Google Street View of Nrityagram
Dance Village
Location:
Nrityagram Dance Village, Bangalore,
Karnataka, India
Website: www.nrityagram.org
Nrityagram is India's first modern
Gurukul (residential school) for Indian classical dances and an intentional
community in the form of a dance village,[2] set up by Odissi dancer Protima
Gauri in 1990. The residential school offers training in Indian classical dance
forms, Odissi, Mohiniattam, Kathak, Bharatnatyam, Kuchipudi, Kathakali and
Manipuri, eight hours a day, six days a week for seven year, following the
ancient Guru-shishya tradition.[3] Designed by Gerard da Cunha, the community
is situated near Hesaraghatta Lake 30 km away from Bangalore.[4] Today the
Nrityagram Dance Ensemble has performed across India, in many countries
abroad.[5][6]
History of Nrityagram Dance Village
Classical Dancers at Nrityagram.
The
word Nrityagram, literally translated, means “dance village,”[7] and in
founder, Protima Gauri's own words,
"It
is a community of dancers in a forsaken place amidst nature. A place where
nothing exists, except dance. A place where you breathe, eat, sleep, dream,
talk, imagine - dance. A place where all the five senses can be refined to
perfection. A place where dancers drop negative qualities such as jealousy,
small-mindedness, greed and malice to embrace their colleagues as sisters and
support each other in their journey towards becoming dancers of merit."
Grounds
and gardens of the Nrityagram following vernacular architecture.
Protima
left Mumbai in 1989 to start the dance village, the land was given on lease by
state government and by 1990 the institution had taken root, inaugurated on May
11, 1990, by the then Prime Minister, V.P. Singh.[8] The building started
coming up soon after, designed by Gerard Da Cunha, following the vernacular
architecture of the region. The Nrityagram Dance Ensemble made its New York
debut in 1996 and received rave reviews.[9]
Lynne
Fernandez a Delhi-based theatre actress and light designer, first came to
Nrityagram in December 1995 to coordinate Surupa Sen's debut and the Nrityagram
ensemble's trip abroad and after Protima suffered a mild heart attack Lynn
became actively involved managing the institution, as Protima gradually
withdrew. Eventually Protima formally handed over Nrityagram to Lynne Fernandez
on July 10, 1997, who became the Managing Trustee of the institution.[10]
Subsequently, in August, Protima Gauri set off on her pilgrimage to Kailash
Mansarovar and it was there that she died in the Malpa landslide, near
Pithoragarh on the night of August 18, 1997.[11] Since then, Nrityagram has grown
in its stature by leaps and bounds and is known today for some of the best
ensemble work in . Perfection in dance along with a high level of good
technical support, leading to a complete presentation, is its trademark. Even
today, gurus and students work in the fields within the Nrityagram, which has
10 acres of land, and grow their own food. Over the years, only Odissi gurukul
has been functional due to paucity of funds.[3]
Buildings in the Nrityagram
Surupa
Sen who first came as a student, debuted in 1995, later became artistic
director of Nrityagram in 1997, and remains to date.[10] Orissa Dance Academy
(ODA) student Bijayini Satpathy who was first student of Nritya gram, is now in
charge of the Odissi gurukul.[12] Some of Nrityagram's few but meritorious
students include, Pavithra Reddy, who has had her solo debut in 2003 and who
will be hopefully seen in some solo pieces on a wider platform very soon. She
has spent almost 12 years as a residential student at Nrityagram, and has
learnt under the tutelage of Surupa Sen and Bijayini Satpathy. Ayona Bhaduri
and Priyambada Patnaik are also students at this gurukul. They both joined
Nrityagram in 1998 and have been a part of the ensemble since 2001.
Vasanta
Habba, a cultural event organised by Nrityagram is known as the classical
Woodstock of India, first started in 1994 by Protima, held on first Saturday of
February every year, and soon it became the famous annual night-long festival
of arts that had 40,000 visitors when it was last held in 2004.[10] When the
2004 tsunami struck, the subsequent 2005 event was cancelled, and community
hasn't been able to regroup since,[3] though it hopes to restart it in
2011.[12]
A
30-minute documentary on the dance village, Nrityagram: For the Love of Dance,
directed and produced by Nan Melville was premiered at the annual Dance on
Camera Festival, in New York City on January 25, 2010 to which dance critic
Alastair Macaulay of the New York Times responded, .."much of the dance
footage, not least during the closing credits, is spellbinding. I wanted the
film to be twice as long." [13]
Nrityagram Dance Ensemble
The
1996 New York debut of the Nrityagram Dance Ensemble, with Surupa Sen, Bijayini
Satpathy, Anitha Nair, Pavithra Reddy and Jaya Mukherjee was called, "one
of the most luminous dance events of the year" by Jennifer Dunning, the
dance critic of the New York Times.[9] After its New York debut, the Nrityagram
Dance Ensemble has performed to sold-out shows in Hawai and Bozeman, USA,
Middle East, Far East and Europe, and in time created a niche for itself in the
world of dance.[8] Today, apart from lead dancer-choreographers, Surupa Sen and
Bijayini Satpathy, Pavitra Reddy, Rasmi Raj and Manasi Tripathy are the other
permanent dancers of the Ensemble, and are accompanied by musicians like Swain
playing the percussion instrument, Mardala, Srinibas Satapathy’s on Bamboo
flute (Bansuri) and Sanjib Kumar Kunda on the violin.[14] Its first full-length
production "Sri - In Search of the Goddess", was premiered in Delhi
in 2001 and in the United States in 2002-2003, to critical acclaim. Since then
it created several productions including, "Ansh", "Sacred
Space" (2005), and "Separation and the Duality of the human
spirit" (2008) [8]
By
2008, the ensemble had made 12 tours of the US, its 2006 production, Vibhakta
(The Division), by Surupa Sen which was performed together by Surupa Sen, the
artistic director, and Bijayini Satpathy was enlisted in the "The Ten Best
Dance Performances of 2008" by dance critic Joan Acocella of the The New
Yorker.[15] and prior to it in February 2008, the Ensemble had the world
premiere of "Pratima: Reflection", at New York, Joyce Theater.[14] It
has also performed at Pittsburgh Dance Council (2002). As of 2010, the ensemble
members included, Surupa Sen, Bijayini Satpathy, Pavithra Reddy, Rasmi Raj and
Manasi Tripathy.[16]
Temple of dedication
Temple at Nrityagram entrance
A
thoughtfully evolved temple (pictured), built in 1998, welcomes people to the
Nrityagram, near Hesaraghatta Lake, it depicts the image of Kelucharan
Mohapatra, guru of founder Protima Bedi in a dancing pose. The caption given
for the picture states:.......Wikipedia>>
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