Classical confluence

The programme will feature a sitar jugalbandi by Ruqiya Khan Deshmukh,the daughter-disciple of Ustad Usmankhansaheb and the famous Malaysian sitarist Kumar Kartigesu. “Even though we have learnt and trained under the same guru,we have grown in different directions and have been influenced by different experiences,” says Kartigesu. “The jugalbandi will be a demonstration of the individual styles we have developed over the years. The performance is special to me because this is where we had started off and where we come back again,enriched with so many influences and experiences,” he adds.

Umesh Shetty,dance instructor at TFA,has his team of five dancers from Australia and Malaysia to perform Bharatnatyam,Kathak and Odissi pieces choreographed by the instructors at TFA. “There is a dialogue between the pure form of art that we have learnt and the cultural influences that affect us as we live in Malaysia or Australia,” says Shetty. “The style of every genre of dance differs even as we travel to different states in India itself. Our psyche,the way we think,the society we live in – every element plays a role in the way we pose in the dance,” he adds. ‘Kadambari’,meaning ‘novel’ in Marathi,was the name given by Swami Shantanand Saraswathi to a folk dance production by the institute. It has stuck on as the title for this cultural programme as well. “We will string together the different items we have learnt and will connect with our roots and the roots of the art we love,” says Shetty.

Kadambari 2012 will be held on January 5 at Kalachhaya Cultural Centre,off Senapati Bapat Road,at 6 pm