 1970, on completion of B.A.
(Hons.) in English from Calcutta University, she received the National
Scholarship for advanced study in Bharatanatyam from the Government of
India, at a time when only two scholarships were awarded throughout
the country. She spent her scholarship period of four years under the
doyen of Bharatanatyam, Vazhuvoor Ramaiyya Pillai, at Chennai. Her
experience as his sishya widened her aesthetic vision even as her
earlier Gurus' training gave her excellent grammar and technique. On
completion of her scholarship, Chitra started working on her own,
bringing together the gift from her Gurus and her knowledge of the
cognate forms of arts, harnessing to it a scholastic approach and
holistic vision in order to develop a wholly individualistic
philosophy of movement and language of communication. Her repertoire
which is vast and unique is born of intense research at all levels of
interpretation.
Her vision of dance in totality and her husband's vision of music are
ensured a continuum through Chidambaram Academy of Performing Arts,
established by the couple at Chennai in 1975. (www.chitra-
visweswaran.com)
Accompanied on the Tabla by Shri NITIN MITTA
Nitin Mitta is one of the prominent young tabla players of his
generation. Born in Hyderabad , in 1975, and brought up there, Nitin
first performed solo tabla at the age of ten. Over the years he has
matured into a tabla player of rare technical virtuosity and
sensitivity. He has performed worldwide with some of India's most
celebrated and honored musicians - such as Pt. Jasraj, Dr. Prabha
Atre, Pt. Rajan Sajan Mishra, Pt.Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, Smt. Veena
Sahasrabudhe and Pt. Budhaditya Mukherjee just to name a few. Nitin's
accompaniment - at once dexterous, supportive and spontaneously
inventive - combined with the rich repertoire that he has inherited
from his guru-s, and the inspiration that he draws from his peers has
won him the admiration of music lovers and connoisseurs at an
international level. (www.nitinmitta.org)
The ARCH is proud to honor WORLD renowned Bharathanatyam Exponent
PADMA SHRI Smt. CHITRA VISHWESVARAN.