Event Details

Samanvaya – Kathak by Shama Bhate’s Nadroop
and
The Story of Kuriyedathu Thatri – Mohiniattam by Dr. Neena Prasad & Troupe

An NCPA Presentation

A performer, teacher, choreographer, artistic director and thinker, Shama Bhate’s work spans 50 years. She is the principal disciple of Rohini Bhate, doyen of Kathak, and musician Suresh Talwalkar. She is a winner of numerous awards, including the prestigious Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, Maharashtra Rajya Puraskar and Kundanlal Gangani Award. She is the Director of Nadroop, a Pune-based Kathak institute. Bhate teaches at many state universities and is a member of advisory boards of numerous arts academies of national repute.

Conceived and choreographed by Shama Bhate, Samanvaya is the congruence between traditional values, wisdom and sensitivity, on the one hand, and the modern, technological approach towards life, on the other. One feels as if one is constantly standing at a crossroads of sorts. The presentation depicts the agelessness of classical dance steeped in tradition as well as our values and wisdom that transcend the boundaries of time and space.

Dr. Neena Prasad has trained extensively in Mohiniattam under Kalamandalam Sugandhi and Kalamandalam Kshemavathy. She has a PhD from Rabindra Bharati University, Kolkata and a post-doctoral research fellowship from the AHRB Research Centre for Cross-Cultural Music and Dance Performance, University of Surrey. She has also received Senior Scholarships in Mohiniattam and Bharatanatyam from the Ministry of Culture, Government of India. She is a recipient of the Sangeet Natak Akademi and the Nritya Choodamani awards among others. Dr. Prasad is the Director of Bharatanjali Academy for Indian Dances, Thiruvananthapuram and Sougandhika Centre for Mohiniattam, Chennai.

A powerful choreographic work by Dr. Neena Prasad, ‘The Story of Kuriyedathu Thatri’ was commissioned by the Centre for Indian Classical Dances, New Delhi, under the guidance of former Rajya Sabha MP, Padma Vibhushan Dr. Sonal Mansingh, as part of the “Nritya-Veerangana” series. This production tells the story of Thatri, a woman extraordinary who lived in the 19th century and is a testament to the power of women who challenged the status quo and paved the way for future generations.

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