Sri Annamacharya Jayanthi was celeberated on May 4 at Sri Venkateshwara Temple, Helensburg, Sydney. It was well organised by 'Annamayya Brundam'. This year, the theme was on 'Alumelu Mangatayyar vaibhavam'.

About 20 singers participated in singing the glory of 'mangatayaar' - all sourced from Annamayya compositions. The temple president Dr Bala started the function with crisp talk on greatness of Annamayya. This was followed by short speech on Annamayya, and a hari-katha format-based presentation of Annamayya Sankeertanams.
The entire function was conducted in classical Telugu.

Dance performances covered the beauty of Alumelumanga Thayaar. A bigger and much grander function is planned for next year - on May 10, 2009. Next year's function covers Balaji and Alumelumanga Kalyana utsavam, where the participants will sing Annamayya compositions that cover Kalyana utsavam.

SYAMA of Singapore is remembering Carnatic music maestro the late T. M. Thyagarajan ( who passed away in Chennai on 27 June 2007 ) with an event.
This guru was instrumental in teaching many students and among them is SYAMA's founder Gowri Gokul. As a tribute to him on his first anniversary, students of Gowri Gokul will perform a vocal concert through selected songs for which he had composed music.

Bharatanatyam dancer and theatre person Anitha Santhanam recently conducted a workshop on 'Gesture and Bharatanatyam', for the students of drama at the Hoschule of Musik and Theatre, Rostock, Germany.

The approach was to give the theatre students an entry into the language of gesture through movement sound and rhythm and the gestures themselves. The point of departure for these sessions was life and its textures both emotional and situational.

The three-day workshop concluded with a small workshop presentation of the material worked on through the course of the workshop. The workshop was commissioned by Professor Marion Kuester, the head of the department of drama and education.

Anitha Santhanam is currently pursuing a course in physical theatre at LISPA, London under the Charles Wallace scholarship. She is based in Bangalore, India.

Kshetra Academy of Malaysia, run by dance guru Apsara Ram Gopal, will be conducting its annual NRITHYOTSAV dance concert – its 16th anniversary edition- on Saturday, May 24th, 2008, at the Tuanku Abdul Rahman Auditorium, Malaysian Tourism Centre, Kuala Lumpur.
2008 is the birth centenary of the legendary Guru Gopinath, one of the greatest dancers of the 20th century. Guru-ji, along with Guru Uday Shankar, Guru Ram Gopal and Guru Rukmini Devi Arundale, played a vital role in reviving classical dance.
This year’s NRITHYOTSAV is entitled ‘Guru Vandana – A Homage to the Gurus Who Sparked the Renaissance of Indian Dance’.
Original works by the 4 gurus will be showcased at this concert.
As has been the tradition at NRITHYOTSAV concerts, Kshetra Academy will honour T. Kandasamy.
Though not an artiste in the conventional sense, Kandasamy has provided superb audio, lighting and other technical support for artistes for over 40 years.
He has greatly contributed to enhance the concert experience both for the artistes and for the audience in a way few, if any, can match.
He has made the science an art, and hence, he is an artiste. Admission is by invitation.

The city of Oaxaca typically reflects its rich cultural past in the present through its music, markets, cuisine, theater and other traditions. During such celebrations, various communities within the State come together to partake in the festivities.

'Humánitas, Fiestas de Mayo' is one of the most popular festivals in Mexico where the main objective is to introduce different cultures, races, and folklore in an effort to promote human relationships in a diverse environment that characterizes the region, state, and guest country chosen.
This year, the festival features music, dance, poetry, art and drama from the Coastal Region, the State of Tabasco and, the chosen country, India.

As an Indian representative in this festival, Usha Raghavan gives a Bharatanatyam performance with a focus on the theme of 'Sringara', where she will delve deep into the varying emotions of love depending on the protagonist's perspective.

Contrasting between the different sentiments of the nayika, Usha's performance will underline the universal element of love - be it that of a faithful devotee, jealous wife, or caring mother. Through these depictions, Usha furthers the goal of the festival which is to celebrate diversity while, at the same time, unifying people across cultures.

Alapana Centre for Music and Dance based in Singapore will celebrate a day devoted to Syama Sastri, one of the Carnatic music trinity composers on April 26, 2008. From 11 am onwards.

This year's Syama sastri day will feature three of the Syama Sastri's Kritis, 'Durusuka' in Saveri' rendered by R. Banumathy, daughter and disciple of veteran vocalist of the past, Dr. S. Ramanathan and 'Devi Brova' in Chintamani by Harini will mark the beginning of Syama Sastri Day.
The event will conclude with the rendition of 'Kamakshi' - Bhairavi Swarajathi by R. Banumathi and her student Vijayalakshmi Sriram.

"Though the founder- teachers of alapana used to observe Syama Sastri day as a private function in the past, this year onwards Syama Sastri Day will be observed as a regular alapana event," say the organisers.

The event is open to all.

Dancers Nirmala Seshadri and Neewin Hershall of Singapore have choreographed a new work blending of their artistic thoughts and energies.

Crossroads - Journeys and transformations through life and dance, a new work they present on behalf of Bhaskars Arts Academy, Singapore, will be an experiment in which the traditional dance repertoire is viewed through a different contextual lens; where the parts of the repertoire connect into a larger conceptual framework, allowing for other forms such as film and visual art to enter, the artistes say.
Also as the work is on mature themes , it not be suitable for children under 16, the organisers advise.

Nirmala Seshadri is a recipient of the Singapore National Arts Council’s Young Artist Award and Neewin Hershall is a graduate from Kalakshetra, Chennai.

The event will be on April 19, 2008 at 8 pm
At NAFA Lee Foundation Theatre 151 Bencoolen Street, Singapore.
The programme is presented with the support of National Arts Council Singapore.

Annual Sri Annamacharya Jayanthi is scheduled to be celebrated on May 4, 2008 at Sri Venkateswara temple, Helensburgh, Sydney, Australia.

Keeping the tradition, this year Jayanthi is dedicated in presenting the sankeertanalu on Alamelumanga, in the form of dance items, singing and brief talk of educational value.
Singing Annamayya krithis will commence at 11 am.

Practise sessions for this event will be held on Saturdays at 4.00 to 6.00 at Homebush Boys High School, Bridge Road, Strathfield.

The space and the choice of events are extremely exclusive and niche at this programme series.
In an effort to bring classical Indian dance to mainstream art and prestigious theatre space, this is a pre- show to create a buzz in the space.

A brain child of the Royal Exchange theatre wherein they host free events in the craft shop / cafetaria area to welcome new audience every Friday evening from 5.30. The evening's main concert starts at 7.30.

For the first time, the theatre is presenting classical Indian art and specifically Bharatanatyam dance.
UK based arts organisation Upasana run by dancer Deepa Ganesh will present the dance show.

The event will be held on April 11, 2008. (Friday)
From 6.00 pm to 7.00 pm

Venue: Royal Exchange Theatre, St Ann's Square, Manchester, M2 7DH

"We are performing items from our latest production Krishna which was sold out to schools as a theatre visit. This is again one of our recent efforts with the same focus 'exposure, recognition and endorsement of the artform' amongst new audience." says Deepa.

For the dance school, this is a special event. Deepa adds "Our highlights are our four girls- Vaishnavi,
Nivedita, Aashana and Sonallia all aged 9 to 12 years. Although in India, we are quite used to not discounting art based on age of the artist, here locally, it is surely something unseen. Uncompromised art is surely not expected of one so young!"

Manasamitra, a UK based organisation which promotes arts in the land and the Holy Trinity Church, Leeds presented the first of their Symphony in Sacred Spaces series.

This organisation has already presented the Yorkshire Sculpture Park series, sometime ago.

The monthly concert series began with Supriya Nagarajan singing the Carnatic vocal style.
Like in the traditional south Indian style of presenting concerts in temples, an informal floor seating area directly in front of the musicians was set for the audeince.
They were able to observe the technical brilliance of the of the two accompanying artists, Krishnamurthi on the Tavil and Srikanth Sharma on the violin. Together with the voice, violin and drum intertwining with each other, they created such an ambience in the spiritual surroundings that all in attendance were left with a feeling of peace and serenity.

The second half provided a powerful Tavil solo.
The Tavil is a unique South Indian Drum. It is a double ended wooden drum with skins stretched on both sides on two large hemp hoops. The left side is played with a stick and the right side is played using the hand with metal thimbles placed over the fingers to give a sharp sound. Krishnamurti dazzled us with his speed and clarity; it was a privilege to encounter such skill on this instrument.

The team has plans to hold more such concerts in the series.

The Indian Embassy in Dhaka will start a Mohiniyattam school with the support of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations, in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Pallavi Krishnan, who trained in Mohiniattam at Kerala Kalamandalam and an alumnus of Shantiniketan(Viswa Bharati University), Kolkata, will teach at the school.
Classes would begin in April 2008.

An extravaganza of Indian classical and contemporary dance, 'Fire and Ice' has been organised by the South Indian Cultural Society of Kuwait .
This dance production by dancer Anita Ratnam with feature her and her Arangham Dance Theatre.
The event will be held at Shaab Leisure Park-Celebration Hall, at 7pm

Two non-South Asian dancers who have trained in Bharatanatyam and Kathak in Toronto will come together for the first time for a performance at Ontario's oldest Gothic Church, The Church of St. Stephen's in the Field in Toronto.

Hiroshi Miyamoto and Chad Walasek will be performing the world premieres of Red and Kathak Solo on March 28 and 29.

Red is a fifty-minute solo Bharatanatyam work for dancer Hiroshi Miyamoto and five musicians. With choreography and music direction by Canada based inDANCE's artistic director Hari Krishnan, Red focuses on the erotic and valiant dimensions of the traditional 'heroes' in courtesan poems, the male gods Shiva and Krishna.

Kathak Solo will be a fifty-minute work for dancer Chad Walasek. Choreographed by M-DO's artistic director Joanna de Souza, this solo will be accompanied by live music featuring Ritesh Das and de Souza. Kathak Solo is an exploration of dynamism, rhythm and spontaneity.

The performances take place at the Church of St. Stephen's in the Field, 103 Bellevue Ave (at College, just beside M-DO
and TTE studio) on Friday March 28 at 1pm and 8pm, and Saturday March 29 at 8pm.

A few dance teachers in Malaysia felt the need for a united forum for the betterment of the arts. They formed an association under the guidance of dancer Indira Manikam.

Bharata Natya Dance Association, formed in the year 2005 is now a registered organisation, Malaysia Bharatanatya Sabha.
"The aim of forming this association is to bring all Bharata Natyam teachers in Malaysia under one umbrella so that we can have a better relationship and also share our knowledge to improve the art," say the members.

The sabha was formerly inaugurated on Jan. 27, 2008 at Dewan Tan Sri Soma Auditorium, Wisma Tun Sambanthan, Jalan Sulaiman, Malaysia under the patronage of Tan Sri Somasundaram, Chairman of NLFCS.

The Saiva Manram Inc., Sydney presented 'Nadha Vinodham' a classical musical extravaganza at Tamil Educational and Cultural Hall,Sydney Murugan temple on Feb.17.

B. V. Balasai was on the flute, U. P. Raju on the mandolin and Karaikudi R.Mani on the mridanagam. They took the raga 'Kalyani' in detail with the composition of Thyagarajar beginning with 'Yetha...'
After the 2-hour concert, Rajeswari Sainath took over the stage. She performed a Bharatanatayam recital with recorded music.
Her presentation, choreographed by her was on the compositions of 'Trimoorthigal' (Thyagarajar, Dikshitar and Shyama Sastrigal) and Tamil composers called Tamil 'Trimoorthigal' comprising of Marimutha Pillai, Muthu Thandavar and Arunachala Kavirayar.

Indian Consulate, Dubai celebrated the 60th Anniversary of the Indian Independence on the evening of Jan. 4, 2008

Samarpan Classical Dance Ensemble, headed by Bharatanatyam dancer Tripti Bhupen was invited to perform at the celebrations. The evening was organized under the banner of Consulate General of India, Dubai.

A unique fusion of five different dance styles - Bharatanatyam, Odissi, Kuchipudi, Mohini Attam, and Kathak was the highlight of this performance.
Besides performing to the traditional dance music, artistes come together and perform two pieces directed by Tripti Bhupen to a blend of contemporary music.

The performance commenced with Ganapati - Stuti in praise of Vinayaka performed by all the artistes representing various classical dance traditions. This was followed by Batu Nrittai in Odissi. Keertanams were presented in Bharatanatyam, Kuchipudi and Mohiniattam.

As an experiment a Bhajan was presented as a blend of three different Dance styles - Odissi, Kathak and Bharatanatyam. This was followed by Kathak - the classical dance from the northern India.

The performance concluded with Ritu - rang, the colours of seasons where all the dance styles came together to celebrate the beauty of different seasons. The dance choreography here drew a parallel between changing seasons and human emotions. Aesthetically depicted the choreography was inspired by both Classical and Folk dance movements.

Tripti Bhupen, Annapoorna Murali and Rekha Sanu performed Bharatanatyam, Sasi Kottakal performed both Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi, Farah Shams, Neelanchana Shobhakumar and Arjun Lal did Kathak, Kundan Mukherjee performed Odissi, Rajashree perfomed Kuchipudi and Namitha Giridharan performed the Mohini Attam style at the event.

On the day of Saint Thyagaraja's Aradhana at Tiruvaiyaru in Tamilnadu, the musicians and music lovers are paying tribute to the composer at different parts of the globe.

Here is one at Singapore.
On Jan. 27 from 9.30 am onwards.
Venue : Glass Hall, Singapore art Museum, 71, Bras Basah Road, Singapore

Musical homage will be in the form of rendering Thyagaraja's immortal Kritis. The programme will end with a congregational singing of the Gana raga Pancharatna Kritis. All those who can sing or play the kritis can join the group to pay their tribute.

Padmini Rao was a Bharatha Natyam guru who headed Ponnayya Lalita Kala Academy in Bangalore. She passed away at a young age of 52 last January whilst conducting dance at Ravindra Kalakshertra.

Her student Shantha Rao learnt many dance items from Padmini Rao during my visits to India for training. "Three years ago when I met her I was in the period in my dance career where I was beginning to feel a strong urge to teach Bharatha Natyam. I went to her for help with choreography for a few dance compositions. I will remember her forever for teaching me two most beautiful and precious dance items – One is Ananda Narthana Ganapathi in raga Nattai and a Jatiswaram piece in raga Kalyani. The arrangement of rhythms in these dances is simple yet sophisticated. She helped with the recording in a studio in Bangalore choosing an excellent singer and mridangist." saya Shantha Rao.

Shantha performed these items in many events in Britain. "I was very proud to present the Jatiswaram in a Mathematics Conference for teachers to highlight the rhythmic variety and accuracy of jatis in Bharatha Natyam dance."

Shantha has now taught these dances to her young student Nuthana Prathivadi and other local dancers who are based in Britain. "Nuthana even won a prize in the Wharfdale Festival of Performing arts for dancing the Jatiswaram" recalls theproud guru.

Shantha Rao and her students will be performing these dances in the Square Chapel Arts Centre in Halifax on Feb. 3 at 11 am in her memory celebrating her work.
Shantha Rao says "We want to say - 'Thank you Padmini Rao ... You live here in Yorkshire for ever ! '"

In a novel and less trodden path, dancer, choreographer Usha Raghavan explores the Navarasa by depicting the nine emotions with various episodes selected from Hindu mythology and literature, in her new production titled - Navarasa.

The production focuses on maintaining the essence of the bhavas (emotions) while bringing out the beauty of each emotion through the choreography.
Extensive research on the Mahabharata, Bhagvad Gita, Nandanar Charitram (Tamil opera) and the Ashtapadi (Sanskrit poetry) has gone into choreographing the various episodes to evoke these rasas in the audience.

With pieces such as the Pushpanjali, Padam and Thillana skilfully woven into the program and accompanied by musical nuances and jatis from the live orchestra, 'Navarasa - Expressions in Bharatanatyam' will be held on Dec. 2, 2007.

Brindha Sridhar and Vinita Venkatesh will be performing in this Kalasagara UK's latest presentation conducted by Usha Raghavan.

Venue: Patidar House
22 London Road
Wembley - HA9 7EX

Tickets £15 & £10

For more details, contact Usha Raghavan at 07899 844869 (London)

U. K. based music organisation Santhalaya Arts Foundation honoured well-known vocalist, violinist and guru Subbulakshmi Muthuswamy with the title of `Sangeetha Kala Saraswathi' for her contribution in the field of Music, recently.

Subbulakshmi Muthuswamy learnt music from her father V. Lakshminarayana Iyer from a very early age and also from many doyens like Semmangudi Srinivasaiyer, Ramnad Krishnan, Tiruparkadal Srinivasa Iyengar and Jayamma (daughter of Dhanamma).
She has performed many concerts and is a dedicated guru. She is the director of the Lakshminarayana School of Music in Chennai.

Santhalaya Arts Foundation besides teaching music to many aspiring students organises many events and arranges concerts for artistes from abroad. Recently the students of Santhalaya Arts Foundation gave a scintillating performance in Tooting, UK.

INateschwara, a Baden based organisation is staging a Bharatanatyam dance drama 'Savitri - An Indian Lovestory' by dancers Vijaya Rao and Sharmila Rao.

This dance drama will be held on October 20. At 20.00 hrs.