'Under the Stars' festival
Karishma Pais
Dastkar Nature Bazaar, IGNCA & The Attic have organized a series of 4 unusual and exciting performances “Under The Stars”, covering the fields of Urdu story telling, Hindustani semi classical music, contemporary sacred dance and traditional kathak dance at the IGNCA amphitheatre at 6.30 pm by 20 young artists.
Under The Stars
sunday 8th november ‘Dastangoi from the Tilism-e Hoshruba and
elsewhere’ by Mahmood Farooqui and Danish
Husain
monday 9th november ‘Thumri, Dadra, Kajri, Chaiti’ Hindustani semi-
classical music by Ruchira Kale
wednesday 11th november ‘OM TARA’ – a contemporary dance composition
thursday 12th november WAZD: in Trance” a kathak recital by Namrata
Pamnani
Entry and parking for cars from gate no 3 Dr Rajendra Prasad Marg.
Entry for pedestrians Janpath, opposite National Archives
Supported by Indira Gandhi National Centre for The Arts
sunday 8th november
6.30 pm ‘Dastangoi from the Tilism-e Hoshruba and elsewhere’
Directed by Mahmood Farooqui
Performers--Mahmood Farooqui and Danish Husain
Sets and Costumes by-Anusha Rizvi
Dastangoi
is a lost art of storytelling in Urdu. At its peak it regaled listeners at
palaces, cafes, street corners and public arena with tales of war, magic,
trickery and adventure that could last weeks, months and sometimes years. Dastangos
were mimics, narrators, actors and ventriloquists but were also often the
creator of their stories, weaving episodes extemporaneously. Tilism, magically
enchanted realms, and Aiyyari, professional tricksters, were the peculiar
preserve of Indian and Urdu Dastangos and they so expatiated on this in the
oral realm that it became the longest fictional narrative ever produced in India. When
finally put to print at the end of the nineteenth century the Dastan-e Amir
Hamza ran into 46 mammoth volumes of over a thousand pages each, generated
entirely by oral storytelling over generations.
The present revival of Dastangoi was put into effect by Mahmood Farooqui under
the guidance of the leading scholar of the Dastanic tradition, S. R. Faruqi.
Over the last five years he and his team which has also included the actor
Naseeruddin Shah, have given over hundred performances in most major cities of
India and abroad. These have included tours to Pakistan and to
the United States. The
performances have been enthusiastically received almost everywhere since, in
spite of the high Urdu medium, the Dastans still seem capable of entertaining
the elite and the commoners alike.
Performance Episodes
The tale of Azlam Jadu--The
dragon army of Azlam, immune to all
attacks and spells, is despatched by Afrasiab to fight Amir Hamza and
his chief trickster Amar. Afrasiab is the Emperor of the Tilism-e
Hoshruba, the enchantment that steals the senses away. He has captured
Amir Hamza's son thus starting a perennial war against him. Amar and
his tricksters disguise themselves, often as women, and using poetry,
guile and seduction keep paring away at Afrasiab's kingdom and the
sixty thousand monarchs who are his vassals.
Partition Dastans- Using
the form of Dastangoi Mahmood and his team
have also started building an archive of contemporary stories. Created
on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of partition, this
presentation is a bitter sweet look at a traumatic event in India's
history.
Performer and Director: Mahmood Farooqui is a Rhodes Scholar with
degrees from Delhi,
Oxford and Cambridge Universities. He also
contributes regular opinion pieces and feature articles to the leading
newspapers. His book on the uprising of 1857 in Delhi is due out from
Penguin in May 2010. He is currently translating the theatre legend
Habib Tanvir's memoirs into English.
Performer-Danish
Husain is one of the
leading theatre actors in the
country who has worked with several luminaries of the Indian stage
including Barry John and Habib Tanvir. He is a published poet and has
just finished acting in two feature films in Bombay.
Executive Producer-Anusha
Rizvi, the costumes and set designer
is an
independent filmmaker and has just finished her first feature as
writer-director under the banner of Aamir Khan Productions, Bombay.
monday 9th november
6.30 pm ‘Thumri, Dadra, Kajri, Chaiti’ Hindustani semi-classical music by Ruchira Kale
Thumri
is a genre of semi-classical Hindustani music that revolves around a girl's love for
her beloved. This style is characterized by its sensuality and flexibility with
the raga.
Dadra is a light classical vocal
form mostly performed in Agra and in Bundelkhand region, originally accompanied
by dadra tala.
The Kajri form describes both a
sense of longing for the lover and the black monsoon clouds hanging in the
summer skies denoting the start of the monsoon. This and the chaiti form is most popular in the
villages of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
Ruchira sings this evening a selection from these forms as well as a couple of folk tunes with Jaishankar Mishra on tabla and Parimita Chatterjee on harmonium.
Ruchira Kale initially trained under her father Dilip Kale and later Smt.Alka Deo Marulkar, renowned vocalist of the Jaipur gharana. She continued her training under the guidance of Pandit Ulhas Kashalkar at ITC Sangeet Research Academy and also with Smt Girija Devi, doyen of the Banaras gharana. She has also completed her Masters degree in English Literature. She has performed in India and abroad and has received awards as ”young achiever” and “woman achiever”. Recently Ruchira’s music was chosen by “Invisible Girl Records”, UK as part of a world music compilation project – “a Place in Space”
wednesday 11th november
6.30 pm “OM TARA” – a contemporary dance composition by a group of Indian & International dancers.
Concept by Chokyi Palmo.
Tara is the
best known Bodhisattva –goddess embodying compassion and love. She is
depicted as young, beautiful and is seen as guarding against the 8 great
terrors which are symbolic of spiritual dangers.
This evenings dance performance is a supplication to the Green Tara, uniting diverse spiritual paths in an art form designed to use the power of the Mother Goddess and pray for her help.
The first part of the composition, “Warriors of Samsara” highlights the
delusion of the cycle of life, suffering and death. This is followed by
“Actualizing the true path….” which points out through the dance choreography how the Tara can help prevent hindrances and generate quickly the steps to the path of enlightenment.
The second part of the composition is an Invocation to Tara ”The Liberator” through the recitation of her mantra “ OM TARE TUTTARE TURE SOHA”
“Om" is the body, speech, and
mind of the Buddha
"Tare" is Dharma, the one liberates beings from sufferings
"Tuttare" is the one that liberates beings from danger
"Ture" is the one that release beings from sickness
"Soha" is laying the foundation
Dancers
Madina Andassova, Carolina Prada, Rajesh Saibabu, Rakesh Saibabu, Ram Hari, Deviyani Sharma, Rahele Obritcke, Nare Mkrtchayn, Mare Mkrtchayn, Ivetta Ovsepyan
Concept & choreography: Chokyi Palmo
thursday 12th november
6.30 pm “ WAZD: in Trance” a kathak recital by Namrata Pamnani
Trance is an altered state of consciousness or a state of mind or a state of being
brought about by prayer, meditation and other techniques.
In this evenings performance the dancer evokes the feeling and aura through the sound (swara) , the movement and the rhythm where the dance remains and the dancer disappears It is the mystical experience of the dancer, the space and the connectivity she seeks with the audience.
The repertoire of Kathak flows, initiating from the very first note ‘SA’ the mighty “Shadaj’ into the ocean of ‘OM’ the state of eternity. Trance is developed through the intricacies of rhythm for which Kathak is particularly suited. The traditional Hindustani classical music is spiced up with Tibetan Bowl, Rainstick and Afghani Rabab creating an ethereal journey from Om to Allah. .
Namrata is an exponent of Kathak, an artist with a unique expression, articulated movements, intricate abhinaya and a spellbinding command over rhythm. She trained for 15 years at the National Institute of Kathak in New Delhi with Smt Bharati Gupta and Pandit Jaikrishan Maharaj. She has also worked with Kumudini Lakhia, Geetanjali Lal, Prerana Shrimali, Rajendra Gangani, Malti Shyam and Rani Khanan. She has experience of all the 3 Kathak gharanas Lucknow, Jaipur and Banaras.
She has performed at the Lincoln Center at New York, ICCR Sri Lanka, the Festival of Dance at Estonia and many of the major cities in India. She has also conducted workshops at the National School of Ballet in Korea, the University of Ethnomusicology in Geneva and Steiner schools in Finland. She is an empanelled artist at ICCR, Doordarshan and Sangeet Natak Akademi. She is currently working with the Repertory Company of the Sangeet Natak Akademi.
