Erasing Borders Dance Festival 2021

Rukmini Vijayakumar Is the Director of her Classical Dance Company Raadha Kalpa and her art space LshVa, in Bangalore, India. Rukmini began her formal training in dance at the age of eight. She had an initial exposure to ballet, but her primary training and rigorous practice through her early years was in Bharatanatyam.

She began under Guru Padmini Rao, and continued her practice under Guru Narmada, and Guru Sundari Santhanam (a senior disciple of Dr Padma Subrahmanyam). She was introduced to the teachings of the Natyashastra, and pursued an intense training in the Karanas under Guru Sundari Santhanam for many years.

She later was accepted into the Boston Conservatory, and graduated with a BFA in Modern dance and Ballet. She is an avid yoga practitioner and has studied Human Anatomy and Physiology at the Boston University. Rukmini's productions have toured the world and have been appreciated by audiences. Her ensemble work, Nayani and Prabhavati have toured the Middle East and USA, and more recently MALA, Unrequited, Talattu and The Dark Lord are productions within the traditions.

Credits: Choreography, Concept & Performance: Rukmini Vijayakumar
Music: Mixing & Mastering: Ambi Subramaniam
Violin: Ambi Subramaniam
Harpischord: Tiffany Vong
Video & Editing: Vivian Ambrose

Yahi Madhava is an Ashtapadi, (love poems of Radha and Krishna), from the Gitagovinda of Jayadeva. Radha finds that Krishna is not next to her when she awakes and realises that this means that he has been out all night. Krishna returns, his eyes red, disheveled, eyelids heavy from a sleepless night, and Radha instantly knows he has been with someone else. She says that it seems as though a new love has sprung in his heart, and tells him to leave. "Go be with her", says Radha. "The one with the beautiful eyes! She will assuage all your pain." She is so broken from his deceit that she asks him to leave even though she loves him with all her heart. Radha and Krishna represent the Purusha, and Paramatma, and the idea that one cannot posses the universal truth as it belongs to everyone. One can only recognise its presence in everything by surrendering to it.

Yahi Madhava
Raga: Ragamalika
Tala: Adi Tala
Composer: Jayadeva
Language: Sanskrit
Choreographed and performed by: Rukmini Vijayakumar
VIDEO CREDITS
Vivian Ambrose
MUSIC CREDITS
Vocals: Balasubramanya Sharma
Copyright: Raadha Kalpa Dance Company

A Chennai-based contemporary dancer, Preethi Athreya trained in Bharatanatyam and later went on to do a postgraduate degree in Dance Studies (Laban Centre, London, 2001). Keenly conscious of her need to be defined not as the exotic other, she chose to continue her journey in her native Chennai.

Between 1999 and 2011, she worked with Padmini Chettur from where she inherited the evolving legacy of Chandralekha and a strong commitment to constantly redefining the Indian body. Working within the Indian contemporary dance scene as a performer, choreographer and facilitator, Preethi belongs to a league of dance-makers in India today who use dance as an agent of change. Some of her well-known works are Conditions of Carriage: The Jumping Project (2015), The Lost Wax Project (2018), Light Doesn't Have Arms To Carry Us (2013) and BIRD (2021).

Preethi is one of the co-founders of Basement 21, a practice-based performance collective in Chennai. Her publications include a review of Total Masala Slammer by Belgian choreographer, Michel Laub/ Dance Research Journal, New York, 2014.

Performer/choreographer, Preethi Athreya and film-maker Vijay Boothalingam come together for an exploration of the salt pans at Marakkanam, Tamil nadu, to reflect upon the materiality of the site and its imprint on the body. The first of a three-part series, this particular project is a response to the terrain in the fallow period when salt production is suspended due to unseasonal rain and as such, it navigates a submerged terrain over salt deposits within clayiy soil.The body is placed at the meeting of earth, water and salt to challenge its own power and stability and to perhaps think of what we may consider to be eternal or transient .

Sonali Skandan is a passionate dancer and choreographer whose work has been described as ‘natural yet tense with the pull of mystery’ (nytheatre.com). Sonali is the Artistic Director of Jiva Performing Arts, where she teaches and creates engaging dance productions, and Jiva Dance, a professional dance company presenting compelling works based on Bharatanatyam.

Sonali has received praise in the New York Times, Financial Times, and The NJ Star Ledger, among others. Sonali has been on the dance faculty at Sarah Lawrence College, Queens College and the Joffrey Ballet Summer Intensive.

Under Sonali’s leadership, Jiva Dance was also the first Indian Classical dance company to be awarded the CUNY Dance Initiative residency and awarded the inaugural Dance/NYC Dance Advancement Fund. Sonali has received support from the NEA, NY State Council on the Arts and The NYC Dept. of Cultural Affairs. Sonali is featured in Juilliard’s online course for Bharatanatyam. She is a longtime student of the legendary C.V. Chandrasekhar and Bragha Bessell and is receiving creative mentorship with celebrated dancer and choreographer Maya Kulkarni with whom she is exploring and creating rare poetic works.

Adventures of the Naughty Bee
This is the story of a bee living in a hive hanging on the pillar of the magnificent Temple of Chidambaram. All around her, she sees and hears the temple rituals - the sound of the bells, the morning prayers, and the priests chanting, and the devotees flocking to receive a vision of the God. Our bee is fun-loving, mischievous, and extremely curious, so it is no wonder that she is eager to leave her familiar surroundings to encounter greater adventures. She flies off the Temple wall and lands on a nearby pond. There, she frolics among the flowers which are carry the tasty nectar she craves. But she yearns for more intrigue, and there begins her adventures around the world. The naughty bee can never resist a challenge - seeking far-off lands, she flies to the regions of the desert, the Levant, and is captivated but he sound of lively folk music. She dances to bright sounds of the percussion. She is emboldened to fly off to other lands and reaches the Great Wall where she lands in the court of the Mings. She is transfixed by the sinuous fan dance of the courtesans which she tries to mischievously mimic, but fails utterly. Shrugging her wings she gives up, and she is off again to the land of the Matador and the staccato sounds of Flamenco. The bee hops and turns, imagining herself in the bullring. Too frightened by the charging bull, she makes haste to return to the Temple walls and the familiar sounds of the Temple bells….

A unique work by Maya Kulkarni and Sonali Skandan
Concept and Choreography: Maya Kulkarni
Music Arrangement: Sonali Skandan
Costuming: Sonali Skandan and Maya Kulkarni

Kalbeliya World is an international solidarity program that safeguards the art forms of women from traditional families of the Kalbeliya community in Rajasthan. Kalbeliya World seeks to provide (1) Digital Literacy (2) Self Employment (3) Stable incomes for female dancers in the regions of Jaipur, Pushkar and Jodhpur.

During this digital performance, we will take you along a journey to the homes of those women, who are the bearers of their arts looking for sustainable alternatives to the future. This performance consists of 12 female artists from Rajasthan: Aasha, a dancer and a recording artist who released many Rajasthani tracks during the pandemic. Anita has toured in Europe several times and has an International student following. Gulabo brought Kalbeliya dance to the stage in 1981. She was awarded the Padma Shri. Khatu was the lead dancer for many performance troupes, including Musafir.

Mamta was performing in the Desert Camp Hotels full time before lockdown and had an International student following. Meena was the lead dancer for many performance troupes, such as Dhoad Gypsies. Moru is best known for her dance troupe who perform at great stages of Rajasthan and abroad. Morya makes exquisite jewelry and crafts when she is not performing or teaching. Raki has toured in Europe several times. She is well known on the performance stages in Pushkar. Rekha was performing in the Desert Camp Hotels full time before lockdown. Sunita regularly taught and toured in France

Composed from the great Indian epics, the plays of Kathakali, the classical dance-drama of Kerala, are replete with characters having a wide range of expressions. Through stylized and semi-realistic hand-gestures, body movements and facial expressions, the actors communicate with the audience. Penned by Mandavappally Ittiraricha Menon (late 18th century), Rukmangadacharitham holds aloft the glory of Ekadashi (the 11th day from new moon or fullmoon – a sacred day) and the power he attains by observing Ekadashi Vratham. One day he comes to the forest for hunting where he comes across an ethereal beauty, Mohini, sent by Lord Brahma (the creator of the universe) to obstruct his Vratham (fasting) by enticing him to be engulfed in terrestrial pleasures. Sringara (amorousness) considered to be the prince among the Rasas finds multiple manifestations in the scene below.

Scene I: King Rukmangada’s fame touches uncommon heights owing to the spiritual penance he undertakes. The king Rukmangada is seated while Mohini enters with alluring footsteps and movements. Dazzled by the beauty of the damsel the king addresses her as one with sweet and lovely face and as one who walks like a graceful elephant. He asks her, “Oh! sweet-tongued! Why are you staying all alone in this desolate forest? One having the hair resembling the colour of the beetle! As I see you, Lord Cupid has begun to quarrel with me. Leaving you is much more than the agony of death for me. You may therefore stay along with me. I am servant of your lotus-feet”. Listening to these honey-tinted words, Mohini introduces herself as an ethereal lady and expresses her love towards him. She agrees to be the king’s consort provided he execute a pledge that he would never do anything against her wish. The king is lost in thought for a while. Thereafter he executes the pledge. The king embraces the damsel and both of them leave for his palace happily.

Kalamandalam Adityan is a young artist in Kathakali. He hails from Kannur district in Kerala, South India. From the childhood days he had strong interests towards Kathakali. Payyannur TM Premnath is his first Guru. After completing his primary education, he joined Kerala Kalamandalam to study Kathakali from the eighth standard. Kerala Kalamandalam deemed university is an art institute, which offers academic studies along with Kathakali studies. With the guidance and discipline of gurus such as Kalamandalam Mukundan, Kalamandalam Harinarayanan, Kalamandalam Venkataraman, Kalamandalam Suryanarayanan, Kalamandalam Ramdas and Kalamandalam Krishnakumar, he completed his studies from 8th standard to degree. The stage entry was completed in 2009 by portraying the role of Krishnan in Purappadu. He continued onto a Masters program at Kerala Kalamandalam. During his masters, he received extensive opportunities to learn the art from renowned gurus such as Padmashree Kalamandalam Gopi ( Gopiyasan) and Kalamandalam MPS Namboothiri.

Synopsis: This piece explores rhythm, melody and text in the eastern Indian traditional form called Odissi. Abhinaya is the art of controlled gesticulation and facial expressions while Pallavi is the expansion of a melodic framework. With elements of abhinaya, pallavi and rhythmic patterns, this dance juxtaposes verbal and rhythmic communication.

The choreography is inspired by Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore’s song, Jaya Tobo Bichitro Anondo Hey Kobi Joyo Tomaro Karuna. Here, the poet is praising abstract forces of nature that synchronize creation and destruction in tandem. The choreography weaves the beauty of nature displaying dancing peacocks, flights of birds, meandering streams and the encompassing fragrance of flowers which coexist alongside the sorrow of a world ridden with infectivity. The poet describes the dichotomy of timir-jyoti, meaning light and dark and milana-bichheda, meaning union and separation. Unable to comprehend the duality of environmental regeneration alongside the pain and sorrow, the dance concludes with the question, as to how does one unravel this enigmatic bliss.

Dr. Kaustavi Sarkar, student of Guru Poushali Mukherjee, Ratikant Mohapatra, and Sujata Mohapatra, is a professor in dance at UNC Charlotte and runs a professional development opportunity for Indian classical dance educators through the continuing education program.

She received the prestigious National Endowment for the Arts grant for bringing Odissi into mainstream arts contexts. A Doordarshan graded, ICCR empaneled, and national scholarship holder, Sarkar has created a substantial body of work in scholarship, performance, and education.

She teaches inside and outside academia and maintains dual careers in performance and teaching. She has taught at Kenyon College and holds a PhD from The Ohio State University (OSU) with interdisciplinary research interests in digital humanities, cultural studies, queer studies, arts entrepreneurship, dance and community, and religious studies. Her monograph Dance Technology Social Justice focuses on Odissi's journey as a technique for social justice. Her second book Shaping S-Curves focuses on female choreographers in the field of Odissi.

Jyotsna Vaidee is an award winning Bharatanatyam choreographer and dancer and the founder of Samudra Dance Creations. Samudra has presented at several prestigious festivals including San Francisco International Arts Festival, the PushDance Fest and the Ragamala Music Society of Canada. Jyotsna advocates that the authentic technique of Bharatanatyam is a rich language that can be used to communicate and discover themes that are both traditional and contemporary. To that end, Jyotsna has created a number of full length original choreographic productions including The Quest Unsaid, The Caged Birds Sings and Kaavyam, and most recently, The Earth Speaks, which was nominated for an Isadora Duncan Dance Award in 2020. In addition to her choreographic work, Jyotsna is a well-established Bharatanatyam soloist who has immersed herself in the art for over 25 years. Her performances have received critical acclaim in India and North America. She is a regular performer at India's (Chennai) December dance and music season.

Jyotsna has always sought out rigorous training to perfect her art and is a long time disciple of renowned Gurus Padma Bhushan Prof. C.V Chandrasekhar and abhinaya exponent Smt. Bragha Bessell.

STORM

"Fear keeps us focused on the past or worried about the future. If we can acknowledge our fear, we can realize that right now we are okay. Right now, today, we are still alive, and our bodies are working marvelously. Our eyes can still see the beautiful sky. Our ears can still hear the voices of our loved ones. --Thich Nhat Hanh

Storm is an exploration of human identity, the push & pull of the sense of belonging w/ others vs differences with others; the micro-oppressions that start a chain reaction. The inner storm rages; some of us let our inner monsters out. The force of love or the force of monster; which one is going to win?

Jyotsna started to pen this script in 2020 amidst the raging pandemic and the racial awakening Jyotsna Vaidee and Samudra dancers explore this theme through the authentic language of Bharatanatyam via the medium of a dance film created specially for the Erasing Borders festival.

Credits:
Produced by: Jyotsna Vaidee & Samudra Dance Creations
Concept & Choreography: Jyotsna Vaidee
Music Composition & Violin: Maiyuren Srikumar
Dance Collaborators: Archana Raja and Swathi Ramesh
Keyboard: Kanus Mukunthas
Percussion: Kirshan Sabeshkumar
Voice: Devinya Kugathas, Siddarth Mural, Snigdha Venkataramani
Videography: Leo Mar
Lighting: Danielle Ferguson

Vaishali Trivedi is a Kathak dancer, choreographer and singer based in Ahmedabad. For the past 32 years she has performed in many important festivals and theatres, across India and more than 50 countries around the world. Acclaimed as rare dancer with melodious voice by artists and connoisseurs, Vaishali combines a perfect technique with flowing grace and a very fine sensitivity.

She also had the privilege of performing in the productions of some of the greatest Indian classical artists of our time: her Guru Smt. Kumudini Lakhia, Pt. Ravi Shankar, Pt. Birju Maharaj. She has collaborated with famous choreographers from France, Italy, Brazil, Germany, USA, Switzerland and Pakistan. Such experiences make her artistic journey a truly unique one.

In 2015 she was awarded the Fulbright Fellowship and was given ‘Gaurav Pursakar' by the Govt. of Gujarat in 2011. Today, Vaishali shares her time between touring, expanding her choreographic work in Kathak style, collaborating with various artists, singing and teaching at her institute, Sangati Centre for Performing Arts, Ahmedabad.

Intimate Foe is a dance piece intended to raise awareness of plastic pollution. Plastic is a fascinating material, invented by humans and superior to natural materials. It finds its way into every area of human life, because it has a great advantage over natural materials: plastic lives longer! But what do you do with a material that doesn’t disintegrate, rust or rot? Collect in dumps or dump into the sea? The dance piece takes up these thoughts: plastic in its fascination, its diversity, and how the natural and the artificial creation relate to each other.

Using Kathak dance, Vaishali confronts the two ideas - a world of immense beauty with the rampant use of plastic and its frightening consequences.

Choreography – Vaishali Trivedi
Music and Tabla – Shri Ramesh Bapodara
Dancers -

1. Salomi Shah
2. Shachi Trivedi
3. Ramya Pallavajjhala
4. Kalrav Dave
5. Vaishali Trivedi

Prithivii Tatvam is a call to action in response to climate change. Bindu Rajendren presents this choreographic work through the lens of a performative environmentalist. Selected Sanskrit verses of the Bhoomi Sukhtham from the Atharva Veda, interspersed with self-composed poetry in English, constitute the musical score for the choreography. Using Mohiniattam alongside a simpler derivative movement style, Bindu captures the essence of the Sukhtham from her personal perspective. Presented as a Tatvam, this artistic work plays to the idea ‘Thou art That’ - a concept that alludes to the awareness of oneness in all.

Concept, research, direction, choreography and performance - Bindu Rajendren
Music direction, arrangement and vocals - Anil Pazhaveedu (TVM Sopanam)
Violin and Flute - Binu Maharathan
Veena - Dileep Alappuzha
Mridangam and Maddhallam - Anil Thiruvambadi
Edakka - Rakesh Kanakoor
Keyboard - Anil Souparnikam
English poem: Bindu Rajendren
Spoken word: Jay Turner
Recording Studio - Audio Matrix, Alappuzha
Final Mixing & Mastering - Bhadra Rajendren Pandalai
Videography - Raj Kallath

Central to Bindu's dance practices is the elemental spiritual connection through sentiment a and devotion. Bindu Rajendren is a practitioner of Mohiniattam, based out of Brisbane in Australia. She has performed at international, local and diasporic festivals and concerts in Australia, United Kingdom, New Zealand, UAE and India. She has widely collaborated with dancers, theatre artists, spoken word and visual artists and musicians.

The covid induced pandemic provided Bindu an opportunity to extend her movement vocabulary to include digital media with great success. As a dance researcher, Bindu has presented papers at various national and international academic dance conferences. An obsession with letting her mind wander is often what inspires Bindu's dance choreographies, artwork, paintings and poetry.

Eloquent facial expressions with graceful and flowing movements that evoke aesthetic experience are characteristics of Bindu Rajendren's Mohiniattam performances. As a performing artiste, Bindu's strength is in art of expression and storytelling abilities.

"Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high; …………….. Where the mind is led forward by thee into ever-widening thought and action//Into that heaven of freedom, my Father let my country awake.”

-Tagore, Gitanjali

It has been 74 years since India was declared independent of British colonialism; a result of a long and tiresome struggle for freedom, and the sacrifices of countless freedom fighters. But the question of whether we have awakened ‘into that heaven of freedom’, where we are the leader of our thoughts, actions, and happiness, that Tagore dreamt of, still prevails. On the contrary, we, human beings, have become violent and aggressive with each other and in our relationship with the world around us. It is said that every experience in our early life gets deeply etched in our minds and crystallizes our minds to think in patterns. It is these thoughts conditioned by certain ideologies, beliefs, and conclusions, that divide the world into the individual and the collective, and further divide the collective into umpteen groups according to religion, race, sex, nationality, class, and caste, and such divisions invariably must initiate violence. Like how Indra, the power of the mind, fought the dark cloud of confinements, Vrtra asura, we are in a constant battle with thoughts hampered by the falsehoods of sense. We are in a relentless fight to free ourselves of the thinker who cages us. Svādhīna is an inner monologue of such a freedom fighter.

Credits

Concept, Choreography, and Direction: Meera Sreenarayanan
Music Composition and Vocals: Bhagyalakshmi Guruvayur
Music Production - Ramu Raj
DOP - Image Makers, Ayyanthole
Lighting Designer - Sivan Venkitangu
Editor - Sandeep Menon
Location - Tharu Space for Arts, Thrissur

'A performer totally without a consciousness of self or any feelings of wanting to be pretty. She was the dance,' the renowned critic Leela Venkataraman writes about Meera Sreenarayanan, a dynamic young aspiring artiste, from Guruvayur (Kerala, India).

She has been described as a 'sensitive dancer', praised for her subtle expressions and technical excellence which all together completes a narthaki. Meera was under the tutelage of Sri. Prakash, Sri. R.L.V. Anand and Acharya Kalakshetra Nirmala Nagaraj. Now Meera is exploring the art and abhinaya under the able mentorship of Acharya Indira Kadambi.

Many performances and awards are there to her credit. She is a graded artist in Doordarshan and also a recipient of CCRT Young Talent and NCERT Creative Talent scholarships. She was chosen as the best junior dancer at The Music Academy Madras Dance Festival 2019. 'Harini', a well-received and appreciated thematic Bharatanatyam solo creation, conceptualized and choreographed by Meera for Natyarangam of Narada Gana Sabha, Chennai, proves her caliber as a choreographer as well.

Dr. Krishnakali Dasgupta a recipient of the prestigious Govt. of India National Scholarship for Outstanding artistes for Manipuri (Senior) is a senior student of the Manipuri exponents Smt.

Poushali Chatterjee, Dr. Sohini Ray, Guru Smt. Kalavati Devi and Guru Smt. Darshana Jhaveri, as well as Ojha Ranjeet Chingtham (Thang-Ta). She remains a dedicated performer and explorer of the form for more than 25 years and is a co-director, performer, choreographer with Mitradheya. Krishnakali is a Postdoctoral researcher in the field of Developmental Genetics. Dr Dasgupta has conducted several Manipuri workshops across countries.

Workshop attendees: comfortable top and tights / churidar kurta/ salwar kurta

Born and raised in Delhi, Aakansha spent over a decade training in Bharatanatyam under Padmashree Geeta Chandran and toured around India. She also performed with Nectar Dance Company and Shakti Dance Company Productions directed by the renowned Guru Viji Prakash’s and her daughter Mythili Prakash in California.

Aakansha has trained in Indian folk dance styles such as Garba, Kalbeliya, Ghoomar and Bhangra with various Delhi and Rajasthan based teachers who are specialists in their field. She spends around 2 months in India every year - dancing in Rajasthan and serving at Manav Sadhna NGO at Gandhi Ashram, working with hundreds of underprivileged kids. Aakansha acted and danced in the Hollywood movie Vara: A Blessing (2013) directed by Rinpoche Khyentse Norbu, shot in Sri Lanka after which she moved to LA. She is one of the co-founders of Kalbeliya World- an online platform with 12 Kalbeliya teachers and she has been volunteering for over a year in helping the community thrive during Covid crisis through the sustainable teaching model and also fundraising.

Her fitness program BollyPop®, which she created in 2015 is becoming popular all over Southern California and Utah. Aakansha has trained three instructors- 2 in Salt Lake City and 1 in India. In 2020, the biggest fitness platform in India- Cure Fit had Aakansha's BollyPop workouts playing on their app. In the last couple years, she has been invited by the Clippers to perform at the game. She had over 60 BollyPop dancers at the last performance at the Staples Center in LA. Currently, Aakansha has over 80 kids in her weekly classes and she teaches workouts around LA and also on campus at UCLA. She says that her devotion to the art is solely for the purpose of spreading happiness.

Requirements: attendees are requested to come to the sessions in long skirts or loose pants.