SSAI Sanglaap International Women’s Day: Music, Dance and Language in Arksh, Ashtaleela and Ardhanareeswara

THIS EVENT HAS BEEN CANCELLED

CANCELLED

Prachi Saathi and Namrata Mehta (ICCR, India)

Due to unforeseen circumstances, we've had to cancel this event. We hope to reschedule it for later this year. We apologise for any inconvenience caused.

Introduction: Dr Sanjukta Ghosh (SOAS South Asia Institute) on International Women's Day 2020 and SSAI Sanglaap

SSAI celebrates International Women’s Day 2020 based on the theme ‘EachforEqual’ – showcasing women’s struggles against deep-rooted bias in society and culture. Sanglaap, the vernacular forum, welcomes visiting dancers from the state of Maharashtra (Western India) to perform and demonstrate three consecutive acts Arksh, Ashtaleela and Ardhanareeswara to draw out different strands of realism and imagination rooted in one’s inner self that produces conflict, contradictions and asymmetric relations. Artists Namrata Mehta and Prachi Saathi present the classical dance forms of Odissi and Bharatanatyam respectively, as visual arts through movement, music and regional language. Mehta’s Arksh touches on feminine perceptions of the Zodiac and its influence on society through the prism of Odissi dance traditions. Ashtaleela explores the state of the feminine mind that is choreographed and performed by Prachi Saathi through the idiom of Bharata Natyam. The duet will perform a concluding act of Ardhanareeswara showing the need for a gender balance in the universe. They will brief on the changing perceptions of devotional dance and its gendered representation in society and culture.

Summary

Namrata Mehta’s performative theme Arksh meaning stellar or ‘of the stars’ choreographed by Guru Smt. Daksha Masruwala delves into the 12 zodiac symbols of animals and humans that are all too familiar but at the same time draws potential curiosity towards understanding basic instincts. She demonstrates a moving pictorial of empathy between humans and animals, highlighting the traits of each zodiac sign that underpins our imagination of, and (for some) faith in relationships. Namrata is an artist graded by Doordarshan and has been conferred the titles of Sringarmani and Girnar Ratna. She is ICCR empanelled and has recently been awarded the prestigious Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra Yuva Pratibha Puraskar 2017 in Odissi dance.

Prachi Saathi presents Bharatanatyam giving new interpretation and style to the Ashtanayikas – eight romantic archetype of the woman in love. Through the poetry of Surdas, the saint-poet of 16th-century Bhakti movement she recreates the archetypes in a devotional state of mind called Ashtaleela fusing the well-known tale of the romantic Krishna with the Hindi dialect of Braj Bhasha. Mentored by the veteran Rama Vaidyanathan, Saathi’s piece is a distilled result of several years of research and practice.

Prachi has performed for over two decades on many prestigious platforms like the NCPA, Uday Shanker festival, Kala Ghoda festival, ICCR Horizon series, The Fine Arts society-Chembur, Chidambaram Natyanjali Festival among others. She has been awarded titles such as Shringarmani, Nrityashiromani, Nalanda Nritya Nipuna, Girnar Ratna as well as the Sundri Yuva Samrat Puraskar. She is a Graded Doordarshan artist and is also empanelled by the ICCR, having trained under Guru Vaibhav Arekar, Guru Lata Raman and intense advanced training under the tutelage of Sangeet Natak Akademi awardee Smt. Rama Vaidyanathan in the past seven years. She is also a guest lecturer at the Future School of Performing Arts.

Organiser: Dr Sanjukta Ghosh (SOAS South Asia Institute)

Contact email: sg83@soas.ac.uk, ssai@soas.ac.uk

Contact Tel: +44 (0)20 7898 4390