Confluence of Dance Forms

I shall be posting each dance form series as each post, starting with Chitra Aravind's Contemporary dance form.

Happy Diwali

Apsaras of ODISSI - Behind the Scenes

Practicing the poses. Now WHAT is it? You will know. PATIENCE.

Jotting down the poses.

Grooming kick starts!

Get...Set...Go!

Candid!

FOOTNOTE: Look out for 'THE' photoshoot very soon!

Apsaras of ODISSI - The story

Shifting to Bangalore from Mumbai was a relief which I cannot express through mere words. Alright alright! You can curse me all you want for leaving behind the 'city of dreams' for Bangalore. But I have my own satisfactory reasons for wanting to settle in the 'green city';  

1. To get away from my parents.

2. The active art culture here. 

3. I was not fit for Mumbai. 

4. I like to get to know new places and people.

5. Most of the artistic friends I know via social networking are here!

So here I am finally in Bengaluru, doing what I love, exploring life to its fullest and having a ball with lovely people I have newly made friends with! The 'Apsaras of Odissi' is definitely one of the many means of enjoyment. Ashwini Raghupathy and Kristina Jones are the 2 lovely souls who I met in Nrityagram in the year 2011. Ever since then, I kept in touch with Kristina. From her, I learnt that Ashwini had started ARPAN, an organisation where she devoutly grooms people interested in learning the dance that is "Poetry in motion"- ODISSI. Presently, Arpan consists of 6 dancers and they are ready to expand their horizons and nurture the art they know and love the most. I got in touch with them within a month of moving to Bangalore. To my pleasant surprise, Ashwini came forward asking for a photo-shoot of them all. I agreed immediately and oh boy did we hit it off!

(From left) Devina Wallang, Ashwini Raghupathy, Kristina Jones, Smitha Patil

My next post will consist of the 'Apsaras' pose for me with utmost patience and passion. For now, I leave you all wanting for more with a fun picture I clicked of them on our way to the Cubbon park; the place of photo-shoot.

TRICHUR BROTHERS - Firing Missiles

LOCATION: UNNATI CENTER, BANGALORE, KARNATAKA

DATE: 08 AUG 2012

TIME: 6.30 PM - 9.00 PM

What if Luv and Kush of Ramayana manifest in today's times and present themselves in front of you? What would you do? What would any 'girl' do? That would possibly be the worst situation of a dilemma for her. Now that I have justified my dilemma, I developed a slight fissure on my heart when I reminded myself of them already being married. If you think that is all it is to them, then you are highly mistaken. Their magical voices in unison dominated their dashing looks and expurgated every single soul in that auditorium. Sadly these photographs cannot speak for their voices. But their emotions and expressions I managed to capture, should hopefully speak for their dedication and surrenderance to their passion.

FIRING MISSILES - That was what they were referred to as by the event organiser. I TOTALLY second that.

CHEMISTRY

RAAM KUMAR MOHAN

SRIKRISHNA MOHAN

LOST in the hypnotising melody of TAMBURA

Tuning themselves to the tune of the TAMBURA

   

HUMILITY PERSONIFIED

Dance is beyond the Physical

FOOTNOTE: Dr. Dasappa Keshava is a Bharatanatyam dancer from the Mysore school of Bharatanatyam. The differences it holds from main stream bharatanatyam is trivial yet noticeable if one knows the depth of the art. He had performed at Alliance Franchaise, Bangalore with one of his 3 daughters, Sumitra Keshava. I shall soon post the dance photo series with crisp explanations. This picture got published in THE HINDU today ( i.e 02.08.2012). Another proud event gets added to the HONORARIUM page. I have started counting my blessings.

Charging the Earth

I danced till I awoke the earth ,

I danced till she listened to me,

I danced till I charged her with energy,

I danced till I fell on the ground,

And then she awoke me with her thirsty tremors.

FOOTNOTE :  I captured her at a dance community called ANTARA. I shall be writing a post on them soon. Patience fellas!

PONDICHERRY re-visited

LOCATION: PONDICHERRY, TAMILNADU, INDIA

YEAR OF VISIT: JUNE 10, 2012

It was a plan; a plan that was planned almost 8 months before it was executed. Apeetha, the one with whom I converse through silences, has been that one friend with whom I have always wanted to escape to some far away place. Everytime I visited Chennai, we would hope we would make it. But sadly, our plans seemed to be destined to remain as a distant dream. Just as we were about to give up on each other, a sudden sense of wanting took control of us and we decided to make it happen, no matter what comes our way. A night-over at her place charged us with nostalgia and we cherished each memory until our senses started wearing out. We decided to let the trip to Pondicherry complete our unfinished business (gossiping- what else?!) The reality of the trip happening did not sink into us until we got into a bus that took us to our soul city. This trip is special to me because of our togetherness, our promise, our friendship and our unexplainable love for each others silent company.

The bus stop from which you get the bus to Pondicherry is served with water for public, an act of concern by Ms.Jayalalitha (present Chief Minister of Tamilnadu).

The MOTHER ASHRAM
Someone should tell this mother-daughter duo that I am no alien.

This is definitely one of the cutest gestures I have come across! Anklets for the elephant!

Lakshmi, the holy elephant.

The text (in tamizh) translates to 'Shiva Shiva. Lord Shiva is one of the trinities of Hinduism.

Damn it! He spotted me!

Receiving blessings from her.

A beautiful detail.

Statue of the great Tamizh poet Bharathiyaar stands tall besides Bharathi park, named after him.

Both sat together simultaneously.

Bleeding sculpture?

Lazy afternoon for all

There she is, my darling Api.

Just could not get enough of her pure beauty!

Look who is with her!

FOOTNOTE: In case you missed my previous visit to Pondicherry, you can enjoy them right HERE.

Mehendi

Mehendi - every girl's dream art!

 

the ULTIMATE Truth

I lust the idol. 

I worship his purpose.

I fear his destruction.

FOOTNOTE: I wish you all a belated MAHA-SHIVARATHRI. (It was on 20th Febraury)

KALAGHODA FESTIVAL 2012- part 2

LOCATION: MUMBAI. MAHARASHTRA, INDIA

DAY OF VISIT: 09.02.2012, 6.00 PM-10.00 PM

After PART 1 series that covered the art installations, this series shall speak about the performances and the way people interact with the space and other people that I found very interesting and peculiar.

  

 

Valentine's day is around the corner (to be precise, in 3 days) and this lovely couple seemed to celebrate it already.