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Videos by Sharon Lowen

An overview of Bhakti Shringara as expressed in Jayadeva's Geeta Govinda.

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Ritusamharam Shakuntala Malavikagnimitra Meghadoota Kumara Sambhavanam The wedding night and... more Ritusamharam
Shakuntala
Malavikagnimitra
Meghadoota
Kumara Sambhavanam
The wedding night and morning of Lord Shiva, God of Dissolution and his consort, Parvati, is described in the 2000 year old epic by the great Sanskrit poet/dramatist Kalidas. Shiva reclines as Parvati glances at him with curiosity and mischief. He slowly opens his eyes as she is dazzled as though by lightning. covering Shiva's eyes with her hands in shyness, Parvati sees his third eye open and is bewildered by the futility of effort to hide her shyness. Next morning, in Parvati's concern that her friends will arrive and tease her about the telltale signs of love, she checks herself in her mirror. Shiva is reflected and she cannot answer his questions in shyness.

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Papers by Sharon Lowen

Ramayana in World Art and Thought, edited by Shovana Narayan. Shubhi Publications, Haryana, India, 2024

Chapter on Ramayana in Southeast Asia from Book on Ramayana in World Culture. The Ramayana transc... more Chapter on Ramayana in Southeast Asia from Book on Ramayana in World Culture.
The Ramayana transcends its geographical and cultural origins, finding profound resonance across Southeast Asia. From Cambodia and Thailand to Vietnam, Indonesia, Bali, and Java, the story of Rama, Sita, and their allies and adversaries has been woven into the fabric of literature, performing arts, ritual, and daily life. Over centuries, this epic has been adapted into their cultural and artistic heritage.
This chapter delves into the Ramayana's multifaceted presence in these regions, exploring its manifestations in literature, dance, music, puppetry, theatre, sculpture, and more.
Ramayana in Indonesia
The story of Rama took root in Indonesia since at least the first millennium CE and its enactment in literature, dance, theatre, and puppetry continues today. The country of Indonesia includes over 17,504 islands and the archipelago covers almost two million square miles. The Ramayana has become deeply ingrained in the culture, particularly among the Javanese, Balinese, and Sundanese people. Serving as a source of moral and spiritual guidance, as well as aesthetic expression and entertainment. Here the focus here will be on the traditions of Java and Bali with which I became familiar during performance tours in the early 1980’s, as well as seeing in the 1960’s and 70’s in the USA and India.
Ramayana in the Performing Arts of Java
• Wayan Kulit, Wayang Klitik, and Wayang Golek
• Wayang Wong
• Topeng masked dance
• Gamelan
• Ketoprak
• Contemporary Interpretations
Ramayana in the Performing Arts of Bali
Balinese dance is renowned for its intricate movements, expressive gestures, and dynamic choreography. In Bali, the Ramayana transcends its origins as an ancient Indian epic and has evolved into a living, breathing tradition, woven into the fabric of daily life. In Ramayana performances, traditional Balinese dance forms such as the Barong dance and the Kecak dance are often used to depict key scenes from the epic.
• Barong Dance
• Kecak Dance
• Balinese Wayang

Ramayana in Cambodia
In Cambodia, the Ramayana is known as the Reamker, a literary adaptation that incorporates local myths, legends, and religious beliefs, creating a uniquely Cambodian version of the epic. The earliest mention of this epic's manuscript in Cambodia dates back to the 7th century while the surviving text of Reamker dates from 16th century.
Ramayana in the Performing Arts of Cambodia
In the royal courts of Cambodia, performances of the Reamker have historically been integral to royal ceremonies, emphasizing the virtues of righteous leadership and moral integrity. It is traditionally the only story performed by all-male masked dance-drama and large shadow puppet play troupes.
• Lakhon Khol-This dance drama genre is also known as Khmer masked theatre
• Royal Ballet of Cambodia Khmer classical dance, Robam Preah Reach Trop, literally means. 'Dance of Royal Wealth.’ Ninety percent of all Cambodian classical artists perished between 1975 and 1979 due to execution, torture, starvation, and exhaustion during the khmer Rouge regime
• Khmer shadow theatre - Lakhaon Nang Sbek
Ramayana in Thailand
The Thai version of the Ramayana, the Ramakien, is similar to the Indian epic but has its own unique variations and additions.
• Ramayana/ Ramakien in Art and Architecture in Thailand
o Scenes from the Ramakien were frequently immortalized in Thai temple murals, paintings, and sculptures. These artworks often adorn the walls of both temples and royal palaces.
• Ramayana in the Performing Arts of Thailand
o Khon Dance
o Lakhon and Likay traditional theatre
o Lakhon - classical form of Thai dance drama that originated in the royal courts of Thailand.
o Likay - a popular form of folk theater in Thailand.
o Krabok or Hun Lakhon Lek Puppetry -Thai puppetry features intricately crafted puppets that represent characters from the Ramakien. It combines elements of puppetry, dance, music, and storytelling.
Ramayana in Burma (Myanmar)
Yama Zatdaw is a traditional Burmese literary genre that comprises poetic retellings of the Ramayana story. These poetic texts are often recited or sung by performers during theatrical performances or as standalone recitations. Burmese art and architecture have been influenced by the Ramayana, with depictions of Rama and other characters found in temples, murals, and sculptures across the country. The Ananda Temple in Bagan, for example, contains frescoes in depicting scenes from the Ramayana.
• Ramayana in the Performing Arts of Burma (Myanmar)
o Zat Pwe (Traditional Burmese Theatre)
o Yama Zatdaw (The Burmese Ramayana)
o Anyeint (Traditional Burmese Dance-Comedy)
o A-nyeint pwe (Traditional Burmese Variety Show)
o Yoke thé pwe Puppetry also incorporates local cultural elements, interpretations, and artistic styles, from other renditions of the Ramayana. Traditional Burmese music and vocals accompany the puppet presentations.
Ramayana in Vietnam
The Champa Empire played a significant role in spreading Hinduism to Vietnam, particularly in the central and southern regions, during the period of its dominance from around the 4th to the 13th centuries. The Champa Empire, which was a powerful maritime and trading kingdom located in what is now central and southern Vietnam, had extensive cultural and religious ties with India, particularly with the Chola and Pallava dynasties of South India.
The influence of the Ramayana is definitely seen in Vietnamese art and architecture of South and Central Vietnam.
Ramayana in the Performing Arts of Vietnam
• Traditional dance, theatre, and puppetry forms of Vietnam incorporate elements of the Ramayana narrative without specific genres dedicated to exclusively telling the story of Rama.
• Traditional Vietnamese performing art forms, such as "Múa rối nước" (water puppetry) and "Múa" (classical dance), do include choreographed sequences inspired by the Ramayana.
• Traditional Vietnamese theatre forms, such as "Hát tuồng" (classical opera) and "Cải lương" (reformed theatre), may feature performances based on episodes from the Ramayana.
The influence of the Ramayana can be seen in Vietnamese art and architecture, with depictions of Rama and other characters found in temples, pagodas, and historical sites. For example, the One Pillar Pagoda in Hanoi contains a statue of Avalokiteshvara, who is sometimes identified with Rama.
Throughout Southeast Asia, the Ramayana has been embraced as a source of cultural inspiration and artistic expression. Through various mediums such as text, art, architecture, dance, theatre, and puppetry, the epic continues to play a significant role in shaping the cultural heritage of these countries.

Devotional Music of India - Spreading Harmony and Peace, edited by Amarendra Khatua and Mandira Ghosh. Shubhi Publications, Haryana, India, 2023

Devotional Music of Judaism in India The Jewish communities of India and their devotional music... more Devotional Music of Judaism in India

The Jewish communities of India and their devotional music are hidden gems among the various religious traditions of our vast subcontinent. Sacred music plays an important role in both the synagogue, the place of worship, as well as in life cycle and festival celebrations.
Judaism is the world’s oldest monotheistic religion, dating back nearly 4,000 years. Followers of Judaism believe there’s only one God who revealed himself through ancient prophets. Most Jews believe that their Messiah hasn’t yet come—but will one day, while followers of the Jewish prophet Jesus believed he was the Messiah and established a new religion, Christianity, in his name. The destruction of the second temple in Jerusalem by the Romans in A.D. 70 ended the ability of priests to conduct rituals on behalf of individuals and the community and shifted religious practice to personal moral and religious responsibility. Congregational worship in synagogues was/is led by rabbis (teachers) based on holy texts, including the Torah, the first five books of the Tanakh which outline laws for Jews to follow (the same books as the Old Testament in the Christian Bible, but placed in a slightly different order. Later, the Talmud, a collection of teachings and commentaries on Jewish law, was created as well as other texts and commentaries.
Religious music is primarily vocal with the important exception of the blowing of the Shofar, a ram’s horn. In ancient times, the shofar was blown as part of the Temple service and in battle when enemies destroyed the Temple. Hearing it gives hope, inspires renewed commitment to the Divine and even evokes the shofar blasts that were heard when G d descended on Mount Sinai and Moses came down with the Torah.
Jewish communities of India and their devotional music
The earliest Jews of India arrived before the Christian era with various others from west Asia, Spain, Persia, Syria and other parts of the diaspora arriving over the millennia. The three major populations of Judaism in India are identified as the Cochin Jews, the Bene Israel and the Baghdadi Jews.
Cochin Jews of Kerala
The Cochin Jews, as the name suggests, lived along the Malabar Coast and are also called Malabar Jews or Kochinim. Their devotional music draws on the Judeo-Malayalam dialect they developed as well as Hebrew. Their roots in India may date back to the time of King Solomon in west Asia, then the land of Israel and Judah, with other exiles arriving after the destruction of the First Temple in 587 BCE. More arrived in Cranganore near Cochin after the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE. It is said that St. Thomas journeyed to the western coast of around 50 CE with the aim of converting them to his new religion. By the 11th century, Indian rulers had generously gifted them land and freedom build synagogues.
When Spain banished all Jews in 1492, a significant number of Sephardi families arrived in Cochin over the next century or two, speaking Ladino, a Judeo-Spanish dialect. While they learned Judeo-Malayalam, they did retain some cultural distinctions and were known as the Paradesi Jews or “foreign Jews/White Jews” from the 16th century.
Bene Israel Jews of Maharashtra
The largest Jewish community in India, the Bene Israel Jews of Maharashtra, are an ancient community whose traditional religious and cultural practices date back to practices of the first temple in Jerusalem of biblical times. It is said to have had its founding with a shipwreck of Jews from the Kingdom of Israel off India’s Konkan coast circa 175 BCE. With no access to the written Torah holy texts codified several centuries later, they easily maintained their traditional, ritualistic Judaism such as not working on the Sabbath, circumcision, the kosher laws, and the recitation of the Shema prayer within the religiously tolerant Indian society over the centuries.
In the late 1600’s, when control of the Bombay Islands shifted to the British from the feared antisemitic Portuguese, Bene Israeli began migrating to the Bombay Islands from the Konkan Coast which led to their discovery by Cochin Jews who strengthened their religious education and relearning of Hebrew, the sacred language. The devotional music of the Bene Israel reflects the inter-cultural synthesis found in worldwide Jewish liturgical music. For thousands of years, Jews have lived in diaspora among many cultures, always incorporating local cultural elements into their music. A wonderful example of this are the Bene Israel kirtans (devotional songs with storytelling) performed in the decades immediately following the founding of the first Jewish kirtan organization in 1880. The socio-political climate of the late nineteenth century spurred this enrichment of Jewish devotional music with the Hindu kirtan format.
Baghdadi Jews
“Baghdadi” or “Iraqi,” Jews of India originally came from the area between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, for centuries a centre of Jewish learning and culture, and later included Jews from Syria and other parts of the Ottoman Empire, Aden, and Yemen, who were all Arabic-speaking, and even Jews from Persia. Baghdadi Jews often referred to themselves as Sephardim, an allusion to their liturgical tradition rather than their geographic origins.
The three streams of Jewish music include Ashkenazi, Sephardi and Mizrahi. The Ashkenazi liturgical music originated in Eastern Europe and is heard in India among the visiting or resident international Jewish community in homes and Chabad House services.
Mizrahi literally means Eastern and refers to the music of Jews primarily living amidst Arabic cultures over the centuries. Sephardi literally means Spanish, and this stream of devotional music originated in the countries around the Mediterranean from Spain to Turkey, Greece and North Africa. As noted earlier, a significant population of the Cochin Jews of Kerala migrated from Spain and both they and the Bene Israel Jews of India followed the Sephardi musical traditions with major influences of Indian musical traditions and languages.
The Arabo-Turko-Persian musical traditions the Mizrahiyim is essentially that of the Baghdadi Jews, but they are generally considered to also follow Sephardi traditions as currently the terms Mizrahi and Sephardi have become interchangeable. This is basically because their religious communities and cultural traditions are closer to each other than to the Western Ashkenazi. What is relevant about making a distinction is that the Mizrahi element is farther from Western musical forms of expression while the Sephardi was somewhat between the Ashkenazi and Mizrahi geographically as well as musically.
The Baghdadi Jewish community dates back to around 1730 as trade between Basra in the Persian Gulf and Surat by the British East India Company began to bring Jewish merchants to Surat and, much later, Calcutta. A century later, there were perhaps 20 to 30 families of Arabic-speaking Jews among the total Bombay Jewish population of 2,246.
By the end of the 18th century, close to 100 Jews from Aleppo, Baghdad, and Basra made up the Arabic-speaking Jewish merchant colony of Surat. Arriving in 1833, David Sassoon built the Magen David synagogue in 1861 with a hostel for Jewish travellers, a ritual bath and a religious school which encouraged more Jewish immigration to India. He contributed enormously to the development of the city of Bombay, financing numerous educational, medical, and social institutions that were open to all. Calcutta became the second-largest centre of Baghdadi Jewish settlement. By the end of the 19th century, the community numbered over 1,800.
Like the Bene Israel and Cochin Jews, the Baghdadi Jews in India did not have ordained rabbis of their own and remained attached to the teaching and traditions of Baghdad life (minagh babli, ‘Babylonian custom’) across the generations. This included practising their music-liturgical tradition in their numerous synagogue services. To this day the community claims that they have succeeded in preserving their ancient tradition, singing many of the same liturgical melodies as in past generations.
Overview
Jewish music in India as well as across the globe includes both devotional vocal music for religious worship in the synagogue and as well as secular songs for life-cycle celebrations and these will sometimes interface. As elsewhere, the musical traditions of India from the non-Jewish culture have been incorporated in Jewish devotional music, especially congregational, and become part of Jewish worship as exemplified in the Jewish kirtans of the Bene Israel community. As with other traditions, religious poetry sung as a congregation in the synagogue or with the family at home heighten devotional passion.
Modal Chanting nuances, multiple traditions of cantillation which is the manner of chanting/singing ritual texts based on Biblical diacritical notations along with neumes or signs representing musical pitches according to Ashkenazi, Sephardi, or Mizrahi traditions, create the rich landscape and musical vocabulary of the devotional music of the Jews of India. These may even vary between different chants/songs used for Torah readings on Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur than for the same text on a normal Shabbat.
There are various Jewish communities of India, some present within India for millennia, others from medieval and colonial times and now the Shinlung or Bnei Menashe have been identified as one of the ancient Lost Tribes of Israel. Delhi is a “new Indian city” and therefore its Jewish community has less than a century of roots. This results in a sharing of devotional traditions drawn on the Bene Israel, Cochin and Baghdadi Jews of India, whose work brought them to the capital, plus the extra masala of Delhi’s international community of Ashkenazi Jews. India’s Jewish devotional music, like that of Jewish communities around the world, rests on a foundation of shared religious and...

Devotional Music of India -Spreading Harmony and Peace, 2023

The diversity of Buddhist music in India and globally is quite vast for both monastics as well as... more The diversity of Buddhist music in India and globally is quite vast for both monastics as well as lay practitioners. While chants are predominant in all Buddhist practices, instrumental and vocal music and dance also play significant roles in the Buddhist traditions found in India.
Many early developments in Buddhist music originated during the Maurya Dynasty (317 – 180 B.C.E.) with the “inclusion of copper gongs, drums, flutes, conch horns, and harps in Buddhist ceremonial music”. It was envisioned that each instrument mimics the sound of an animal, the drums being the footsteps of elephants and the horns mimic bird calls.
• Buddhist music, as in other traditions of India, can be an offering of devotion to the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha and even as a support to memorizing Buddhist texts, but it also has a primary function as a vehicle supporting the embodied approach to meditation and the realization of wisdom.
• Chanting may be complex recitations of sacred texts or repetition of mantra. Musical chanting can be heard accompanied by resonant drums with low, sustained syllables.
• Individual schools such as the Gelug, Nyingma, Sakya and Kagyu, and even individual monasteries, maintain their own chant traditions.
Not only music but also dance is experienced and understood as a form of meditation In the Mahayana traditions of the Himalayan regions, inspired largely by great scholars and practitioners of India such as those of Nalanda.

Chanting is viewed as coming from the deepest level of reality, the true nature of the self, which is emptiness, oneness, or the formless source of the buddha body, the dharmakaya.
A charming example of the relationship of Buddhist chanting, music and dance with meditative practice was shared with me by Joseph Houseal, Director of Core of Culture.
An amazing meditation and mental training requirements for monk dancers when a twenty-years old was directed by his teacher to do a three-year meditation retreat in a cave and recite the mantra of Bhutan’s protective deity, Palden Lhamo, 400,000 times.
When he returned and lead the chant for a protector deity dance. He opened his mouth, and out came what sounded like a lion from another dimension, a controlled roar, the voice of a ferocious deity that thundered through the whole valley. Animals stood still. We were stunned, stopped in our tracks by the sheer power of the ancient techniques he had mastered in retreat. Jigmey looked over us, saw our reactions, and burst into a huge grin.

The tone and tempo of Buddhist chants tend to be monotonic rather than with melody, with notable exceptions. The difference between this and other devotional traditions such as Christianity are both musical and intent. While Gregorian chants are more melodic than Buddhist chants and there is generally more singing than chanting, the aim is toward transcendence to heaven and the soul rising in devotion to the divine.
The emphasis in Buddhism is more on awareness of non-duality, equanimity, the interdependence with all beings, great compassion, and the joy of release from the suffering of attachment. The Tibetan Buddhist traditions practiced across the northern states in Ladakh, Dharamshala, Lahaul Valley, Spiti Valley & Sikkim as well as by a growing population of “Nalanda Shikshas” throughout the country use a variety of Tibetan Ceremonial Drums, the Tibetan horn, the smaller damaru (drum), Tingsha (small symbols), Ritual bell and the Singing or Meditation Bowl with Gong. Monks play instruments during chants, rituals and to accompany ritualistic meditative Cham dances. Inspired by tantric traditions that were performed for the greater good of all sentient beings Cham dance is fundamentally an act of cleansing evil forces. Monks practice this music and dance as a kinetic and aural meditation on neutralizing the evil powers of demonic spirits through the Buddhist wisdom that dispels fear and brings happiness. Here, the music and dance are not about movement and melody, but rather the rituals of meditation, mudra (hand gestures), chants, invocation of deities, all to eliminate negativity.
When Dr Ambedkar initiated the conversion of Dalits into Buddhism in 1956 new forms of musical practices also came into being. The Navayana Buddhism of Uttar Pradesh has drawn on traditional Indian music traditions of the medieval Bhakti movement saints like Kabir and Tukaram to craft the Tathagata Buddha songs that expresses their devotion as well as dignity. Performed by women, these songs reflect a new aesthetic that has relevance to across the Dalit-Bahujan culture. There is no worship of any form of god as the Buddha taught that ultimately there is none. ‘Tatha+Agata’, means the arrival of the enlightened one and traces its roots from Pali rather than the Brahminical notion that considered Buddha as god or ‘avatar’ of Lord Vishnu. The Dalit neo-Buddhists have used the Tathagata Buddha songs as an expression of resistance by imbuing in them historical and social messages. Besides Buddha, many of these songs invoke other social reformers who are revered within the Dalit community.
Today there is much Buddhist based music created for mindfulness and meditation practices, including recordings of singing bowls, Tibetan flutes, mantra chanting and singing by monks, nuns, and other followers of the Dharma. As Buddhism is not a theistic religion, its philosophy communicated through its musical traditions can be appreciated and of value to all whatever their other spiritual practices may be.

Contemporary Issues of Sastra in the Classical Dance of Orissa

Panjab University research bulletin: Arts, 1999

Shastric Traditions in Indian Arts , University off Heidelberg, 1989

Dance is a movement art, transmitted as an oral, or rather aural-visual, tradition. What then is... more Dance is a movement art, transmitted as an oral, or rather aural-visual, tradition. What then is the relationship of shastric texts on dance to the actual performance practice, with particular reference to Odissi dance? Shastric texts have become a major reference point and validating factor of “classical” dance in India since the 1930’s, in Orissa since the 1950’s, and are increasingly used in the training of today’s educated students of the dance.
Did these texts play a central role in the development of the Odissi dance tradition as we know it today, or have they been used after the fact in a quest to capture and codify a tradition? What are the consequences of using textual codification as a starting point in classical training? To what extent has Odissi dance gelled into a distinctive form as it passed through generations of dancers up to the present and how much latitude still remains for innovation within the tradition?
What texts play a role in Odissi dance and what is that role? To what extent do contemporary practitioners of Odissi base their work on shastric tradition?
What are the problems of textual representation of a three-dimensional art form functioning in time and space translated to two dimensional paper and word symbolization? What are the difficulties of taking a fluid tradition in art and categorizing its elements in narrowing definitions, definitions which can intrinsically exclude nuance and variation, and lose its channeled logic in tangents? Does the quest for codification threaten the fluidity of tradition, tying teaching to text in future?
And finally, what role has shastric text played in bestowing legitimacy of recognition to Odissi dance as a classical tradition?

Gross National Happiness: Practice and Measurement, edited by Dasho Karma Ura and Dorji Penjore, The Centre for Bhutan Studies, 2009

Education, community interactions and the experience of the inner world that we all share through... more Education, community interactions and the experience of the inner world that we all share through the sharing of culturally specific performing arts enable the transformation of “other/foreign” to the comprehensible with which we can personally identify, without fear or apprehension and even embrace. Connecting to others, from within our own cultural background expanding out to those less familiar is essential to inhabit a world where we live at ease within our global communities. An opportunity to enter into the cultural space of others dissolves the defensiveness of fear of the “other” and enables a sense of security and the happiness of connection, understanding and even celebration of sharing a larger human landscape. Cross cultural education, interactions and carefully framed introductions to cross cultural essence through performing arts build understandings that can go beyond the intellectual to a more intrinsic, even visceral, connection.

Asian Age , 2019

The integral connections between classical Indian dance and yoga are perhaps less generally known... more The integral connections between classical Indian dance and yoga are perhaps less generally known, even though institutions like the Central Sangeet Natak Akademi (SNA)and the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA) have presented outstanding mult-day lectures and demonstrations focused on this theme.

The recently released Illustrating Classical Indian Dance Through Yoga, co-authored by Shovana Narayan and Anita Dua, clearly and systematically share these similarities. I would presume that most classical dancers are aware of the yoga of their dance, but the care taken by the authors to deconstruct the elements for comparison goes far beyond what the vast majority of us could articulate. Shovana found surprisingly, little actually written on this when the Shubhi publisher, Sanjay Arya, suggested the theme for her to research for a book.

Anita Dua, trained for years by her Pune neighbor, Yogacharya B.K.S. Iyengar, supports Shovana’s comparisons with solid visual and textual information. The result is a book accessible and of interest to the general reader while of solid use for dance and yoga teachers and practitioners.

Asian Age, 2019

This article is about Monodhama -developing ideas through movement inspired by text, and the Mono... more This article is about Monodhama -developing ideas through movement inspired by text, and the Monodhama Dance Festival and Beyond Technique seminars I organized to focus on the process and expression of free interpretation of abhinaya which is a core of classical Indian dance and yet losing focus with today’s emphasis on speed, group and quick learning. All performance and seminar presentations are available on Youtube.
Performances were by Vidushi Lakshmi Vishwanathan- today perhaps the only artist who does justice to the essential aspects of the Tanjore tradition of Bharatanatyam. May 3 2019 and Pt Birju Maharaj - the undisputed master of Kathak, torch-bearer of the Kalka-Bindadin gharana of Lucknow – May 4.
The Beyond Technique Seminar gave one hour each to senior exponents and gurus to share their process: Vidushi Saswati Sen - Kathak, Guru Lakshmi Vishwanathan, Guru Singhajit Singh -Manipuri Jagoi,Guru Saroja Vaidyanathan - Bharatanatyam and Guru Kamalini Dutt - Bharatanatyam & Sharon Lowen – Odissi on their pedagogy of teaching monodhama to today’s students. This was presented by Manasa-Art Without Frontiers in collaboration with the India International Centre, New Delhi

Asian Age newspaper and Deccan Chronicle, 2019

"Yes, yes, yes!" was the immediate response of dozens of visual and classical performing artists ... more "Yes, yes, yes!" was the immediate response of dozens of visual and classical performing artists to Shovana Narayan's request for participation in the recent Tribute to Pulwama Martyrs at the India International Centre, New Delhi.

We have all shared the grief over the attack on so many dedicated defenders of Indian democracy, but it was Shovana, retired from a brilliant IAS career and fortunately not retired from a brilliant performance career, who brought us all together to express our solidarity through our arts.

Row upon row of uniformed CRPF personnel along with their DG, other administration and families were present for an emotional evening of love, tears, compassion and solidarity. The tribute was planned out with the collaboration of the multi-talented visual artist, Naresh Kapuria, also known for his half century of dedication to helping others including a legendary fundraising benefit by a panorama of artists for Kargil families.

The vision for the evening began with every dancer, vocalist and speaker signing a large canvas in the lobby which was later presented to the DG CRPF, Rajeev Rai Bhatnagar, on stage. Shovana wove a tapestry of poetry through the warp and weft of the evening connecting each brief presentation to the next. Drawing on ancient and modern sources, from sutras to Helen Keller, Gandhi, Wordsworth and Robert Louis Stevenson, she gently embraced our shared loss as with the Sufi “When the heart grieves over what is has lost, the spirit rejoices over what it has left.”

The balance of dance, music and spoken word tributes began with heartfelt words from the IIC Director, KN Shrivastava. This was followed by a moving vocal performance by Dr. Shanno Khurana introduced by Rani Chhabra. The incredibly elegant Shanno-ji at the age of 95 established the aura of the evening. Other musical tributes were offered in the deep, stirring tones of Madhup Mudgal and Vidya Shah’s lyrical tenor.

The dancers had been asked to present 3-4 minutes of abhinaya without costume and bring recorded music. Music was handed over to Shovana’s student liason coordinators, Komal and Mrinalini, with light and sound coordination by Nitin Jain. It was incredible to see the seamless technical transitions handled without a single glitch! No mix ups, restarts, or dropped levels; mics for musicians and speakers were all in the right place and on at the right time, lights did the needful and all you consider that this involved more than 30 separate light and sound occasions in one presentation it was awesome.

Sonal Mansingh rushed from her India Gate Odisha Parb performance to join us but arrived after the well orchestrated event had concluded because everything had gone like clockwork without the usual hiccups and delays that would have made such a large group presentation drag on interminably. This one was crisp and effective and the energy was palpable as artistic voices shifted flawlessly.

The dance presentations were powerful and touching, elegant and thought provoking, by nationally honored dancers Bharati Shivaji, Geeta Chandran, Prathibha Prahlad, Madhavi Mudgal, Ranjana Gauhar, Dr Saroja Vaidyanathan, Prerana Srimali plus myself. I was particularly moved by Dr Saroja Vaidyanathan’s abhinaya of a soldier’s mother, wife, sister and brother interacting with him before departure to service and each one’s reaction to news of his death.

Rashmi Vaishalingam shared the words of Raja and Radha Reddy who were out of Delhi, Sadhana Shrivastava shared poetry of Nalini Kamlini and Rama Pandey blew us away with a powerful reading of her own poetry of praise and reflections on society. The always graceful actress, Sushma Seth, shared her feelings in a few words of poetry while Sunit Tandon brought the artist tribute to a fitting end with a well chosen poetic bouquet.
Besides poetry, there were excellent spoken tributes by Alka Raghuvanshi , Lavlin Tandon reading inspirational letters from the battlefront and from Aruna Vasudeva, Ashish Khokar shared his pride in a family history of a grandfather and aunts serving as army doctors while Geetanjali Lal recalled her college days in Kashmir during the 1965 war with Pakistan.
This heartfelt tribute was a much appreciated opportunity by the community of artists to share our feelings as part of civil society to a representative selection of our armed forces, those who “give their today for our tomorrow”.

Asian Age , 2019

How is Indian classical dance viewed abroad? The place and impact of India’s dance traditions th... more How is Indian classical dance viewed abroad?

The place and impact of India’s dance traditions throughout the world is obviously a vast subject covering space and time. It has perhaps almost as many perspectives as there are artists and audiences. Recently I invited a dance scholar, a mid-career international performing artist and a former Indian ambassador to offer their thoughts and experiences as part of a seminar.

Ambassador Amarendra Khatua is an all-too-rare civil servant who brought significant knowledge and familiarity with arts and artists to his international postings as well director of ICCR. He shared that there are approximately 7,600 classical art schools outside India and 367,000 recognized classical Indian arts performers. Surprisingly, these are not just in the Indian Diaspora countries but all over the globe.

A question he raised is whether these arts, which are recognized and appreciated abroad, have entered the local lexicon of the arts internationally. Khatua also shared his personal view, after 38 years as a Foreign Service bureaucrat, that government should not function as a patron of the arts running institutions but should simply offer financial support. He also raised the question of the motivation and impact for India of taking our performing arts abroad. There are 32 million non-resident Indians persons of Indian origin abroad. We tell them they are ambassadors of India but are they ambassadors of our performing arts? Or are they opportunistic promoters of our performing arts during their conferences and festival events?

Bharatanatyam exponent Rama Vaidyanathan articulated the responsibility of representing Indian Sanskriti and connecting to both the Indian Diaspora and local nationals worldwide. I was happy to hear that she shared my experience that “it is the emotive power of Indian dance that really stirs the soul of the audience that connects to them and is different from their familiar dance forms rather than the general assumption that fast-paced rhythmic nritta”.

Dance scholar Arshiya Sethi shared her research into the creative interactions, based on fact and imagination, of Western artists connecting to the Indian dance genres available to them in the early and mid-20th century. These included Ruth St Denis, Anna Pavlova, La Meri who promoted Ram Gopal, Jazz and film choreographer Jack Cole who trained under La Meri, and many more, creating a considerable tapestry of artistic and cultural influences and interactions as well as the downside of devadasis exhibited in fairs.

She gave an historical panorama of the tapestry of these connections. “The transference of Indian dance overseas is a process that has been going on in phases for 140 years. A Nautch group that went in the 1880s to perform in exhibitions and fairs provided glimpses of spiritual elements draped in saris, though tinged with racist and sexist stereotypes.

Basically these were people who were fascinated by India. There are questions of representation, authenticity even today when we have reclaimed and researched so much that was not available earlier in the 20th century.

The 1960’s STEM visas for the USA brought highly skilled immigrants with wives trained in classical dance who found a few interested American students to teach. In the 1980’s USA visa policy changed which led to many Indians coming, trained dancers among them, and the rise of Indian dance schools everywhere with more Indian origin students as the number of American students reduced.”

Arshiya’s historical overview led to the conclusion that the visibility of Indian dance has improved considerably in the USA with an Indian dancer, Ranee Ramaswamy, in the National Endowment for the Arts which determines national funding and other dancers getting national, state and local funding.

Of course, this is a subject I have enjoyed observing over the decades since I was first exposed to India and Indian classical dance during the 1950’s as a child in multi-culturally vibrant Detroit, Michigan. The transmission of tradition here and abroad, along with its understanding and appreciation, is an evergreen subject I plunge into regularly. This was a few drops from this ocean.

Asian Age, 2019

Sharan Rani, popularly known as ‘Sarod Rani’ (Queen of Sarod) – a modern day Mira - ‘A musicians ... more Sharan Rani, popularly known as ‘Sarod Rani’ (Queen of Sarod) – a modern day Mira - ‘A musicians musician’

Stories of great artists can be enthralling; those with unusual challenges are inspiring. If overcoming these obstacles is achieved with grace and generosity we are delighted and amazed. If an individual artist's success clears the path for others, we applaud their courageous inspiration.

Sharan Rani, popularly known as ‘Sarod Rani’ (Queen of Sarod), was all of the above and more. She was the first internationally renowned woman instrumentalist of India and undoubtedly one of the foremost master musicians of the 20th century during a concert stage career spanning over seven decades.

What has fascinated me is how she achieved this, coming from a non-musician family of Hindu Delhi walled-city businessmen and educators, as well as how she wore the mantle of greatness with humility and devotion, without compromise to either art or family.

To have genius together with dedication and a pure life is a rare occurrence and by her example, Sharan Rani inspires all artistes and the younger generation who are the hope of the future.’- Rukmini Devi Arundale, President, Kalashetra

Asian Age

Dance of the Enchantress, a film by Adoor Gopalakrishnan and Brigitte Chataignier I have always... more Dance of the Enchantress, a film by Adoor Gopalakrishnan and Brigitte Chataignier

I have always loved the ephemeral nature of dance. The magic of the performance exists in the synergy of performer and audience in a particular moment in time and space. Entering the stage, the dancer offers one’s creative best available for the moment, not for posterity. Another day and the “same” dance may be exponentially different in performance. It always seemed to me that when a book was published or a painting displayed, the creator had made a statement of completion that I did not in dance. Of course, as I matured, it was clear that tangible arts are also “of the moment” in the creative process, yet dance is a poignant reminder of impermanence.

Because of this, we treasure filmed moments of dance in documentaries or archives knowing that they can provide only a tangential experience to being part of a live performance experience. For Indian classical dance, straight forward quality documentation is available from the Doordarshan Archives created by Smt. Kamalini Dutt. Documentation by other government and autonomous bodies leaves too much to be desired.

Given that every artistic medium has its own abilities and parameters, a good film on dance can shift time and place to provide not only varying angles of the dance but also of the lives, context of the dance, gurus and dancers. A great film can shift energy and even our willingness and ability to perceive.

La Danse de l’enchanteresse (The dance of the enchantress) by Adoor Gopalakrisnan and Bridget Chataignier is a great film. As everyone familiar with other films of this master, Adoor-ji chooses not to lean on a linear narrative to convey meaning. The viewer is respected as a Rasika to experience the rasa evoked. This is done through images of Mohiniattam performed in temples, palaces as well as classroom, contextualized in the Kerala environment.

When the renowned French Mohiniattam exponent, Brigitte Chataignier, a graduate of Kerala Kalamandalam was directed to Adoor Gopalakrishnan with her film concept, she discovered he had also been studying and considering Mohiniattam for decades without yet having decided on how to approach it in film. Bridget managed to secure funding, create a production house and together they co-scripted this exquisite film. The sensitivity and expansiveness of spirit in this virtually wordless depiction of the lush traditional ethos of Kerala is breathtaking.

An exception to the rule of classical dancers making documentary films, Bridget did not feature herself or make even a transitory appearance, instead presenting accomplished performances by Smitha Rajan (daughter of Sreedevi Rajan), Dr. Neena Prasad, Pallavi Krishnan and Usha Balaji. I was personally delighted to see included two Mohiniattam compositions that I had never seen before, Swati Tirunal’s Aliveni and the popular lullaby, Omanathinkal Kidavo in Mohiniattam, as I had performed these in Odissi in Kerala decades ago.

There are only 2 scenes with spoken dialogue. One finely crafted scene is in a bus as dancers and their musicians are returning from a performance. The vocalist is singing and a bus discussion reiterates the revival of Mohiniattam by the Maharaja Swati Tirunal (his over 400 classical compositions are the core of the repertoire since the first half of the 19th century) while another bus rider reminds that Vallathol Narayana who established Kerala Kalamandalam revived it in the early part of the last century.

The sole other scene with dialogue involves the guru asking why a student is not in class. The answer- she is getting married and her in-laws don’t approve of her continuing to dance. The guru declares that this is an outdated attitude. Meanwhile the images of the young girl, her betrothed, even the selection of wedding saris are dovetailed with the sringar of the dance and luxuriant Kerala landscapes.

Without dialogue, the sound landscape of birds and rain in nature, dance music and solkattu in class, courtyard and inner sanctum calms down our inner voices to rest in a more metaphysical serentity.

We see the bhava of the most revered and beloved gurus sharing with their shisyas in the classroom. These interactions with Kalamandalam Satyabhama, recently departed Guru Prof. Kalamandalam Leelamma, Sreedevi Rajan (daughter of the 'grandmother of Mohiniattam', Kalyani Kuttiyamma) as well as Guru Kalamandalam Kshemavathi evoke the delicious flavor of learning to experience and share rasa.

The well chosen dance sequences were shot in temples and palaces associated with Maharaja Swati Tirunal and Mahakavi Vallathol, generations apart, who both revived Mohiniyattam and other Kerala art forms when they were fading into oblivion.

This film is so much more than a documentary; it is an aesthetic experience that evokes rasa through the music, dance and visuals. If you already appreciate Kerala or are uninitiated, immersing yourself in Brigitte and Adoor-ji’s Dance of the Enchantress will be a meditation in joy.

Good, good enough or excellence in dance How does a dance student go from practice to perfect; al... more Good, good enough or excellence in dance How does a dance student go from practice to perfect; along the path developing the essential life skills to succeed in any endeavor? This question came to me with answers almost as varied as there were individuals, as I agreed for the first time to prepare an all inclusive student recital from school age to moms with passion to dance. Those already performing professionally wholeheartedly cooperated and worked patiently with their juniors. In the past, I have been happy to groom individual students to perform for their school or other functions and several performing together in temples during Navratri. As they reached semi-professional level, they participate in lecture demonstrations and group choreography in Delhi. Of course, summer/winter workshops end with a works-in-process studio presentation as stage practice is part with of learning, but this is without costumes, costs and fanfare. Some students convinced me that giving up solid technical training for a couple months was justified in the interests of the motivation to focus on a time-bound group performance. It was a learning experience for me to see the character of students reflected in their consciousness of what preparation entailed. The simplest and most fundamental component of success is respect for Time. Just showing up and on time, not wasting the time of others in a group cooperative effort is a clear expression of personal consideration for others. s life beyond wasting rehearsal time. One student, asked if having a student program coming up motivated her, replied, "It made me regular in attendance, otherwise I sometimes skip class when I feel lazy or low energy after a hard week." How thoughtful or thoughtless of the impact of "being there" for others translates across one's land personal and professional life. Stage practice, i.e. a performance for a non-professional dancer, is an essential part of learning how to project energy and connect with the audience. One student had regularly performed under a previous teacher, so she definitely had the benefit of "stage practice". I asked her what she might gain this time that was new. "Before, I went on stage without a thought about what efforts and corrections to technique I needed to be conscious of or how to use my eyes and mind to communicate." A pretty good example of the truth of the sport's adage, "Practice doesn't make perfect; perfect practice makes perfect!" The legendary English ballerina Dame Margot Fonteyn said, "If I don't practice for two days, I will know the difference. if I don't practice for four days, the audience will know the difference." This standard of excellence won her critical accolades during a career spanning twice that of most other classical ballet dancers. When rehearsals have reached a point where everyone has gotten it right, there is a temptation to move on. That is the time to share the motto "Don't practice till you get it right, practice till you can't get it wrong" Mastering dance is a process without end. The Padmavibhushans of the dance world consider that they remain learners. Besides from our teachers, dance student dents learn from life experience and personal growth, observation of the life around us, group collaboration, fellow students, and seeing disappointing as well as good performances.

Asian Age

Indian Masters of the Performing Arts Sangeet Natak Akademi Awards It make me feel something is ... more Indian Masters of the Performing Arts
Sangeet Natak Akademi Awards

It make me feel something is still right in this world when I see puppeteers, folk and tribal as well as classical performing artists, being honored by the President of India in the magnificently formal setting of Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Wearing dhotis and Kanjeevarams, Himachali caps and lungis as well as smart modern attire, our living masters of intangible culture proudly walked up the three historic steps of the Durbar Hall dais, many needing a helping hand, to receive a nation's gratitude for their contributions in dance, music and drama with Sangeet Natak Akademi awards.

The same maroon velvet drapes and 5th century Buddha statue that framed the transfer of power at Independence backed the President as he heartily rose again and again for each awardee. After the ceremony, I had to pause at the doors open to Delhi to relish the view. The red carpet below my feet matching the top of India Gate and the breathtaking sight of the illuminated Jaipur column, a fitting tribute to the Maharaja who gave Raisina Hill for the new capital over 100 years ago.

In addition to 2016 awardees, four Akademi fellows were awarded for overarching contributions to Hindustani and Carnatic music, Shri Arvind Parikh and Shrimati R. Vedavalli respectively, Shri Ram Gopal Bajaj for his contributions to Indian theatre and Shri Sunil Kothari for his outstanding contribution to Performing Arts through as author and critic. I have not had the privilege to know the music fellows but it was a joy to congratulate the friends who became fellows and awardees and applaud the others.

The performances and talks by all of these national treasures were a treat for residents of the National Capital Region and I can never get over my good fortune to live in the only capital city in the world where great performing arts can be seen gratis simply by walking in. Anyone with a metro card, uber/ola number or car, can attend virtually any production in multiple theatres daily. These annual Sangeet Natak Akademi award programs should be high on the list of anyone with an interest or even curiosity in the arts or who has a desire to nurture cultural awareness in their children.

Anita Ratnam, awarded for Contemporary Dance, opened one evening’s dance offerings with her solo presentation on Ahalya, created by Brahma as an experiment in perfection and cursed by her husband Sage Gautama for infidelity when she and god Indra, disguised as Gautama, are discovered. Anita is a strong feminist performing artist who is inspired to interpret shared cultural myths to shift the paradigm of understanding a woman questioning the injustice of women living as a stone and then to become one.

The pulsating grey and gold draped figure of Anita was mesmerizing as she was far more than a lifeless stone but more the Bala Kanda description of remaining invisible for thousands of years, fasting by subsisting only on air, suffering and sleeping in ashes. The woman from the stone emerged first as a mouth, vividly framed inside the dark contours of “stone”. Sandhya Raman’s first-rate costuming of stretch lycra was the perfect modality for a use of the body covered and changing shape immortalized by Alwin Nikolai’s 1953 Noumenon and Martha Graham’s 1930 Lamentation. Milind Srivastava’s lights were a good reminder of how essential lighting is to the performing arts, something often neglected.

The Troth - Usne Kaha Tha, produced by The Akademi, London under executive producer, Mira Kaushik... more The Troth - Usne Kaha Tha, produced by The Akademi, London under executive producer, Mira Kaushik, is just what the “cultural” doctor ordered. Every audience member, whether in India or the U.K., comes out with a paradigm shift in awareness of Indo-British history as well as the aesthetic possibilities of transnational artists and choreography in dance-drama.
The story is a simple human story set in World War I. The classic Hindi short story Usne Kaha Tha (written in 1915 by Chandradhar Sharma Guleri) begins in rural Punjab and moves swiftly to the stark reality of trenches in Belgium where Indian soldiers basically served the Allied Forces as cannon fodder.
This largely invisible chapter of history comes to life through the intensely physical action of the dancers supported by authentic film clips from the British War Archives of training, fighting, living and dying in the sodden trenches. Unless one visits India Gate in New Delhi and takes a close look at the thousands of names inscribed on this First World War and Third Anglo-Afghan War memorial, Indian lives sacrificed are commonly unimagined.
The story begins with the evergreen kahani of a boy, smitten by a beautiful girl in his village who, while drawn to him, marries the suitable boy. Lehna Singh’s 1888 Amritsar line to Leena, “Are you bethrothed?” gets a yes answer on their third encounter and the long trailing silk scarf is the emblem of this engagement.
Without dwelling at length on the emotional impact on Lehna, we move swiftly to ahead the recruitment and eventual war call-up of Indians in Punjab that includes Lehna as well as Leena’s husband and son.
Both amusing and heart rending, the supercilious recruiter dances out the inducements of glory and money to the naive young men. The long legged twists and turns of Daniel Hay-Gordon who also later plays the Sergeant Major and Lt Sahib, communicate the patronizing and arrogant attitude of masterful manipulation.
We time and again have seen Western stories and themes interpreted though Indian dance genres but this was a path-breaking vision of an Indian reality interpreted in contemporary choreography and direction by award-winning choreographer Gary Clarke.
It was an interesting choice by the Akademi to commission one of the UK’s leading independent dance makers to work with a multi-national cast of Indian origin. This juxtaposition offered a clear canvas to paint an interpretation of the story read during Mira Kaushik’s pre-UK student days studying Hindi literature. Having promoted Indian classical and contemporary dance throughout the UK for decades, the UK-India Year of Culture marking 70 years of Indian independence was the Akademi’s opportunity to marshal the international resources needed to mount a well-crafted production worthy of touring around India and the U.K.
The direction and choreography was informed by creative consultants that included National School of Drama, Delhi’s Professors Tripurari Sharma and Ashok Bhagat, poet and literary translator Amarjit Chanda, King’s College Reader Dr Santanu Das and the curator in the Research and Academic Access department at the National Army Museum in London, Jasdeep Singh.
The dancers included both those trained solely in contemporary dance as well as some with strong classical Indian dance backgrounds. Vidya Patel (Leela), a Kathak dancer from Birmingham was a BBC Young Dancer Finalist who brought a gazelle-like quality to the young Leena and tragic passion to the grown woman separated by war from her husband and son in spins of despair.
Subhash Viman Gorania (Lehna Singh) wide dance background began in hip-hop, moved to classical western dance and training in Bharatanatyam and Kathak. He definitely brought his unorthodox and quirky edge to this performance. Deepraj Sing (Wazira), who graduated from the London Contemporary Dance School as the first Duke of York Scholar is known as an explorative urban improviser with beatboxing/vocal percussion skills, all well used as WW1 Punjabi soldier.
Songhay Toldon (Leena’s husband the Subedar) and Dom Coffey ( their son Bodha) both brought solid contemporary dance backgrounds to their top notch performances.
The sequence highlighting their military training took no short cuts in fast-paced physically challenging rigor. The amazing film clips of Indian soldiers practicing Gatka, the Punjabi martial arts training, whirling swords in both hands gave a richer context to the modern boot camp training represented in the choreography.
I would love to see more of the extensive archival films held by London’s National Army Museum, but the prohibitive costs of accessing them make me grateful that the generous sponsorship of two nations made it possible to see the memorable clips included in The Troth.
We have all seen well integrated audio-visual integration with live performance, but the centrality of the film material combined with soldiers letters, Amrita Pritam poetry and translations put together by Josh Hawkins is superb, not to mention the lighting by multitalented Charles Webber tackling the almost impossible task creating excellent lighting on stage while still allowing full screen visibility.
The number of people who contributed creatively to make this all happen is almost over-whelming, from dramaturg Lou Cope to composer Shri Sriram and a long list of an amazing production team who, after the Jaipur Literature Festival inaugural traveled to Delhi and on to Bhopal, Jabalpur, and Kurukshetra. The funders and partners obviously include the Arts Council England and British Council, ICCR and GOI Ministry of Culture and long list ranging from the LaLit Hotels, Air India, to Eastern Eyeand Vivechna Theater Group.
It’s difficult to understand how Amritsar, Chandigarh and other cities of Punjab let the opportunity to host this production slip away, but I hope that means a return tour in the future could be possible after these cities see what they missed.
It will be interesting to hear of the response of British audiences when this is presented in the coming months. I hope it will open new artistic and civil society conversations.

Asian Age

part one ondance scholar Sunil Kothari part 2 on critic Leela Venkataraman and dance photographe... more part one ondance scholar Sunil Kothari part 2 on critic Leela Venkataraman and dance photographer Avinash Pasricha
We all are fascinated by the passions that drive intrepid individuals to risk the uncertainties of lives dedicated to the performing arts, but what of the stories of those passionate about documenting these artists?
Dr. Sunil Kothari’s involvement exploring and sharing his passion for dance as a scholar, critic and author dates back to the 1050’s. He shared his journey along with dance critic/writer Leela Venkataraman and celebrated dance photographer Avinash Pasricha recently as part of a panel discussion organized by Interface Media and Sudhaya in collaboration with the India International Centre, New Delhi. In my last article, I wrote of the impressions shared by Leela-ji and Avinash but was unable to do justice to Sunil-bhai’s story in the space remaining and promised this follow-up.
Sunil Kothari shared his thoughts on dance writing and his transition from a destiny as a chartered accountant as the youngest of 13 children of a Gujarati Bania family to recognition as a world renowned dance scholar. The journey was one of discovering gem after gem along the path as he learned the craftsmanship to construct and share a vision of a beautiful bejeweled mala of aesthetics.

An overview of Bhakti Shringara as expressed in Jayadeva's Geeta Govinda.

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Ramayana in World Art and Thought, edited by Shovana Narayan. Shubhi Publications, Haryana, India, 2024

Devotional Music of India - Spreading Harmony and Peace, edited by Amarendra Khatua and Mandira Ghosh. Shubhi Publications, Haryana, India, 2023

Devotional Music of Judaism in India The Jewish communities of India and their devotional music... more Devotional Music of Judaism in India

Devotional Music of India -Spreading Harmony and Peace, 2023

Contemporary Issues of Sastra in the Classical Dance of Orissa

Panjab University research bulletin: Arts, 1999

Shastric Traditions in Indian Arts , University off Heidelberg, 1989

Gross National Happiness: Practice and Measurement, edited by Dasho Karma Ura and Dorji Penjore, The Centre for Bhutan Studies, 2009

Asian Age , 2019

Asian Age, 2019

Asian Age newspaper and Deccan Chronicle, 2019

Asian Age , 2019

How is Indian classical dance viewed abroad? The place and impact of India’s dance traditions th... more How is Indian classical dance viewed abroad?

Asian Age, 2019

Asian Age

Dance of the Enchantress, a film by Adoor Gopalakrishnan and Brigitte Chataignier I have always... more Dance of the Enchantress, a film by Adoor Gopalakrishnan and Brigitte Chataignier

Without dialogue, the sound landscape of birds and rain in nature, dance music and solkattu in class, courtyard and inner sanctum calms down our inner voices to rest in a more metaphysical serentity.

Asian Age

Indian Masters of the Performing Arts Sangeet Natak Akademi Awards It make me feel something is ... more Indian Masters of the Performing Arts
Sangeet Natak Akademi Awards

Asian Age

The riot of boos and applause that took place in a Paris theatre when Vaslav Nijinsky premiered h... more The riot of boos and applause that took place in a Paris theatre when Vaslav Nijinsky premiered his “The Afternoon of a Faun” in 1912 captured my imagination more than half a century ago. I made it a point to see the production of the almost same name by an Israeli dance/actor during the recent NSD Theatre Olympics Festival. For anyone intrigued by dance history, the genius boarding madness of the greatest ballet dancer of his day and perhaps all time and the extreme response by his audience, seeing this production was pure nectar.
To the lilting strains of Debussy's musical score, Artour Astman performed a breathtaking reconstruction of the ballet. We were privileged to enter a magical space where the iconic drawings and photographs of dance history came alive in a magical moment. It the evening had ended there I would have been content; as they say in Hebrew, dayenu, it would have been enough.
Yet there was more, much more. Artour then "walked" us through a re-enactment describing the import of the movements and gestures. The languid actions became clear as the stretching of half-human, half animal on a tranquil afternoon, eating grapes. The evocative straight elbowed arms outstretched arms diagonally to one side was the yearning for the desired nymph, the intensity amplified by the taunt energy reaching out from the long held pose while balanced high on half toes.
Nijinsky choreographed this 12 minute ballet for Sergei Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes, originally started with artists and choreographers from the Imperial Russian Ballet during their long summer break. Diaghilev entrusted the idea based on a poem by Mallarme to his senior male dancer as an alternative to the regular choreography of Michel Fokine which was getting repetitive.
Claude Debussy's symphonic poem Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune had already been inspired by Mallarme’s poem and is a timeless music composition. The costume and set designer was Leon Bakst who had worked with Meyerhold, one of the seminal forces in modern international theatre experimenting with theater movement and symbolism.
Bakst, Diaghilev and Nijinsky studied the bas relief on vases and frescoes on Greece, Egypt and Assyria at the Louve Museum.The result was a stylized look of a Greek satyr and nymphs that is one of the first modern ballets and extremely controversial. It was performed in bare feet and was openly erotic.
The Le Figaro editor wrote: “This is neither a pretty pastoral nor a work of profound meaning. We are shown a lecherous faun, whose movements are filthy and bestial in their eroticism, and whose gestures are as crude as they are indecent. That is all. And the over explicit miming of this misshapen beast, loathsome when seen full on, but even more loathsome in profile, was greeted with the booing it deserved.”
On the other side, sculptor Auguste Rodin wrote: “Nijinsky has never been so remarkable as in his latest role. No more jumps – nothing but half-conscious animal gestures and poses. He lies down, leans on his elbow, walks with bent knees, draws himself up, advancing and retreating, some-times slowly, sometimes with jerky angular movements. His eyes flicker, he stretches his arms, he opens his hands out flat, the fingers together, and as he turns away his head he continues to express his desire with a deliberate awkwardness that seems natural. Form and meaning are indissolubly wedded in his body, which is totally expressive of the mind within... His beauty is that of antique frescoes and sculptures: he is the ideal model, whom one longs to draw and sculpt”.
It is easy to see what drew Artour Astman to create this deeply personal solo piece riffing off Nijinski’s story exploring the echoes of his own life. He is a superb Russian trained ballet dancer who immigrated to Israel and struggled in both places to find his place as an artist. He is physically beautiful, exuding a virility that is both accentuated and vulnerable in the nearly bare costuming of Nijinsky’s Afternoon of the Faun and the evening of his own life as an artist and man.
What was remarkable was the structure interweaving the two stories in such a way that the audience responded similarly to his performance as they did to Nijinsky’s in 1912. Several audience members walked out during scenes that were too raw and pushed the limits of their sense of decency.
In one scene of his early days working as a striptease dancer to earn a living, Artour drew members of the audience on stage to act as his dancer-mother, the sleazy owner and a female patron. What the audience probably did not realize was that the virtual lying down on the volunteer female patron was a mirror of Nijinsky as the faun lying down in a sexual manner on top of the nymph's veil in the ballet. The police were called in to see the Nijinsky’s ballet because of its alleged obscenity but took no action.
Without doubt, the performance of fragile layers of the past were more explicit that generally seen on the stage in India, but they were never gratuitous and communicated authentically the reality of two extraordinary dancers lives.
Artour Astman ended this autobiographical synthesis with an auction of wearable art he created and sharing the potatoes cooked on stage with the audience who were all more than happy participate in both eating and the auction. Kudos to the Israeli Embassy for bringing this Clip Theater production to India.
PHOTOS: ELI KATZ

Asian Age

It is probably a well known given to anyone reading this that Indian esthetics has long employed... more It is probably a well known given to anyone reading this that Indian esthetics has long employed the metaphor of human love for approaching a comprehension of the divine. You might even be familiar with the types of Nayikas and Nayakas, heroines and heroes, along with their various emotional and physical states outlined in the Natya Shastra and other classical texts on dance, music and theatre.

Perhaps you have not given much thought to how different this is from Western religious traditions. In these, love has been separated into sacred and profane, i.e. human, for a couple millennia with a few notable exceptions such as King Solomon’s Song of Songs in the Old Testament or The Ecstasy of St. Theresa.

The tendency of successive generations to think that they have discovered sex, irrespective of the evidence of their own existence and the planet’s population, along with understanding of Indian philosophies limited to childhood Amar Chitra Katha stories resulted in the astonished reaction to a TEDx talk on Geeta Govinda by students of an institute of technology. They seemed thunderstruck by seeing love in entirely new ways and even wanted advice after the presentation on applying this to their own lives. What I thought of as adding nuance to a shared Indian sub continental cultural understanding was actually revealing this to them for seemingly the first time. I am writing in hopes that you will share this with young adults in your sphere who have missed out philosophies and psychological perspectives that can help them through samskara.

The theme given was “Stories that Shape the World”. Turning to the stories that I am most conversant with in the shaping of cultural identity in India, the one that appealed to me most is Geeta Govinda. The union of Radha and Krishna in Jayadev's Geeta Govinda uses sensuous love as a metaphor for the union of jivatma-paramatma. Since the 12th century Geeta Govinda was sung and danced in Jagganath Puri to inspire divine love through the esthetics of erotic love.

There are many ways to interpret and frame this Lila and this specific text. There is the simple bliss shared by Vaisnav devotees, along with the poet, identifying with Radha and Krishna and the other gopis. Beyond this, I feel the core message is essentially that the ecstasy of union in non-duality is possible only when Radha can rise above the self-centered desire to experience the divine love of Krishna exclusively for herself.

The significance of this highly refined Uttama Nayika acquiring the confidence and wisdom to abandon the envy, anger and pain of self-cherishing ego is paramount, yet can easily be misunderstood to justify unacceptable paternalistic attitudes.

Many dots need to be connected for a general audience to first understand some basics, starting with the fact that love is not simply sex if this is sadly outside their experience. The casual disparagement of heroines wasting their time waiting for unfaithful lovers would make sense if we were looking at a human soap opera starring Diya and Pratap, but displays unfortunate ignorance when applied to a conceptional approach spiritual wisdom via metaphysical love.

Both poetry and artistic interpretation in dance and visual arts definitely use social and cultural images that reflect the times and community values in which they were created. While Krishna stealing the clothes of the bathing gopis symbolizes that one cannot hide anything before God, any boy actually doing this is a voyeur to be punished.

In our modern awareness of harassment, #metoo and criminal “eve-teasing”, audiences unaware of the profundities expressed in the Geeta Govinda and other texts may see only retrograde attitudes in the interactions of Radha with Krishna. The Ratibhava expressed in vipralambha-sringara (separation) and sambhoga sringara (consummation) parallels the reality that we are predominantly separated from ultimate truth/divinity.

It was terribly amusing when my mother’s neighbor, who had hosted me when a family gathering overran our home, said “Sharon left her Indian pornography in the bedroom”. Immediately I smiled, “Oh, that’s where my Barbara Stoller Miller translation of Geeta Govinda disappeared.” This scholarly work on bhakti erotic poetry danced and sung across India from medieval times onward would clearly look more than risqué to a middle aged neighbor in Detroit, Michigan.

Radha existed in texts before Jayadeva, but he is largely considered responsible for establishing her as a preeminent gopi. This poetry was embraced across India during medieval times, notably by Chaitanya and other devotional cults emphasizing erotic mysticism.

The Geeta Govinda opens with, "The sky is overcast by thick clouds. The woodlands are black with tamala trees. This boy Krishna is afraid of the gloom of the night. So, Oh Radha, take him home. Such was the command of Nanda, the herdsman. Thus arose the love of Radha and Krishna who, as they passed through the forest, sported in the bowers on the bank of the Yamuna."

Immediately following this is Das Avatar, the 10 incarnations of Vishnu, the Preserver of the Universe with Buddha preceded by Balram, Krishna’s brother, making Krishna distinct from other avatars of Vishnu. This frames the story as a portrayal of the intimate power of divine culminating in union once Radha has the confidence and wisdom to abandon selfish love.

The Springtime atmosphere conducive for love is then created in asthapadis evoking all the senses- buzzing bees, sandalwood breezes, soft flower petals, flowered bowers, all supporting the eternal/momentary dance of the gopis with Krishna in samsara. The last stanza in each song connects Jayadeva’s words to the audience’s esthetic and religious understanding of the developing erotic relationship of Radha and Krishna.

Some may say Radha would not be uniquely differentiated if individual ego was the cause of separation. I feel that Radha’s individuality offers us, as individuals, the opportunity to identify and experience the joys and pains of her path to celestial union. Krishna cloning himself to dance with all the gopis clearly demonstrates that all have equal access to the divine.

Radha’s jealousy creates the separation as her sakhi goes back and forth to bring the lovers together when Radha waits in her bower rather than going to where Krishna awaits her. After she finally goes to meet him, he keeps her waiting all night as he dallies with another. As a refined Uttama Nayika her response is reflective yet filled with pride fueling anger, suffering and rejection.

In Priye Charusheela, Radha finally understands the complete surrender of self for which Krishna asks,
"Oh Beloved! Virtuous One! Leave Your Pride aside. The Flames Of Passion Burn My Heart; Give Me the Nectar of Your Mouth …Yield To Me! Be Mine Forever! …Place Your Feet, Soft As Tender Leaves, On My Head. Let The Passion That Blazes In Me Like The Sun Burning in Fiery Form In Me with Tormenting love Be Quelled By The Touch Of Your Feet Oh Beloved! Virtuous One!”

All spiritual paths originating in India share a belief that actions in the present life are the seeds of future karmic results and that these are rooted in egoism. The mystical eroticism of Geeta Govinda provides a roadmap toward mokshya. It does not justify human misogyny or negative behavior in the man-woman relationship as the philosophy places all men along with women as the jivatma Radha seeking union with the paramatma Krishna.

A story of Survival, Resilience and Redemption Wir Sind Osterreicher Erwin Traxl (1884-1975) Thos... more A story of Survival, Resilience and Redemption
Wir Sind Osterreicher Erwin Traxl (1884-1975)
Those who enjoy delving into history may still be a bit fuzzy about the breakup of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire and the aftermath effects on the populations of Central and Eastern Europe. The results of the breakup of the multicultural, multilingual Hapsburg Empire on the real politic supporting Hitler's rise are central to the trajectory of this biography. The life experiences of the Austrian Erwin Traxl detail how simply and inexorably one family walks, stumbles and survives rising fascism and identity politics. His personal courage is inspirational for those who value multiculturalism over tribal identity and integrity over exploitation.
Beyond filling in the gaps in our general knowledge of modern history, the imagined internal monologues of Erwin Traxl and the external actions he took based on personal and family values, mirror very current issues facing civil society in large democracies.
The biographer, Shovana Narayan Traxl is a celebrated Kathak exponent and retired senior civil servant. Married to a former Austrian ambassador to India, Herbert Traxl, Shovana has lovingly researched the life and times of her father-in-law, Erwin. With her trans-national sensibilities, she has brought to life the major conflicts of the 20th century from the perspective of a small European German-speaking country. The trajectory expresses the confusions of living in troubled times interspersed with the mundane realities and of daily life.
From 1848 till 1916 Emperor Franz Joseph ruled over 15 nations and 50 million inhabitants. Austrian-Hungarian Army officers were required to give commands in 11 languages besides German. "With the granting of full citizenship rights in 1867 to the Jews, there was a surge of energy that saw the Empire scaling upwards in intellectual, economic, medical, art, architecture and various streams of activities." At the same time, the Emperor demolished the old city fortifications and the Ringstause development included the University, City Hall, Parliament and magnificent buildings, some by Jewish Austrians now permitted to own property.
Using date headings in lieu of chapters, The biography begins on the 28th of June 1914 with the assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie, critical in setting off the chain of events that led to the First World War.
Erwin, aged 30, a trained engineer and artillery lieutenant, was immediately sent to the Russian front, the nation that had supported the Serbian nationalism movement prompting the assassination. The war started a month later and not only ended the Empire, but also the vibrant multicultural, multinational life of Vienna in a suddenly shrunken Austria.
Walther Traxl, Erwin's chemist brother, chafed at his perceived unfairness of unfairness to Austria when Britain wasn't held accountable for the Opium Wars and could have intervened to stop Germany's promised aid to Austria. By the early 1930's Walther was anti a Pan-European Union in favor of National Socialism, a brand of nationalism Erwin called "negative in character as it rejects rationalism, democratic values and human rights".

“To understand what I am saying, you have to believe that dance is something other than techniqu... more “To understand what I am saying, you have to believe that dance is something other than technique. We forget where the movements come from. They are born from life. When you create a new work, the point of departure must be contemporary life…not existing forms of dance”, Pina Bausch (choreographer).
Tripura Kashyap opens her new book, Contemporary Dance – Practices, Paradigms and Practitioners with this quote from not only one of the world’s greatest contemporary dance choreographers but one who shifted perceptions of dance in India for artists and audiences, thanks to the actualized dream of Max Meuller Bhavan’s Dr Georg Lechner. She addresses the historical, theoretical, philosophical and practical considerations of contemporary dance in India. It is readable, thorough and full of practical advice for teachers, performers and anyone interested in a solid overview of its past and present.
In her dance journey, exploring her own movement preferences and themes developed outside the parameters of her Kalakshetra Bharatanatyam training, Tripura also became interested in dance as a form of therapy for people with disabilities. Studying Dance/Movement therapy at the Hancock Centre and Contemporary dance at the University of Wisconsin, Madison she discovered that it was the informal, non-traditional approaches in dance, which helped people, with and without disabilities, to evolve personal styles of expression and communication. With an M.A in Psychology alongside modern and creative dance techniques, Tripura brought Creative Movement Therapy to India in 1990.

Shringara in Classical Indian Dance, 2020

This is one chapter of a volume I edited including chapters by prominent dancer/scholars of other... more This is one chapter of a volume I edited including chapters by prominent dancer/scholars of other classical Indian dance genres
ISBN 9788182903647
Classical Indian aesthetics use human love (Shringar Rasa) as the closest metaphor to approaching an understanding of divine love, and consequently divides and subdivides the nuances and states of love in relation to anticipation, preparation, yearning, waiting, disappointment, betrayal, reconciliation and ultimately, union. The Shringara Rasa theory shared across classical dance genres of India has already been detailed in earlier chapters. This aesthetic philosophy of love imbued with Bhakti, or devotion, is presented to a highly sophisticated and refined degree in the art of Odissi dance and the poetry that inspires it.