Inauguration of the festival

In keeping with the theme of the Prayatna Festival 2015, the Kampni has designed  a performance titled Sanjog: a compilation of our traditional Kathak informed work and from our contemporary Indian dance alphabet, featuring the  literaryworks connected to dance - where one propels the other's artistic thought process. The compositions date from the 12th c to today's time. The choreographies too date from 1959 until 2012.

*Chaturang- An obeisance, first created by Dr Maya Rao in 1959 with music by the Dagar brothers.
Here the 4 aspects of dance ie Nritta, Nritya, Sahitya( literature), sargam, are seen in the dance of Shiva and Parvati
or
*Ek Naari-a literary work of Ibrahim adil shah of the Deccan empire, Bijapur.

The Sufis visualize Woman as a manifestation of God
In this poem Ibrahim Adil Shah imagines seeing a painting of a woman and wonders how he can describe her beauty which is beyond description like the wave of an ocean.It is difficult to arrest her beauty in poetry
Her words are like music to the ears... to that woman Ibrahim pays his obeisance
'I see a beautiful woman
Her beauty is radiant like a full moon evening and bright/ sparkling as lightning
Is she a Muslim or a Brahmin
Never mind who, she is the image of the Lord
Her dalliance is worth noting
She represents the ten forms of the Lord Vishnu'- the Dashavtaar

*The Vision of Amir Khusrau- Khusrau was witness to over a dozen dethroning and ascensions and the inevitable war that is connected to it. His writings sought to bring about communal harmony. We take an excerpt from our production called' Women at th well'

*Nirvaya -is inspired and informed by the profound & abstract Kannada  Vachanas or poetry  of the 12th women mystics called – Sharanes.

  Dance  and text move together, sometimes parallely, whilst translating the profound concepts of 3  lesser known women mystics- Lingamma,Muktayakka, Molige Mahadevi & the radical poet Akkamahadevi.Their philosophy is Linga- advaita or monistic Shaivism, with roots in the Vedas and Kashmiri monistic Shaivism.
  The Sharana salvation is ‘Nirvaya’ –‘ becoming nothing’, disappear or vanish without leaving a trace , like camphor on fire.

*Vajra- Reclaiming brilliance-  A collaborative mixed media work which captures and radiates the various nuances connected to the term-  ‘Vajra’
‘Vajra’, as the diamond, lightning & a weapon. These interpretations inspired by esoteric texts of the Hindu & Vajrayana Buddhist philosophies, connect to the qualities of indestructibility, Shakti, brilliance, unbridled power & enlightenment.
 It is the vibrant celestial womb of cosmic light, the flashing force that sets in motion all of  life.
 The human spirit as the ‘Vajra,- a potent vessel for receiving & emanating brilliance, as an indestructible force and as a weapon that wields wisdom is the undercurrent of this work.
  Shiva is seen as light and Shakti as lightning

CREDITS:
Choreography- Dr Maya Rao & Madhu Nataraj Kiran 
Performed by- 

• Madhu Nataraj Kiran
• Tushar Bhatt
• Janardhan Raj Urs
• Ramya Nagaraj
• Keerthi Kumar
• Divya Bhat
• Reshmi Nair
• Meghna Rao
• Nikhil Parmar
• Tejesh Kumar

Music- 

• Sr Dagar brothers
• Anil Biswas
• Praveen D Rao & Amit Heri

Multi media- Archana Prasad & Janardhan Raj Urs
Photo Art- Ramya Reddy, Animation- Bhushan Bagadia

BLACK SWAN (THE RAJHANSA)
Introduction:-
This beautiful choreography is a fusion of the ancient and the modern, the inner and the outer, and most importantly, the positive and negative way to see the famous symbolism of “The Black Swan”. The performance begins by exploring the modern, outer and negative view of this symbol. Based on the recent movie by the same name, there is the journey of an artist who desperately wants to secure her place within the dance company and is always anxious that she will be overshadowed by other dancers. Slowly, her obsession and fears become so intense that she begins to visualize them as real during her dance practice. This outer negativity or blackness takes over her mind completely, symbolically portrayed by the black swan.
Then the choreography shifts direction and focuses on the ancient, inner and positive depiction of the black swan – the Rajhansa – that represents the perfect union and balance of life. Hansa or Hamso is the Sanskrit word for swan. The constant repetition of the word HAMSO changes it to SOHAM, which meansI AM (the Universal Self or Brahman). In ancient Indian scriptures, hence, the Rajhansa is often identified with the supreme spirit of Brahman and the flight of the Rajhansa also symbolizes the escape from the Cycle of Samsara (Reincarnation). The bird also has special connotation in the holistic philosophy of Advaita Vedanta: Just as the swan lives on water but its feathers remain dry, similarly the practitioner of Advaitais asked to live in this material world full of MAYA and remain unsoiled by its illusionary nature
Like all good fables, this choreography is also a story with a message. It encourages one to cultivate inner contentment rather than outer recognition because the inner fulfils us while the outer leaves us constantly needing more!

Concept and choreography-Rujuta Soman
Concept development and creative support-Kiran Yadnyopavit
Music-Narendra Bhide
Lights-Harshavardhan Pathak
Costumes-Sheetal Oak

A presentation based on the philosophical truths culled out of a collective understanding of some major Upanishads.
Trayyanta as an endeavor is a ‘quest’ to perceive and project the Upanishadic truths through the idiom of classical dance. At the macrocosmic level it signifies the pursuit of the human race to find deeper meaning of life beyond mundane existence. At the microcosmic level the quest is of the choreographer to re-investigate the power of abstractions and imageries in Bharatnatyam. Giving up the dependency on words it reaffirms the connection of dance and spirituality.
Trayyanta is an experiential work of art – for both the dancer and the spectator.

Design and choreography	Vaibhav Arekar
Script	Pradnya Agasti
Research Guidance	Dr. Bhagyalata Pataskar
	Dr. Sudha Seshaiyyan
Music	Prof. C.V. Chandrashekhar
Percussion Design	Prof. C.V. Chandrashekhar
	Kalishwaran Pillai
Light Design & Costume	Sushant Jadhav
Special Thanks	Narada Gana sabha
	Viva Kultura Foundation
Dancers	Eesha Pinglay
	Swarada Datar
	Poorva Saraswat
	Deepika Potdar
	Shruti Menon
	Vaibhav Arekar

Despite of being a secular state, world’s largest democracy and aspirations of being an economic superpower, India has rigid censorship practices that routinely curtail freedom of speech in social, cultural and artistic realms.
Recently in the Leslee Udwin's India's Daughter-a BBC documentary on Delhi rape case, one the rapists said ‘She should have been silent and allow the rape to happen’. In some states, any kind of dance performance is banned in pubs and bars. In repeated instances we have seen film bans, book burnings, artists prohibited from exhibiting work, resulting in growing attitudes of self-censorship and individuals going into exile.
Censorship in freedom of thought and voice has led to unspoken social oppression. Nonetheless the bigger issue is that people have stopped questioning the existing systems because of social conditioning.
With this backdrop, we started to explore the mind-set of the generation in the 21st century on their thoughts about self-censorship and social conditioning.
Working with performer’s autobiographical material, this urgent piece looks at social & cultural frameworks and seeks to push performer’s personal boundaries.
By using a mix of contemporary dance, text, physical theatre and audience interaction, it creates theatre, which is aspiring, uncensored, democratic and rebellious.

Motley presents, 'SIMORGH', an adaptation of the The ancient Persian Poem by The Fantastic Poet Fariduddin Attar by the same name. (This is a work in progress)
We are attempting to present a scene from our play which is under progress.

Kumbakarna and Lakshmana, brothers each to the two protagonists of the Ramayana, are connected by boons that dramatically alter their cycles of sleep and wakefulness.
Kumbakarna along with his brothers, Ravana and Vibhishana performed a major yajna and penance for Lord Brahma. When the time came for asking a boon from Brahma, his tongue was tied by goddess Saraswati (acting on Indra's request). So instead of asking Nirdevatvam (annihilation of the Devas) he asked for Nidravatvam (sleep) and his request was granted.
Laxmana on the other hand was allowed to give up his sleep completely and bequeath it to his wife,Urmila, for the fourteen years of his exile.
In the course of time both boons seem to acquire the dimensions of a curse, as they each have an uncomfortable outcome.
Scene 1
Kumbakarna enjoys his wakeful moments, delighting in each of his actions and catching up with all that occurred during the period of his sleep.Then comes a point when sleep overcomes him again, interrupting this wakefulness. Prematurely roused from his ordained period of sleep and then killed in battle, he is so bewildered that he does not know whether he is dreaming of his death or is in fact already dead.
Scene 2
The Sutradhar presents the dimentions of sleep for both Kumbakarna and Laxmana.
scene 3
Laxmana’s loss of sleep on the other hand enables him to empower his regular actions with incredible fluid effortlessness.
His conundrum lies in the unspecified nature of his boon and its potential long-term consequences.
As he strives to unravel this mystery, he considers the possibility that perhaps only in the Turiya state – can one be truly aware of pure self existence, wherein one has a glimpse of the past, present and future.
Scene 4
When Kumbakarna and Lakshmana meet on the battlefield they discuss the unfortunate consequences of their respective boons.
Scene 5
Laxmana as Kumbakarna narrating the story of Kumbakarna.
Scene 6
Kumbakarna asks Laxmana to take some of his sleep so that he, Kumbakarna can stay awake long enough to kill him. Laxmana sees this as an opportunity to plumb the depths of his own dilemma and willingly accepts.
Scene 7
Laxman begins his sleep by taking Kumbakarna's sleep. But before he completes the process Kumbakarna is slain by Rama.
Scene 8
Consequently, Laxmana is forced into wakefulness before he can find the answers he seeks. He is left unsure of his sleep destiny and uncertain about when he would wake up. For the boon does not specify whether he will sleep for fourteen years at a stretch, or compensate for his long wakefulness with a single night's sleep.

Cast and Credits

• Veenapani Chawla – Creative guidance
• Vinay kumar – Light Designer & Operator
• Arvind Rane – Musician & Text support
• Apoorva Arthur – Music Operator
• Nimmy Raphel – {Script, Direction & Performer}.

In “Songs of Love and Longing,” performed Thursday at the Baryshnikov Arts Center, Ms. Sen responded to Jayadeva’s 12thcentury love poem “Gita Govinda,” which, in song and performance, is an integral part of temple worship in Orissa. The romance between Radha and Krishna is lusty — translations were provided in the program — but through Ms. Satpathy and Ms. Sen’s finely chiseled shapes, myriad layers, from suffering to playful teasing, were revealed.
You can’t die from desire, but as “Songs of Love” showed, you certainly can get lost in the rapture and despair that comes from being adrift in sensuality. Fingers interlocked and pulled apart; hands throbbed and fluttered. The anguished turn of Ms. Sen’s head was startling; her precision was razor sharp, yet her emotions built less from the face than the sculptural undulations of her body. She was magnificent, especially in “Yami He,” the third song, which spoke of loneliness, in which she stood in a pool of red light and radiated a profound stillness from the bones.
Ms. Sen’s piece is based on the abhinaya — or, the art of expression — of eka aharya, in which gender is revealed through body and facial movements, not costumes or makeup.

Performer, choreographer, educator and arts entrepreneur-Madhu Nataraj studied Kathak from her mother Dr Maya Rao & from Chitra Venugopal. Madhu was chosen as one of India's 50 young achiever's by 'India today' . Her recent awards include; the Mohan Khokar award for excellence in dance and the Bismillah Khan Yuva puraskar from the central Sangeet Natak Akademi, Govt of India
She is often invited to perform, design programmes and Choreographic works for prestigious cultural organizations across India, UK, Australia, New Zealand, UAE, SE Asia, Europe & USA.
A graduate of commerce, journalism & choreography, She has also trained in Indian martial arts, ritualistic/folk dance traditions, pedagogy and Yoga.
Although she trained in contemporary dance in New York, Madhu returned to India with a vision to create a unique dance company with its own distinctive contemporary Indian dance identity - the Natya STEM Dance Kampni.
Madhu has created over 75 choreographic works (short pieces & productions) in the 16 years of the Kampni's existence . She is also a Panellist at important Design, Cultural and Academic institutions.

Sanjukta Wagh has trained extensively under Rajashree Shirke in Kathak and under Murli Manohar Shukla in Hindustani Music. Her engagement with theatre (honed by playwright-director Chetan Datar), her year-long experience at the Laban Centre of Dance, London, her love of literature and deep unease with comfort zones, have led to her interdisciplinary and exploratory mode of work. Her choreographies like let her be born, Akath Katha, Bheetar Baahar, Ubha Vitewari, Rage and Beyond: Irawati' s Gandhari, Seeking to embody among others and performances have won her applause anf critical acclaim across the country and abroad.
She is the recipient of the 2015 Vinod Doshi fellowship award for significant work in performing arts and the 2015 META award for best actress in a lead role for her portrayal of Gandhari in Rage and Beyond.

Mandeep Raikhy is a dancer and choreographer based out of New Delhi. He pursued his BA (Hons) in Dance Theatre at Laban, London, and worked with Shobana Jeyasingh Dance Company for several years. He has created 2 full-length works, Inhabited Geometry (2010) and a male ant has straight antennae (2013), and divides his time between his artistic work & his work at Gati Dance Forum as an arts administrator.

Madhavi Puranam is the chief editor of Nartanam - a quarterly journal on Indian dance which she also writes for. She has also written for The Hindu, The Dancing Times, London and other publications. As a writer on dance she has been invited to be an observer and a guest at the major festivals of dance in India. Her work with Nartanam enables her to travel widely and watch the various dance forms of India and also participate in seminars.
Madhavi learnt Kuchipudi as a youngster in Delhi but chose Management as a career option. In the midst of her career as a human resource development consultant, she had the creative urge to pursue Masters in dance. Thereafter she discovered a passion for teaching dance and writing on the same.
She has produced a dissertation document on Jamukula Katha, a folk form of Andhra Pradesh, as a part of Masters in Performing Arts (MPA)-Dance. She has worked as an independent scholar researching the Indian aesthetic theory and exploring the presence of a subtle mechanism of Kundalini and the Chakras in a human body and its relation to rasa nishpattih, as cited in some medieval Indian treatises on dance and music. Her findings have been published recently as a book, “An Indian Analysis of Aesthetics: The Dance, the Dancer and the Spectator, by Abhinav Publications, New Delhi. A paper on the subject has already been published in Nartanam and the same was presented at a UGC (University Grants Commission) seminar on Visual Culture.

Atul Pethe is a renowned actor and theatre director. Born and brought up in Pune, Maharashtra, Atul started his career as an amateur actor but soon opted for theatre as his prime tool of expression. He is best known for productions like “Satyashodhak”, “Ashadatil Ek Divas” etc.

Vinay Kumar KJ was born on 15.4.1969 in Trichur Kerala At the age of 12 he joined the Communist Party's Theatre Repertory Company, which travelled all over Kerala. He did his B.A in Theatre Arts, from the University of Calicut (1992). In January 1993 he joined Adishakti Laboratory for Theatre Arts Research while it was still in Mumbai. He has been with Adishakti as an actor in residence since then. During Adishakti's Pondicherry chapter Vinay Kumar joined Veenapani Chawla in her research into breath for performance, Koodiyattam and Kalaripayattu, which she had been learning and researching since 1987.
He has performed extensively on the national as well as the international front. In 2008 Vinay Kumar directed Ionesco's Rhinoceros with Adishakti . He created the sound-scape for the production and also designed the lights. In the same year Vinay Kumar, redesigned the lights of the Adishakti productions : Impression of Bhima, Brhannala, Ganapati and The Hare and the Tortoise. He trained the Adishakti actors in setting up lights, operating them and designing them. In August 2008 Vinay collaborated with British film director Lucia King in a performance about performance in her documentary film shot at Adishakti. In 2010 he researched in to the Ramayana to create his script The Tenth Head.

Ranjana Dave is an Odissi dancer and arts writer based in Bombay. She is the co-founder and programme director of Dance Dialogues. Her work has appeared in Time Out magazine, The Hindu, Asian Age, Deccan Herald, Ligament and many other print and online publications. Ranjana has trained in Odissi with Jhelum Paranjape and Kumkum Lal and performs extensively. Her research interests include dance video and love poetry, and she is open to engaging with them through performance. She holds an MA from the School of Arts and Aesthetics, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, where her focus was performance studies. Ranjana has worked on the Pad.ma project, where she curated an online archive of dance video. In 2013-14, she was an ARThink South Asia Fellow.

Navtej Johar is a Bharatanatyam exponent and a choreographer, whose work is unique in that it freely traverses between the traditional and the avant-garde. Johar is recognized as a cutting edge choreographer whose work is sensitive, compelling, witty and layered. His work includes solo and ensemble works. Johar has performed at prestigious venues all over the world and has done extensive work with several prominent international companies and choreographers, including The Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Co., The Chandralekha Group, Leela Samson's, Peter Sparling, Yoshiko Chuma, Alan Lommasson, John Shack, Justin McCarthy, Janet Lilly, Keith Khan, Muzaffar Ali, Anna Birch and the New York City Opera. A recipient of the Times of India Fellowship, 1995, and the Charles Wallace Fellowship, 1999, Johar was the performance director of the Commonwealth Parade, for the Queen's Golden Jubilee Celebrations, at London, in June 2002.

Joshua Muyiwa has just completed work with the Attakkalari India Biennial 2015, co-developing a Writing on Dance laboratory as well as co-editing, Ligament, an online dance journal.. Before this, he worked at the 2013 edition of the Biennial, where he oversaw the documentation and collaterals of the festival as well as managed the Writing on Dance workshop. He has worked for seven years at the magazine, Time Out Bengaluru in the capacity of Dance Writer and a short stint as Consulting Editor. He has also written for other publications like The Week, Tehelka, Chimurenga among others as well as writes a weekly column on living in Bangalore titled “Gazing Outwards” in the Bangalore Mirror. He is also a poet and has won the Toto Award for Creative Writing in English in 2012 for The Catalogue, a series of nine poems on the history of photography and poetry told through the relationship between a photographer and a poet.

Sadanand Menon is a nationally reputed arts editor, popular teacher of cultural journalism, photographer, stage lights designer and prolific speaker at seminars on politics, ecology and the arts. He is currently Adjunct Faculty, Asian College of Journalism, Chennai, and at IIT, Madras.
Sadanand is member, Apex Advisory Committee, National Museum, Delhi; Advisory Committee, National Gallery of Modern Art, Bengaluru; Advisory Council, Lalit Kala Akademi, Delhi; Governing Council, Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla; and Managing Trustee, SPACES, an arts foundation, Chennai.
A close associate of legendary choreographer Chandralekha, he is deeply involved with issues concerning contemporary Indian dance. He also curated a major Retrospective Exhibition of Fifty Years of Dashrath Patel’s work in painting, ceramics, photography and design for NGMA, Delhi and Mumbai.