For the Dancer, the body is integral, the mind the controller and the soul is the fuel that drives her expression, and the eyes and face where the expression is manifested, guiding the body into motion. So in this journey of discovering the Dancer’s Body over the last few days from feet, to torso, to head, I find myself unable to end this exploration for … Continue reading The Eyes and Face : The final frontier for a Dancer
Last night was filled with an intense discussion between two architects and myself about the authority of attributing value to any art-form. Though the discussion was centered around the visual arts and the complex opinions that are polarised into “art for art’s sake” on one side and the idea of “form follows function” on the other, my take-away viz. a vis 45 Days … Continue reading Hands – The Power of Two
Energy, Power, Myth, Movement and Magic, that is the Tandav-Shiva! Having explored Shiva as the all-auspicious one, today as part of the 45 Days of Dance Stories, I wish to talk of the Tandav. Originating from the Sanskrit verb “Tand”- which means “to restore balance”, this word is a symbol for Lord Shiva himself and all associated activities of destruction and regeneration connected to … Continue reading Glorifying Tandav-Shiva!
The last two days have been a meditation on Sitara Devi, hence on Kathak. Her many performance on stage or then on celluloid for Films such as Baghban(1938), Roti(1942)and Mother India (1957) – Sitara Devi’s contribution to Kathak is one that has been well documented and is sprawling in its influence to inspire. True to her moniker – “Sitara” (which means Star in Hindi), she … Continue reading R.I.P. Sitara Devi (1919-2014)
As part of 45 Days Dance Stories, I’m still looking back at the body of work by the one and only Ruth St. Denis. she was one of the key proponents of Indian Dance and Hindu Philosophical thoughts through her meditatively choreographer pieces. Today I wish to share Ruth St. Denis’s depiction of the East Indian Nautch Dance, where the women is explorer and seductress, … Continue reading East Indian Nautch Dance : Ruth St. Denis
Is the Natya-Shastra a manifesto and tool for the contemporary artist ? According to me, it absolutely is – Yes! The Natya-Shastra, an approximately 2210 years old text with the main purpose, as I see it- is that this was and is a text that offers an infrastructure for the dissemination of creative knowledge. This infrastructure has been applied up to the … Continue reading The Natya-Shastra – Manifesto & Tool
People covered by their religion, in a city covered by excess, where every street corner has a sheesha- bar and a person speaking Hindi/Urdu – welcome to Dubai! My sole purpose in visiting Dubai was to look, find and purchase Art being presented and showcased at Art Dubai (http://www.artdubai.ae/). Standing tall like a scaled up version of a leggo city, Phantasmal – my name for … Continue reading ARTDubai : Will the real Art-Work please stand up!?
Playing the part of ‘Alice’ in a Bharatnatyam adaptation of “Alice through the looking glass” is a treasured experience. It was a first hand viewing of how very little is lost in translation when ideas are presented through a creative medium. What intrigued me most at the age of eleven was how the audience was the missing piece of the equation. With them present, we … Continue reading Me the Curator
D's Art Takes 