Kathak festival in Agra

          Agra: The National Kathak Institute, Lucknow, organised a three-day National Kathak Festival here recently. The most widely performed dance in North India, Kathak is derived from the word 'katha', or story. A unique feature of the dance is the relationship each artist develops with the audience through recitation and descriptive commentary. This tradition dates back over 2000 years to Kathakas, the wandering bards and minstrels, who told and performed mythological stories before village audiences in India. These tales are often taken from the great epics, the Mahabharata and the Ramayana, as well as from the Puranas, especially stories relating to the exploits of Lord Krishna and his hometown of Vrindavan. The striking feature of the program was the "Ghungroo Nritya" and "Sangam", a unique style of Kathak that was a fusion between different styles. Kathak artists attending the event said that the threat posed by the western dance forms is only temporary, and reiterated that Indians have a tendency to return to their roots. "The attraction of our people towards the western culture is only a temporary phase. We Indians can not do away with our culture and classical music. We always tend to return to our culture," said Akanksha Shrivastava, a dancer. According to Pandit Arjun Mishra, a Kathak teacher, who directed "Sangam", the dance form was gaining more popularity in foreign countries than in India. "Kathak is gaining popularity in the country, but it has more fans in the foreign countries. Americans, Russians, Japanese, Africans, everyone loves Kathak. They say that Indian music and dance is the best. I have performed in more than half countries of the world. I have students from 27 - 28 different countries," he said. A number of dance lovers flocked to see the programme. A number of foreigners too praised the dance performances. "We came to this show and discovered Kathak and found it very interesting. We discovered it. We saw Kathak here for the first time and we were impressed by it very much," said Franklin, a French tourist.
- December 24, 2004

Art camp in Gwalior

          Gwalior: A 10-day long National Art Camp is being held in Gwalior. Sculptors and painters from various parts of the country are attending the camp, organised under the aegis of Gwalior Trade Fair Federation. According to the artists, the camp is a god send of sorts, as it serves the purpose of showcasing their talent, which hitherto has largely gone unnoticed. Many of them said that the changing lifestyle of the people was a major contributory factor towards looking at their field in a more positive light. According to Professor Devendra Jain, a painter, the government needs to give a boost to art as was done by royalty in the past. "The Government is paying no attention to this field. Not even a small amount is allotted for arts in the budget. Nowadays, many machines have come, which help the sculptor in giving shape to the stone, thus reducing his work, but these machines are costly and everybody cannot afford to buy them," says nationally acclaimed sculptor Vijay Shinde. "As I have entered this field, I am not going to look back. I would definitely do something substantial. I have my seniors who would guide me. Their guidance and my own industriousness would help me. Challenges are there in every field," said Priyanka Madhu Khare, a fine arts student. The camp concludes on December 25.
- December 24, 2004

Delhi theatre shows signs of revival

          New Delhi: Theatre in Delhi was dying after 1985. But in the last few years, this medium is seeing a revival of sorts. With the entry of theatre festivals like the Bharat Rang Mahotsav, Old World Theatre, Prithvi and Thespo, theatre aficianadoes and participants are unanimous in their view the medium is gaining popularity. From 1985 to 1995, theatre in Delhi reached its nadire with dwindling audiences and lack of good scripts. If we go back to 1985, barring a few good people like Shiela Bhatia, B M Shah, Rajendra Nath and Balraj Pandit, no one was interested in theatre. Between 1995 and 2004, insider see a far more rosy picture. Kirti Jain, a former director of the prestigious National School of Drama, feels that theatre is an ever changing world and the period (1985-1995) was just a temporary one. "We never thought that the industry was dying, it was just a temporary bad phase, which passed by. We were losing our audiences, but have won them back. In fact, I think that it was a very important phase for the industry. We started to introspect, experiment and research, which finally bore us good results," she said. Jain is quite peeved over the treatment given to the industry. "Theatre has been used by everyone, but none of them have ever thought for the welfare of theatre. We even don't have our own space to rehearse, we feel humiliated. We get a "step-motherly treatment. We lack even the basic infrastructure, leave aside the facilities," said she. Theatre professionals are upbeat, but they are not satisfied with the treatment given to the industry. Imran Khan, a known face in the Delhi theatre circle says. "For a decade or two the industry was on slump, but everything is fine now. We have got back our audiences, but the feeling of lack of infrastructure and opportunities is still there," he added. "A major reason for the resurgence of the industry has been the different theatre festivals being held in the city. Old World Theatre Festival, Prithvi, Bharat Rang Mahotsav, Thespo have all added to the industry's health," said Mohammad Zeeshan Ayub, a student of NSD. "Even the Urdu theatre is again coming to life. The city witnessed plays from all over the globe recently, plays were here from Bangladesh, Pakistan, Russia, France, Japan and United Kingdom", he added. Kirti also admitted that the festivals have helped the industry grow.

           The fact that theatre is growing can also be substantiated by looking at the junior level of theatres. Even schools like Modern School, DPS and Ryan International are working on theatres, leave aside the contribution of Delhi University colleges. India Habitat Centre (IHC) has become the hub of the theatre lovers, but the insiders feel that they need places like IHC or even smaller ones in every part of the city. "IHC is in itself a big crowd puller, but we need more IHC's", said Zeeshan. Jain is also of the same opinion. "We need to have theatres all over the city," she said. Imran attributes Bollywood as a key reason for the resurgence of the theatre, but at the same time feels that it is a threat to the theatre industry. "One of the reasons for the upsurge of the theatre is bollywood, but at the same time it is being used as a launch pad to Bollywood by a number of people. Names like Naseeruddin Shah, Shushant Singh, Ashutosh Rana and Dinesh Thakur attract many," he says. "A good number of students at NSD are already packing their bags to move to Mumbai, this is not very good. But there is no other option," said Zeeshan. But Jain doesn't thinks that Bollywood is a threat, "Bollywood is no threat, when we are not providing ample opportunities to them, how are they supposed to survive, every one needs some money to survive. Their move is not totally unjustified." Blame falls on the Corporate Sector from the theatre personalities. "Barring a few festivals like Old World and Thespo, none of our plays get sponsorship. Most of the people in the corporate sector are interested in festivals that attract the elite class. They don't think with a futuristic vision, they don't think on image building, rather they are interested in their immediate gains," complains Kirti. "It is tough to predict the future, but we are going good at the moment, and if a positive policy is adopted, we are certain to sustain the industry and it's audiences," she adds. .
- December 22, 2004

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