Kung Fu Comes to India

Since its premiere in December 2004,The Legend of Kung Fu,a production by the Chinese performing arts producers,China Heaven Creation,has been performed over 4,000 times around the world,including at the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008. Early next year,the show — that consists of a 50-member Chinese martial arts troupe — will tour India,with performances in a number of cities including Delhi,Mumbai and Bengaluru.

The show’s debut in India comes off a collaboration between Arya Carnivals — a company recently put together by entrepreneur Deepak Bahl,with the intention of bringing such live shows from around the world to India — and China Heaven Creation. Through performers that include Kung Fu practitioners,acrobats and dancers,amongst others,The Legend of Kung Fu tells the story of a young boy,Chun Yi (meaning ‘The Pure One’),who is brought to a temple by his mother. He becomes an apprentice to the temple master and eventually,overcoming a number of obstacles along the way,becomes a master himself.

Lesson in Appreciation

As Ranga Shankara,Bengaluru,celebrates its annual festival by bringing to its stage the works of Shakespeare in different languages,it has decided to introduce a theatre and art appreciation course alongside. This course is conceptualised and facilitated by culture critic Sadanand Menon. As part of this,Girish Karnad (in the picture),Ashok Vajpeyi,SG Vasudev,Uday Bhawalkar,Lynne Fernandez,Surupa Sen,Bijayini Satpathy and Anmol Vellani will take participants through the nuances of creation and appreciation of theatre and arts.

In sessions that are highly interactive,the stalwarts present their point of view,videos of their work and the creation process,and engage in discussions with the participants. Menon has designed the course that will be held on November 3-4 and November 9-11. Among others,the participants will watch plays and debate them,and listen to the veterans in various art forms — theatre,movies,dance,music,administration and funding.