The term ashtakam is derived from the Sanskrit word aṣṭā, meaning ‘eight’. In context of poetic compositions, ashtakam refers to a particular form of poetry, written in eight stanzas. The conventions associated with the ashtakam have evolved over its literary history of more than 2500 years. Adi Shankaracharya was an 8th-century Indian Vedic scholar and […]Read More
Tags : Sandip Soparrkar
Hyderabad celebrated the Pride Month with utmost Pride- with a festival called Dragvati – a Queer Dance Festival which had dancers and other artists, all dressed in drag from the LGBTQIA+ community descend on stage and celebrate their identity through Dragvanti. I spoke with Patruni Chidananda Sastry, founder of Dragvanti about the unique festival that […]Read More
Most of us love to dance or have a secret desire to dance like Hrithik Roshan or Madhuri Dixit, but have you ever given a thought that ‘Who is a dancer?’ In its simplest form, dancer is someone who moves their body to the rhythm of music, sounds or just a pulse inside them. This […]Read More
Vidushi Geeta Chandran is synonymous with Bharatanatyam the classical dance that she has practised for decades since her journey began at the age of five under the tutelage of her first Guru Swarna Saraswati who hailed from the traditional Daasi Parampara. Since then, her dance voyage has embraced intense learning under several stalwart gurus. Yet, […]Read More
‘Forbidden’ by Aditi Mangaldas beautifully portrays female sexual desires
Dancers are said to be ‘The window to the society’, it is their moral responsibility to show what is happening, what is not happening, what can be spoken or what cannot be spoken. Kathak exponent Aditi Mangaldas is one such artist who from the start of her illustrious dance career has been speaking of the […]Read More
Renowned Mohini Attam dancer, Padma Bhushan, Padmashree awardee Dr Kanak Rele died at the at age of 85 few days back. She was honored a state funeral at Vile Parle Crematorium in Mumbai. The consummate artist had an illustrious career spanning over six decades and was founder director of Nalanda Dance institute center in Mumbai. […]Read More
People, often ask me why do you dance? My answer is simple “Why not?” but today let me try and dwell more into it and make an attempt to explain the reasons, why do people dance? Honestly the happiness that we find in dance cannot be explained in words – it actually has to be […]Read More
Mumbai dance lovers recently saw a very beautifully conceptualised dance show choreographed by two very talented dancer-choreographers from the city – Odissi exponent Daksha Mashruwala and Bharatnatyam exponent Anusree Bonnerjee with writer-poet Sudipta Dhruva and singer-music composer Kaustuv Kanti Ganguli. This collaborative dance venture, a brilliantly put together show was titled Petal Stories. The 45-min […]Read More
We all have heard myriad stories about lord Ram, seen it in a form of drama or dance or even both, but at the recently held Ramotsav by Padma Vibhushan Dr Sonal Mansingh in the capital RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat said, “I have seen Many Ram Kathas, but this one by Sonal ji was totally […]Read More
The maharaas between Lord Krishna and the Gopis has often been showcased by dancers in a very happy, playful and cheerful way but renowned Kathak dancer, singer and art motivator Alaknanda recently brought an erotic and exotic look to the raas through her show. Nrityashri Alaknanda is well-known in the world of dance. She has […]Read More