Nrityagram
Encyclopedia
Nrityagram is India's first modern Gurukul
(residential school) for Indian classical dances and an intentional community
in the form of a dance village, set up by Odissi
danseuse 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
. Designed by Gerard Da Cunha, the community is situated near Hesaraghatta Lake
30 km away from Bangalore
. Today the Nrityagram Dance Ensemble has performed across India, in many countries abroad.
The word Nrityagram, literally translated, means “dance village,” and in founder, Protima Gauri's own words,
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. 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.
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. 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. 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.
Surupa Sen who first came as a student, debuted in 1995, later became artistic director of Nrityagram in 1997, and remains to date. Orissa Dance Academy (ODA) student Bijayini Satpathy who was first student of Nritya gram, is now in charge of the Odissi gurukul. 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. When the 2004 tsunami struck, the subsequent 2005 event was cancelled, and community hasn't been able to regroup since, though it hopes to restart it in 2011.
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."
, the dance critic of the New York Times. 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. 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. 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)
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
. and prior to it in February 2008, the Ensemble had the world premiere of "Pratima: Reflection", at New York
, Joyce Theater
. 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.
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:
Gurukul
A gurukul is a type of school in India, residential in nature, with shishyas living in proximity to the guru, often within the same house...
(residential school) for Indian classical dances and an intentional community
Intentional community
An intentional community is a planned residential community designed to have a much higher degree of teamwork than other communities. The members of an intentional community typically hold a common social, political, religious, or spiritual vision and often follow an alternative lifestyle. They...
in the form of a dance village, set up by Odissi
Odissi
Odissi, also spelled Orissi , is one of the eight classical dance forms of India. It originates from the state of Orissa, in eastern India. It is the oldest surviving dance form of India on the basis of archaeological evidences. The classic treatise of Indian dance, Natya Shastra, refers to it as...
danseuse Protima Gauri in 1990. The residential school offers training in Indian classical dance forms, Odissi
Odissi
Odissi, also spelled Orissi , is one of the eight classical dance forms of India. It originates from the state of Orissa, in eastern India. It is the oldest surviving dance form of India on the basis of archaeological evidences. The classic treatise of Indian dance, Natya Shastra, refers to it as...
, Mohiniattam, Kathak
Kathak
Kathak is one of the eight forms of Indian classical dances, originated from Uttar Pradesh, India. This dance form traces its origins to the nomadic bards of ancient northern India, known as Kathaks, or storytellers...
, Bharatnatyam, Kuchipudi
Kuchipudi
Kuchipudi is a Classical Indian dance form Andhra Pradesh, India. It is also popular all over South India. Kuchipudi is the name of a village in the Divi Taluka of Krishna district that borders the Bay of Bengal and with resident Brahmins practicing this traditional dance form, it acquired the...
, Kathakali
Kathakali
Kathakali is a highly stylized classical Indian dance-drama noted for the attractive make-up of characters, elaborate costumes, detailed gestures and well-defined body movements presented in tune with the anchor playback music and complementary percussion...
and Manipuri
Manipuri dance
Manipuri dance is one of the major Indian classical dance forms. It originates from Manipur, a state in north-eastern India on the border with Myanmar . In Manipur, surrounded by mountains and geographically isolated at the meeting point of the orient and mainland India, the form developed its own...
, eight hours a day, six days a week for seven year, following the ancient Guru-shishya tradition
Guru-shishya tradition
The guru-shishya tradition, lineage, or parampara, denotes a succession of teachers and disciples in traditional Indian culture and religions such as Hinduism, Sikhism, Jainism and Buddhism. It is the tradition of spiritual relationship and mentoring where teachings are transmitted from a guru...
. Designed by Gerard Da Cunha, the community is situated near Hesaraghatta Lake
Hesaraghatta Lake
Hesaraghatta Lake ' is a manmade reservoir located 18 km to the north-west of Bangalore in Karnataka state, India. It is a fresh water lake created in the year 1894 across the Arkavathy River to meet the drinking water needs of the city. Sir K. Seshadri Iyer, the then Dewan of erstwhile...
30 km away from Bangalore
Bangalore
Bengaluru , formerly called Bengaluru is the capital of the Indian state of Karnataka. Bangalore is nicknamed the Garden City and was once called a pensioner's paradise. Located on the Deccan Plateau in the south-eastern part of Karnataka, Bangalore is India's third most populous city and...
. Today the Nrityagram Dance Ensemble has performed across India, in many countries abroad.
History
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. The building started coming up soon after, designed by Gerard Da Cunha, following the vernacular architecture
Indian vernacular architecture
Indian vernacular architecture is the informal, functional architecture of structures, often in rural areas of India, built of local materials and designed to meet the needs of the local people...
of the region. The Nrityagram Dance Ensemble made its New York debut in 1996 and received rave reviews.
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. Subsequently, in August, Protima Gauri set off on her pilgrimage to Kailash Mansarovar and it was there that she died in the Malpa landslide
Malpa landslide
Malpa landslide was one of worst landslides in India.On 11 and 17 August 1998 at village Malpa in Uttarkhand state about 380 people were killed when massive landslides washed away the entire village...
, near Pithoragarh
Pithoragarh
Pithoragarh, is a city with a Municipal Board in the Pithoragarh district in the Indian state of Uttarakhand, was carved out of district of Almora in 1962.-Geography:...
on the night of August 18, 1997. 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.
Surupa Sen who first came as a student, debuted in 1995, later became artistic director of Nrityagram in 1997, and remains to date. Orissa Dance Academy (ODA) student Bijayini Satpathy who was first student of Nritya gram, is now in charge of the Odissi gurukul. 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
Vasanta Habba
Vasanta Habba , which means spring festival in the Kannada language, is a cultural festival organised by the Nrityagram foundation in the city of Bangalore, India. It is a very popular event and is considered the classical Woodstock of India. This festival, first held in the year 1990, was the...
, a cultural event organised by Nrityagram is known as the classical Woodstock of India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, 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. When the 2004 tsunami struck, the subsequent 2005 event was cancelled, and community hasn't been able to regroup since, though it hopes to restart it in 2011.
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
Alastair Macaulay
Alastair Macaulay is a dance critic for the New York Times. He was previously chief dance critic at The Times Literary Supplement and chief theater critic of the Financial Times, both of London...
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."
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 DunningJennifer Dunning
Jennifer Dunning is a writer and critic for the New York Times on the subjects of dance and ballet. She is the author of the 1985 But First a School: The First Fifty Years of the School of American Ballet, the 1996 Alvin Ailey, a Life in Dance and the 1997 Great Performances: A...
, the dance critic of the New York Times. 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. 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
Bamboo flute
Flutes made of bamboo are found in many musical traditions.Some bamboo flutes include:Flute Country of Origin Atenteben Bashi Bansuri Chi Dizi Daegeum...
(Bansuri
Bansuri
The bansuri is a transverse alto flute of Bangladesh, India and Nepal made from a single hollow shaft of bamboo with six or seven finger holes. An ancient musical instrument associated with cowherds and the pastoral tradition, it is intimately linked to the love story of Krishna and Radha, and is...
) and Sanjib Kumar Kunda on the violin. 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)
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
Joan Acocella
Joan B. Acocella is an American journalist who is the dance and book critic for The New Yorker. She has written several books on dance, literature, and psychology....
of the The New Yorker
The New Yorker
The New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
. and prior to it in February 2008, the Ensemble had the world premiere of "Pratima: Reflection", at New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, Joyce Theater
Joyce Theater
The Joyce Theater is a 472-seat dance performance venue located in the Chelsea area of the borough of Manhattan in New York City. The Joyce Theater Foundation, the organization founded in 1982 that operates the theater, also owns the Joyce SoHo dance center located in a former firehouse on Mercer...
. It has also performed at Pittsburgh Dance Council
Pittsburgh Dance Council
Pittsburgh Dance Council was established in 2002 as a programming division of . The programming mission of Pittsburgh Dance Council is to bring the best of contemporary dance from around the world to the Downtown Pittsburgh Cultural District stages....
(2002). As of 2010, the ensemble members included, Surupa Sen, Bijayini Satpathy, Pavithra Reddy, Rasmi Raj and Manasi Tripathy.
Temple of dedication
Hesaraghatta Lake
Hesaraghatta Lake ' is a manmade reservoir located 18 km to the north-west of Bangalore in Karnataka state, India. It is a fresh water lake created in the year 1894 across the Arkavathy River to meet the drinking water needs of the city. Sir K. Seshadri Iyer, the then Dewan of erstwhile...
, it depicts the image of Kelucharan Mohapatra
Kelucharan Mohapatra
Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra was an Indian classical dancer, guru and proponent of Odissi dance, who is credited for the revival of the classical dance form in the 20th century....
, guru of founder Protima Bedi in a dancing pose. The caption given for the picture states:
Temple at Nrityagram. Fashioned from the raw mud of Nrityagram and fired after it was built, the temple is dedicated to space. It is decorated with panels depicting the elements, dance motifs, mudras and designs from costumes and ghungroos. Inside is a granite rock scooped out to hold water and a flame that stays lit.