The December Season is not all about just evening concerts. It has an academic side too. The lecture-demonstrations by senior artistes and scholars in the mornings, are held to reach out to students and rasikas towards arts appreciation.
Three of the sabhas - Krishna Gana Sabha, Kartik Fine Arts and Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan present lec-dems exclusively on dance.
And kicking off in the first week of December was Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan with its seminar 'Nritta Makarandam'. Convened by art critic Nandini Ramani and dancer Parvathi Ravi Ghantasala, the lec-dems were presented by Bharatanatyam gurus Radha, Adyar Lakshman, Kalamandalam Kshemavathy (on Mohiniattam), Aruna Mohanty (from Bhuvaneshwar on Odissi), Sharodi Saikia (from Guwhati on Sattriya).
The Natya Kala Conference, convened by the Narasimhacharis had senior dance gurus sharing their expertise, at Krishna Gana Sabha.
Lec-dems were presented by dance gurus C.V. Chandrasekhar, Sudharani Raghupathy, Padma Subrahmanyam, Uma Sharma, Dhananjayans, Darshana Jhaveri, Chitra Visweswaran, Sadanam Balakrishnan, Lakshmi Viswanathan, Kalanidhi Narayanan, Uma Ramarao, Narasimhacharis, Gopika Varma and Yoga specialist Dr. Krishnaraman.
The seminar hosted by Kartik Fine Arts was convened by Radhika Shurajit. Themed, 'Extension to Tradition' dancers here shared some of their innovative additions to traditional dance repertoire. Featured here were Indira Kadambi, Narthaki Natraj, Saroja Vaidyanathan, Preethi Athreya, Priya Murle, Nirupama and Rajendra (of Bangalore on Kathak), Swapna Sundari (of New Delhi on Kuchipudi), Sangeetha Iswaran, Sukanya Ravindhar, Krishnakumari Narendran and Dr Ernest Vijay Pandian (Sports Phisiotherapist).
There was also an open-house here on 'Dwindling audience for Dance'. Be it the inspiring speech of Sonal Mansingh, the bhava-laden javalis of Sudharani Raghupathy or the colourful showcase of Kathak by Nirupama and Rajendra and their smiling sishyas, the lec-dems were a treat, especially for dance students. But how many attend is the big question.
Only wish the sabhas made sure their schedules didn't clash. All in the same week, leaves you wondering where to go!
