Mallari
Rukmini Vijayakumar, K Thavil Raja, R Raghuram & Sunaad Anoor
Concept
Inspired by the story of Andal, a Tamil poet and saint, this dance/music/video collaboration will trace her final steps into the sanctum of a temple. This visual movement of the dancer from the outer entrance of the temple into the sanctum is symbolic of the idea of shedding one’s false perceptions of oneself to reveal the self. The collaboration will be through the mediums of music and dance. The Nadaswaram and Tavil, traditional Indian instruments typically used in temple ceremonies, weddings and other festivities, are seldom seen on proscenium stages, still occupying prime importance in ritual and tradition. Whereas Bharatanatyam, a form that has moved to the proscenium stage many years ago, is not often a part of these rituals and traditions within a temple any longer. This project will bring these two art forms together to tell a story inspired by Andal in a short film.
About Artistes
Rukmini Vijayakumar, K Thavil Raja, R Raghuram & Sunaad Anoor
Rukmini Vijayakumar is the artistic director of Raadha Kalpa Dance Company and Director of LshVa, a creative space for artists in the heart of Bangalore. She is the founder of The Raadha Kalpa method - an educational system for Bharatanatyam based on the idea of neutrality. She has presented her work as a soloist all over the world, including venues such as the Jacob’s Pillow Festival, Drive East NYC, and the Korzo Theater. Recently she played ‘the goddess of love’ in Sukanya, produced by The Royal Opera house in London. She has studied Bharatanatyam under Guru Padmini Rao, Guru Sundari Santhanam and Guru Narmada, and is a graduate of the Boston Conservatory. Her productions, Nayani, Prabhavati, AbhimatA, Talattu and The Dark Lord, have toured India and the world extensively.
Sunaad Anoor represents the fifth generation of musicians in his family and has been trained under his Vid Anoor Dattatreya Sharma (father), Vid. Anoor Ananthakrishna Sharma (uncle) and Vinod Shyam Anoor (cousin). Sunaad was awarded first place for Khanjira in the AIR National Level competition in 2012 and has received many awards including, the prestigious ITC Sangeetha Research Academy Award, Kalavanta Award 2015 and the T A Harihara Sharma Award from Krishna Gana Sabha, Chennai. He has performed with many eminent musicians in and around India and has played with the prestigious hr-Bigband at the Frankfurt Jazz festival, Germany.
R Raghuram is a vocal performer, recording artiste, composer and teacher hailing from a musical family. Introduced to Mridangam at the age of three, at sixteen, Raghuram started performing at various prestigious Sabhas. He has received the “Pratibhakankshi Award” from the Rama Seva Mandali and is a regular performer at AIR and Doordarshan. He has collaborated with World Music Conservatory and has played vocals for various reputed dancers like Vani Ganapathy, Nirupama-Rajendra, Kiran Subhramanyam, Padmini Ravi, and Praveen Kumar, to name a few. He is an active performer at major music festivals in India and abroad and teaches Carnatic Vocals to students worldwide.
K Thavil Raja is a Bangalore-based percussionist and a pioneer in Carnatic Jazz fusion music, having collaborated with eminent musicians to create unique transcultural genres. Raja has performed at prestigious venues like the Wroclaw Philharmonic Hall in Warsaw and the Best of World Music Festival at the Tata Theatre in Mumbai with Saagara - an Indo Jazz Carnatic band. He received training at the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams under CM Rajagopal and has been awarded the esteemed title of ‘Asthana Vidwan’ from The Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham. Raja has recorded live sessions with DTS studios, Zee Tv, Colors Super and has also worked in the Kannada music industry.
