 Women are from Venus
The British Council presents
'Women are from Venus', a dance performance by UK-based company, Srishti, on
Thursday 20 January 2005 at the British Council in Chennai.
Nina Rajarani, founder-director
of Srishti, has teamed up with Mavin Khoo, guest choreographer, who is known for
his combination of extremely classical with blatantly contemporary dance, to
present two contrasting works in 'Women are from Venus'.
Shringara is a solo created for
Nina Rajarani and four musicians. In this work, Mavin Khoo challenges the
precincts set within the traditional Bharatanatyam solo. The mood of the work
aims to explore a starkness that is far removed from the devotional romanticism
often linked with Indian classical dance. With an emphasis on a more theatrical
sense of narrative, Mavin seeks to propel the orthodoxy of the Bharatanatyam
experience and its contained 'spiritual' tone.
Shukra is a 30-minute ensemble
piece performed by four male dancers, one female dancer and four musicians. This
work looks at the personification of the planet Venus as the guru of the
antigods according to Hindu Mythology. However, an embodiment of the finer
things in life, he governs the refined attributes, including art, music and
dance. By using four male dancers alongside one female, Mavin Khoo hopes to
challenge gender expectations in Bharatanatyam. He also seeks to change the idea
usually associated with ensemble narrative work in Bharatanatyam, whereby
dancers play/dance roles (dance drama aesthetic). Here he hopes to create a more
abstract form of narration whilst challenging the dancers by providing them with
an unconventional use of space and formation, designed more with asymmetry as
opposed to the more symmetrical classical aesthetic.
Passes for the performance are
available at the British Council on a first-come-first-served basis.
Nina Rajarani - Artistic
Director: Nina Rajarani trained in Bharatnatyam under Prakash Yadagudde at
Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan's London branch, during which time she also had
additional training with Chitra Visweswaran in Chennai during her visits to
London. Since 1988, Nina has received training regularly in Chennai under
Shantha and V P Dhananjeyan. Nina's dance style today is unique in its
assimilation of the best qualities from each of the different traditions
followed by the gurus with whom she has trained.
Srishti, Nina's professional
dance company, was formed in 1995 with an aim to adhere to the authenticity of
classical forms, but to be innovative in its presentation. With several dance
production tours to her credit, Nina is now closely involved with a committee of
dance teachers that has devised a syllabus for Bharatnatyam with graded
examinations. These examinations are being conducted by the Imperial Society of
Teachers of Dancing (ISTD) that runs exams worldwide for various dance styles
including Ballet, Tap and so on. Nina is currently the secretary of the South
Asian Dance Faculty of the ISTD and is also a Bharatnatyam examiner for the ISTD.
Mavin Khoo - Choreographer:
Malaysian-born Mavin Khoo studied Bharatnatyam in India with Guru Adyar K
Lakshman, Contemporary Dance at the Merce Cunningham Studio in New York and
Ballet with Marian StClaire in London, where he has lived and worked for several
years. He has performed in collaboration with Wayne McGregor, Akram Khan and
Christopher Bannerman and also worked with Sankalpam, Random and Shobana
Jeyasingh dance companies and toured internationally as a soloist. He has
choreographed for National Youth Dance Company and London Studio Centre.
His TV work includes pieces for
JTV India and Channel 4 and he choreographed for the BBC2 TV Asian Achievement
Awards in 2002. In 2003, his company Mavin Khoo Dance launched its first
national tour with Parallel Passions, co-commissioned by Sampad Birmingham,
Royal Opera House ROH2 and Arts Council of England, to music ranging from
traditional Carnatic to Bach and Madonna.
Rajkumar Bharati - Composer:
Rajkumar Bharati was initiated into music by his mother, Lalitha Bharathi, at
the tender age of five. Later on, the great musician Sri Valliyur Gurumurthi,
the stalwart M Balamuralikrishna and the musical maestro TV Gopalakrishnan
groomed him.
Rajkumar has been composing
music for many years and was nominated for the prestigious Lester Horton Dance
Award for Outstanding Achievement in Composing Music for Creation Myth (US). He
has composed for several other dance companies including Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan
(UK). He has also worked with Srishti for two of their earlier projects.
Aadith Narayan - Dancer: Based
in Chennai, Aadith was initiated into dance by the Aravindans of Koothambalam.
He has also had the privilege of training in Kuchipudi under Guru Vempati Chinna
Satyam and has performed in several of his dance ballets. Aadith is also a
skilled Nattuvangam artist and has accompanied several senior dancers like
Vyjayanthimala Bali and Chitra Visweswaran. He has performed in India and
abroad. He has been awarded the Yuva Kala Bharathi, an all-rounder title for
Bharatnatyam, Choreography and Nattuvangam from Bharat Kalachar in 2001-02 and
Vasanthalakshmi Narasimhachari Endowment Award from Narada Gana Sabha in 2004.
S Sivakumar - Dancer: With
initial training under Guru Chandra Dandayuthapani Pillai, he is now under the
expert guidance of Gurus Narasimhachari and Vasanthalakshmi. He toured the US
during May and September 2004 for performing dance ballets called Landscape of
Emotions and Gajamukha. He has also successfully held workshops and lecture
demonstrations in India and abroad. He has received best dancer award from
Natyakalayalam of Delhi and also from Nrithyopasana, Chennai. He runs a school
of fine arts, Shivakalalayam, in Chennai.
Dr Seshadri Iyengar - Dancer-
Dr Iyengar is a professional Bharatnatyam dancer, Homeopathic Physician, Aerobic
and Yogercise instructor based in Bangalore. He is a student of Guru Padmini
Ravi -- Vazhuvoor School of Dance. Dr Iyengar has toured India and abroad as
performer, choreographer and teacher. He gives training in Yogercise - a
complete mind and body fitness programme using the techniques of classical
dance, martial arts, yoga and folk dance.
R Vasudev - Dancer: Vasudev
began his early training under Guru Kiran Subramanyam and Sandhya Kiran at their
institute, Rasika. He has taken part in many performances organised by Karnataka
Chitrakala Parishad, Khajuraho Dance Festival, 29th Year Celebrations of Spirit
of Unity concerts in Chennai and in several temples in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
He has recently been awarded the title Kalaichurangam by Gana Narthana Kalai
Mandram.
Y Yadavan - Carnatic Vocal:
Yadavan trained from a very young age in Sri Lanka and to further his musical
aspirations, Yadavan came to India where he studied under B Rajam Iyer in
Chennai. He won the GNB Memorial Award for the Best Male Vocalist in 1999, Music
Academy annual competitions and also received as many as nine awards in the same
year. Yadavan has provided vocal support for many dance performances and
arangetrams world-wide. Yadavan has been employed by Srishti since 2002, has
toured with the company consistently and has been involved in all its
educational initiatives.
E Haridoss - Nadhaswaram: based
in Kancheepuram, Haridoss comes from a family of well-known Nadhaswara Vidwans.
He was groomed by his father, Thiruppulivanam B Ethirajan, from an early age and
started playing at the age of ten. He has performed all over India. Haridoss won
the Shaik Chinna Moulana endowment award for best performance by the Music
Academy, Chennai in 2001-2002 among many other awards. He has been conferred
titles of 'Nadhaswara Ratnakaram', 'Nadha Svarupa Mamani' and 'Ezhu Svara
Innisai Vendar'
M S Kannan - Mridangam: Kannan
hails from a family of musicians. His father Madurai T Srinivasan, is one of the
leading mridangam vidwans and music composers. Kannan is a disciple of Kandadevi
Chellam Iyengar and had advanced training under the tutelage of Vidwan C N
Chandrasekar. He has performed extensively in India and abroad as part of
orchestra1 ensembles of leading dance companies. He has had the opportunity to
work with Pandit Vijaya Raghava Rao on the Jungle Book Production by the
Cleveland Cultural Alliance, US.
R Karthikeyan - Mridangam: In
addition to playing the mridangam, Karthikeyan has training in various other
South Indian percussion instruments such as morsing, ghatam and ganjira. He has
toured extensively worldwide as a member of several dance companies and has
toured with Srishti for its last two productions.
Michael Mannion - Lighting
Designer: Michael is a partner in the lighting consultancy, Eye for Detail,
which produces designs for architecture, theatre, dance and film. Within the
dance field in the UK, he has designed for Rambert Dance Company, The Royal
Ballet, Akram Khan, Mavin Khoo, The Candoco, the National Youth Dance Company
among many others. He has also designed lights for several companies abroad. He
has designed for Srishti's last two productions.
Belinda Ackermann - Costume
Designer: Belinda has been resident designer at the Haymarket Leicester and
Bristol Old Vic, as well as head of design at Derby Playhouse. Since 1987 as a
freelance designer, she has worked extensively in theatre, dance and film and
has taught on a part time basis at Goldsmith University and Central St Martins
School of Art where she trained. In dance she has worked with Shobana Jeysingh
Dance Company, Imlata, Yolanda Snaith Dance among many others. She designed the
costumes for Srishti's last production as well.
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