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The tenth batch of Attakkalari’s Diploma in Movement Arts and Mixed Media has begun and is progressing with more rigor, more energy and more number of students. This year, the Diploma programme has received tremendous response and hence has started with two sections for the first time with about 26 students in each section. The graduation performance of the previous batch was a huge success on 14th August, 2015. Following that, we had multiple auditions for the current batch of Diploma – the earliest audition being in January, 2015 – and admission process went on in full swing. The tenth batch of Diploma commenced with an Orientation programme on the 11th of September, 2015.
The classes for both the sections are being conducted simultaneously at Attakkalari’s studios in Bengaluru. The students have already started training in Bharatanatyam, Kalaripayattu, Body Conditioning, Contemporary Dance techniques and Ballet. They had a couple of orientation classes with Attakkalari’s Artistic Director Mr.Jayachandran Palazhy and also introductory classes in Nutrition and Diet.
This year, the programme has admitted students with backgrounds varying from biomedical engineering to medicine to law and to people trained for years in classical dance forms. The age group has also widened that the class now has students of ages 18 to 33. We also had applications received from all across India including a couple of overseas ones. The auditions for the current batch started as early as January 2015 and went on till a few days before the programme commenced. We are especially thankful to the corporate houses including TNQ and Muthoot Pappachan Foundation that came on board this year to offer scholarships to students supporting them with their tuition fees / living expenses. With a lot of positive energy and with the usual intense schedule, the current batch of diploma programme is progressing steadily. We, at Attakkalari, are putting in great effort to make this batch more successful and exciting than the successful previous batches.
Talent Academy – Applications Invited
Attakkalari now invites applications for the second batch of the 6-month post diploma vocational training programme - Talent Academy - that commences on 11th January, 2016 and goes on till June, 2016. The curriculum of this 6-month course for dancers is designed to boost the development of skills in dance performance, pedagogy and choreography. Talent Academy encourages emerging dancers to create their own work, to perform existing or new pieces, to prepare lesson plans and also to teach classes.
The course will end with a public performance and will help young dance artistes find a strong launching pad to kick-start their career in the arena of performing arts. The application deadline is 1st December, 2015; the form can be availed here.
Prospective students who are unable to visit Bangalore may send a link to a good quality video of their performance to education@attakkalari.org. Course fee is INR 75,000 and is not inclusive of boarding and lodging expenses. |
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| In the News |
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| Introducing Sankshipta – A tailor-made short term course |
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Attakkalari recently announced Sankshipta, a concise 3-month Certificate Course in Contemporary Dance and Allied Disciplines, befitted and well-timed for working professionals and full time students. The course will begin on 6th November 2015 and will culminate with a public performance in February, 2016. It is best suited for ages 16 and above. Classes will be in the early morning hours on Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.
The participants in the course will have the opportunity to meet and learn from the Artistic Director of Attakkalari, acclaimed national and international faculty for a brief period. Apart from classes in different styles of Contemporary Dance, there will be sessions in Kalaripayattu, Bharatanatyam and Ballet. Participants will be part of the creative process and present the work thus created in front of a wider audience at the end of the course.
We are receiving a welcoming response for this new project and admissions have begun in full swing. |
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| Dance Connect 2015 |
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Prasanna Saikia, Hemabharathy Palani and Surjit Singh Nongmeikapam accompanied by six other dancers are the participating artistes in this project. Through the month-long project the participants interacted with artistes, dramaturges, worked with light and sounds designers, facilitated workshops for students and local artists, attended various performances at different festivals and saw each other's work develop and evolve with each presentation and feedback session with the mentors.
The teams presented their pieces - Diabolique, Twine and Nerves – respectively first at Attakkalari in Bengaluru, then at Mercat de les Flors in Barcelona as 'India at Mercat' under the framework of 'La Merce' festival and later at O Espaco do Tempo in Montemor-O-Novo. Following this, Hemabharathy and Surjit will present their works titled ‘Out of India’ in the Dance Umbrella festival in London, UK along with another Indian artiste Deepak Kurki Shivaswamy.
Project Partners: Attakkalari Centre for Movement Arts (Bangalore), Mercat de les Flors/ Graner (Barcelona) and O Espaco do Tempo (Montemor-O-Novo). This project is supported by Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF) and Arts Network Asia (ANA). |
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| Repertory members across global platforms |
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Attakkalari Repertory’s Rehearsal Director, Hemabharathy Palani along with senior dancers Sylvester Mardi and Meghana Nambiar are participating in a month long project with residencies and performances in Spain and Portugal as part of the Dance Connect 2015. Later, Hemabharathy is travelling to London on invitation from the Dance Umbrella festival where she presents one of her works – Trikonanga – as part of ‘Out of India’ show and also conducts a master-class in Contemporary Dance for advanced students and professionals.
Ronita Mookerji, a senior dancer of Attakkalari was selected to participate in the ASIA Superposition Showcase Collaboration Project of Asia Dance Company hosted by The Asia Culture Centre of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Republic of Korea. The project expanded to a six week residency, carried out by dancers from 14 Asian countries, and a double bill of performances. Ronita was invited as the Participating Dancer by Korean Choreographer Hwang Soo-Hyun along with 4 other Asian dancers and 2 Korean dancers to make a 45-minute long experimental dance piece named "Hidden Connection". |
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| ANNOUNCEMENTS |
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| TransMedia projects |
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Started in 2002 as Attakkalari’s in-house technical department, TransMedia Technologies is today a leading one-stop resource centre for stage and performance technologies in India. Apart from the traditional solutions for light and sound, TransMedia provides the latest, cutting-edge technologies and unique, customised services for a range of events and performances. The TransMedia team recently rendered their technical prowess to the following major events -
Bengaluru and Hyderabad editions of The Hindu Theatre Fest in August and September, 2015 - the fifth year in a row
The Times of India Theatre festival 2015 in Bengaluru
The Bengaluru edition of The Park’s New Festival 2015 including Akram Khan’s Torobaka
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| Akram Khan’s Workshop at Attakkalari |
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As a part of the performance tour of his company Torobaka presented by The British Council and Prakriti Foundation, Akram Khan – one of the world’s most respected dance figures - conducted a workshop for the general public in Bengaluru at Attakkalari studios. His signature choreographic style draws upon techniques and vocabularies from Kathak and modern dance.
Illustrated with movement from his ground-breaking collaboration Torobaka, this participative workshop explored his creative process and explained how he and Flamenco artist Israel Galvan tackle two very different traditions. Participants gained an insight into Khan’s approach to dance and into the inspirations and experiences that enrich his artistic journey.
The workshop was hosted at Attakkalari on 29th September, 2015 and received a warm response. |
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| Artistic Director’s Tour |
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The Artistic Director of Attakkalari is on an extensive expedition, touring and observing the evolving international contemporary dance scenarios. During his three week long voyage, he traverses through Korea, Italy, Portugal, France (Montpellier) and London where he shall be visiting several artistic confluences both performing and visual.
At Korea, his initial destination, he was invited to PAMS 2015, an annual performing arts platform and in Italy he attended the third edition of the New Italian Dance Platform. The finale of Dance Connect 2015 culminated at Montemor-o-Novo, Portugal where he witnessed the performance of the dancers from Attakkalari. He will then travel to France and then to London before coming back to Bengaluru.
Later, he is in China between 7th and 10th of November on an invitation to participate in DanceX – a special exchange platform, as a part of the 12th Guangdong Dance Festival. |
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| Kalaripayattu for kids |
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Kalaripayattu is considered to be the oldest fighting system in existence. Northern Kalaripayattu is based on elegant and flexible movements, evasions, jumps and weapons training. Attakkalari announces new batch community classes in Kalaripayattu for children in the age group of 5 to 13 years.
This new batch commences on 31st October, 2015 and will be conducted by Sreerag C. who is trained in Kalaripayattu at the Hindustan Kalari Sangam in Puthiyara, Calicut. He comes from the lineage of Kalaripayattu masters such as Guru Veera-sree Sami gurukkal. The timings for this batch that takes place in Attakalari’s main studio are 10.00 a.m. to 11.00 a.m. on Saturdays and 4.00 p.m. to 5.00 p.m. on Sundays.
Interested participants can register here. |
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Photo Credits: Jean Louis Fernandez, Virginia Rodrigues, Prasad, Niranjan Gokhale, and Attakkalari. Attakkalari Centre for Movement Arts
24-04, BTS Bus Depot Road, Wilson Garden, Bangalore-560027
Tel: 91 + 080 + 2212 3684, 4148 3534, 4146 7690
www.attakkalari.org |
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