From the Travel Diary
By Meera Balasubramanian Having been associated with Apsaras has given me a number of opportunities to travel around the world and perform in different and prestigious venues. One such tour was the mega India tour where the team Apsaras Arts travelled around India for one whole month and performing in various cities. This was a very special and memorable trip for all of us as we were under one roof for the whole month, where We made a lot of wonderful memories through the entire tour and a month filled with fun, laughter, food and of-course dance. At the end of monsoon season, September is one of the most colourful months in India, with a lot of festivals lined up from Dussera to Diwali. The atmosphere during this period is electric filled with joy. Amidst the high energy atmosphere, we were to perform four thematic dance productions from Apsaras, namely Anjhaasa, Alapadma, Adam Arul Jothi and Ramayana. “Welcome to Bengaluru, ladies and gentlemen” The pilot announced over the PA , I was a bit excited and nervous thinking about my kids back home and while looking forward for the long trip ahead. I set outside the aircraft, the cold September breeze of Bangalore hit me. It was a pleasant weather. The journey from the airport to the guest house bought back a lot of memories from the time I spent in this city of (no-more) gardens. Thanks to our sponsor Mrs Rhama Sankaran for hosting us and making our stay comfortable. Me and my friends were tired from the journey and jet lagged, but we had to get ready immediately for our first performance of our tour. Back from the days I spent in Bangalore, It was always my dream to perform in the prestigious Chowdaiah hall. It turned out to be a wonderful and energetic performance. It was a successful show and encouraging reviews in the local news papers. You get a high and elated feeling after the successful show, clubbed with the excitement of spending time with the gang of girls under a single roof is recipe for fun, happiness and endless banter. It was going to be stressful with all the travel and performances lined up, its essential to manage stress and stay healthy. Our Artistic Director, Mr Arvinth Kumaraswamy had organised yoga sessions to keep balance between mind and body. The early morning yoga sessions helped a lot , to relieve tiredness, infact some of us would be snoring while reaching the end of the session with savasana. Most of the day would be spent on rehearsals and workshops. The rest of the time would be spent on shopping and eating local cuisines at popular food joints across the city. Our second performance was for Shambavi dance theatre run by Ms Vijayanthi Kashi, famous Kuchipudi exponent. This time we performed Adum Arul jothi a thematic margam for a warm bunch of audience who thoroughly enjoyed it. I still remember how an old aunty who was in her late 70s probably, came on to the stage to shower her praises and blessings on us.
Virtual Events
On August 7th Artistic Director, Aravinth Kumarasamy participated in a panel discussion by Aalaap Concepts named “Dance in the Now : Episode 3 Context of Curation.” The discussion centred on the idea of curation and the way online medium and technology affects curation of festival and events and the guiding principles of curation during the pandemic and beyond. Four Dance Curators across the globe, namely, Amrita Lahiri, Aravinth Kumarasamy, Manjot Chawla, Sahasra Sambamoorthi all shared insightful views on some of the current trends they have observed online and how digital curation is likely to be key for most venues in the coming year. Watch their conversation here ; Click here On August 8th, Apsaras Arts was featured on Television (in Tamil & English) as recipient of the inaugural Stewards of Intangible Cultural Heritage Award. This award was conferred by National Heritage Board, Singapore in June 2020. Watch the telecast here : Click here On August 8th and 9th, in celebration of Singapore’s 55th National Day Apsaras Arts team celebrated by participating in Marine Parade Cluster’s e-NDP programs, showcasing the diversity of the cultures at Singapore. Apsaras Arts Dance company and academy students performed Bhartanatyam, Kathak and Odissi pure dance sequences in this widely watched community event premiered over the National Day weekend on marine Parade Cluster’s Face book page. Click here Apsaras Arts also celebrated through a dance video featuring multicultural dancers who unite through the language of classical dance movements and wishes Singapore a Happy National Day. Watch this video : Click here On August 11th, on the auspicious occasion of Lord Krishna’s birth anniversary, Apsaras Arts Academy released a series of digital performance videos featuring students in celebration of “Krishna Janmashtami. This thematic event witnesses the dance performances in three forms- Kathak, Bharatnatyama and Odissi. Watch the concert here : Click here
From the Bookshelf
The Kandyan Dance, as it is popularly known, is a complete art form, refined and polished in the field of pure Dance (‘Nrttya’) and with a highly developed system of ‘Talaya’ (beat). It is aesthetically appealing and has won renown throughout the world as the classical dance of Sri Lanka. The cultural heritage of Sri Lanka is second to none in the world and has been sustained throughout the centuries by this resplendent dance of the Hill Country, generally referred to as the Kandyan Dance. The name Kandyan Dance consists of four distinct types – the Ves, Naiyandi, Pantheru and Uddakki. However, the term ‘Kandyan Dance’ has now come to be associated with the ‘Ves’ Dancer in his full regalia. Therefore to know about the Kandyan Dance one has to go back to one of the most ancient Folk ceremonies of Sri Lanka, the elaborate ritual known as the Kohomba Yak-Kankariya or the Kohomba Kankariya. It is the Kankariya that has given us the classical Kandyan Dance. Through a period of 2,400 years, the Kandyan Dance has acquired a refined dignity and an individuality that has become the wonder of the world.
Digital Screening of “Anjasa- Unravel the Wonders of Buddhist Monuments”
From 23rd July to 31st July “Añjasa”- Unravel the Wonders of Buddhist Monuments” was screened on SISTIC Live for viewers across the globe. Apsaras Arts production – Añjasa (pronounced as “Anyasa”) refers to “The Path” in Pali, the classical language of Buddhism explores the beauty of Buddhist temple architectures. The production takes the audience on a journey through monuments including Mahadevi Temple in Nepal, Bodhgaya Mahabodhi Temple and Sanchi Stupa in India, Vattadage in Sri Lanka, Shwedagon Pagoda in Myanmar, Bayon in Cambodia, Borobudur in Indonesia and Wat Pho in Thailand. The production also highlights the contributions of Buddhist emperors, Asoka and Jayavarman VII who were iconic in the spread of Buddhism across Asia. This dance production features company dancers from Apsaras Arts and a unique musical orchestra with music composed by an array of Singaporean artistes including Aravinth Kumarasamy who composed the score which comprised both classical Indian and Chinese instruments including the Er Hu, Yang Qin. The costumes and set design have been inspired by Buddhist iconography using color schemes of gold, saffron and red as found in Buddhist robes from India and Southeast Asia. Añjasa premiered in Singapore in January 2015 at Victoria Theatre and has toured to London, Liverpool, Manchester, Bangalore, Chennai, Colombo, Kuala Lumpur and Sydney. This digital screening is filmed at Nelum Pokuna Mahinda Raja Paksha Auditorium on 7th March 2017 presented by Ministry of Culture, Srilanka supported by National Arts Council, Singapore. Watch the dancers share their experience of the tour : Click here to watch This particular production and its show in Colombo bear special significance for the team at Apsaras Arts as it was the last production that Neila Mami blessed, as she breathed her last that same night. Watch Aravinth recall the memories of this Production : Click here To promote this digital screening, 3 unique talks were organized to showcase difference aspects of this production. On the eve of the screening, Directors’ Circle was launched. This is a new initiative that brings together behind-the-scenes insights from the people who created the production in a roundtable discussion. For this inaugural edition, Dancer-Choreographer Rama Vaidyanathan hosted Aravinth Kumarasamy (who created the concept, directed and composed the music), Mohanapriyan Thavarajah (who choreographed the dance sequences & designed the costumes) and Stanley Ang (who performed the Chinese instrument, Yang Qin). During this talk, they shared many details of their conceptualization and both Mohanapriyan and Stanley performed unique excerpts and shared the working philosophy and the research undertaken to depict the different elements of Buddhist architecture. Watch their conversation: Click here This was followed by an exclusive spotlight session with eminent heritage experts – Dr Chithra Madhavan (India), Mr Peter Lee (Singapore) moderated by Mrs Tara Dhar Hasnain (Singapore) on 4 specific Buddhist monuments – Sanchi, Pollorunuwa, Bayon & Borobudur. Here, they delved deep into the historic time period and the impact of these monuments to both the local environment and the composite identities that evolved over the centuries. This session was highly anticipated and we had over 70 attendees in a closed session. Finally, we organized a youth-oriented talk under our banner, Cultural Conversations with a session called “Tamils’ Routes in Southeast Asia.”. For the first time, this was bilingual talk in Tamil & English featuring 4 young Tamils – Harini Vee, Vinita Ramani, Seema Hari Kumar and Mohanapriyan Thavarajah who engaged and explore Tamil identity, historical routes within their roots as citizens of South East Asia. This talk allowed for open discussion on navigating fresh identities while taking cognizance of native Indian identity and layered local identities. The speakers spoke about the impact of classical India on South East Asia and how passing this on to future generations will always call for reflection and understanding of the past ideologies help appreciate and strengthen our appreciation of Tamil roots and heritage. Watch this Culture Conversation here : Click here A unique online Art Challenge was organised to garner interest in the production and the Buddhist monuments. Many young artistes participated in the junior’s category and used this opportunity to research and explore different artistic methods to recreate the monuments in charcoal, digital art, pencil work. The most popular monuments were Sanchi and Borobudur. The winners of the final round received Amazon cash vouchers and an opportunity for their artwork to be featured as part of Añjasa’s overseas tours in coming years. The many who watched this screening praised the performance and the splendour of the work created.
Review Corner August 2020 (Virtual Events)
July-August has been an eventful month with the release of several digital productions supported by OurSGFund and Digital Grants by National Arts Council. Here is a sneak peek into select few beautiful locally produced creations that we highly recommend as must-watch: Stop & Smell the Roses by Maya Dance Theatre, Ripples by SIFAS and Crocodile Tears by Bhaskar’s Arts Academy. Stop & Smell the Roses By Maya Dance Theatre Stop & Smell the Roses was premiered by Maya Dance Theatre on August 10th as a screen dance performance. Conceived and created during the Covid-19 Circuit Breaker period, the project brought the stories of 17 dancers together in a dance production created, rehearsed and filmed independently from their own homes! Stop & Smell the Roses exposes the irony of our relationship with time. In our constant searching for material bounty, we negate the one thing that is limited …. Time! Artistic Director, Kavitha Krishnan, in her post production talk during a soft launch virtual event said about her own personal reflection that “Change is constant. We should not keep catching up with time, we need to slow down.” “It’s only when the whole world shuts down and we are forced into temporary lock down that we realise its true value. Do we feel restless when presented with an abundance of time? Imprisoned in a cell? Bored in the house? Or do we indulge in this newfound luxury to stop and smell the roses?” Artistic Director, Kavitha Krishnan partnered with Sharin Johry on the concept choreography and movement direction for frames, on this production. Credits: Creative Producer: Imran Manaff Music: Kailin Yong with Bharathanatyam vocal nattuvangam by Ajith Bhaskaran Das (Malaysia) and voice/music by Peni Candrarini (Indonesia) Screen dance direction by film maker/multimedia artist Yahssir M. Poetry by Aishwarya Prithviraj Poetry recitation by Ashwarya Prithiviraj, Kavitha Krishnan, Shahrin Johry Post production by Millennia Motion Pictures Watch SASTR : https://youtu.be/9QsbIP07MtU Ripples in a Storm: Reflections By Singapore Indian Fine Arts Society On August 8th, in celebration of Singapore’s 55th National Day, Singapore Indian Fine Arts Society released a music-video that reflects on how far we’ve come, unified as a community of people battling against the pandemic. SIFAS presented this Music-Dance collaboration by bringing together artistes from Singapore’s dance institutions (SIFAS, Bhaskar’s Arts Academy, Bharathaa Arts and Temple Of Fine Arts) in this youth-led collaboration. Credits: Artistic direction and choreography (Bharatanatyam & Contemporary) by Sheejith Krishna, Music composed, produced and arranged by Dr Rajkumar Bharathi and Sai Shravanam, Kathak choreography by Aamrapali Bhandari, this video features representatives of 4 organisations: SIFAS, Bhaskar’s Arts Academy, Bharathaa Arts and Temple Of Fine Arts Singapore. Watch Ripples : https://youtu.be/cQyo8pRUGWM Crocodile Tears By Bhaskar’s Arts Academy Based on a familiar tale from the Panchatantra fables, Bhaskars Arts Academy dancers created a digital production enacting three characters of a monkey and a family of crocodile dedicated to children. This production is supported by the National Arts council funds and features company dancers Bala Saravanan Loganathan, S Hemalatha and Nandhini Sathasivam Video editing credits: Soneiya Sony. Watch the Crocodile Tears: https://youtu.be/EDtilVZFxGg