Repertoire
THE ESSENCE OF INDIAN MUSIC
Indian Classical Music seems to have acquired an aura of mysticism around it over the years that makes it inaccessible to the lay listener. This lecture demonstration aims at simplifying the basic concepts of Indian music, with a belief that in reality all those living in India have in fact imbibed its spirit without even realizing it! An interactive session - the idea is to actually get the participants to understand and begin to themselves create definitions of concepts like alap, taan, raag and rasa and be enlightened on the fundamental premise: "What makes a tune sound Indian?"
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TALK ON "RAGA FOR JUNOON THEATRE'S MUMBAI LOCAL TALKS
B.I.S TALKS
INTERACTIVE LECTURE ON MOODS IN INDIAN MUSIC
LET'S MERGE – Indo-Western Fusion Concert
'Let's Merge' aims at unraveling the mysteries behind Indo Jazz collaborations. Dhanashree Pandit Rai and Merlyn D'souza demonstrate the musical blend of Indian & Western scales. The aim: to demystify world music. Lets Merge endeavours to expound, demonstrate and perform musical-frameworks and modes from the traditional to the contemporary and the music includes an Indo-Western blend of classics from Khayal, Thumri, Ghazals, Sufi and Rock n Roll as also Mozart, The Beatles, Sony Rollins, Dave Brubeck, and a touch of classical bollywood, exploring it all in a unique way and allowing the audience to understand how Indian and western scales merge and mingle.
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CONCERT OF HORIS – to celebrate the Holi Festival
The thumri repertoire has a rich collection of Horis or 'classicised' folk songs describing the holi celebrations.Besides the traditional rejoicing, bespattering of colour and the scenes of Krishna playing holi with the gopis, there are rare compositions describing the myriad shades and moods of Radha Krishna love ranging from teasing (chhed-chad), jealousy, separation, spiritualism, joyous celebration and many more. This concert showcases the rich and wide Hori repertoire of Indian Classical Music.
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THE MONSOON IN INDIAN MUSIC
Indian classical music heralds the monsoon months with MALHAR the raag of the rains, but its semi-classical facet THUMRI, romances the rains with several folk varieties like kajri, sawan, jhoola, hindola expressing the pain of separation, the joy of union with the beloved in months of sawan.
The Kajri expresses the lament of the lone nayika whose beloved has gone to a faraway land, and the jhoola and hindola sing about the divine union of Radha and Krishna as they swing under the rain-washed skies.
This narrated concert will feature memorable compositions from the thumri and classical repertoire to celebrate the onset of the rains.
THUMRI AND KATHAK – THE SISTER ARTS
Come and relive the splendour of the nawabs in a unique concert of Thumri & Kathak tracing the hand in hand journey of these 2 great art forms as they travelled from the Kothas to the concert stage through time. Listen to some immortal traditional thumris of the old era brought to life with kathak bhaav, re-creating for you - the glory that was Lucknow in the early 19th century.
The presentation will cover the origin of thumri as well as its themes and varities like dadra, kajri, jhoola, chaiti, hori, sawan etc. There will be in depth discussions on the creation of "bhaav", the nuances of thumri singing and the future of this form.
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HAMARI ATARIYA PE
PRESENTATION AT THE ASIAN ARTS MUSEUM SAN FRANCISCO JAN. 2012
THE SONG OF THE COURTESAN
Thumri and Kathak the two sister arts both owe their lineage to the powerful woman of the late 18th century: the courtesan who entertained in the darbars of the nawabs and noblemen with her captivating music and dance. This presentation will highlight the artistic contribution of the courtesan and trace the evolution of Kathak and Thumri as they travelled from the courts and kothas to the concert stage and bloomed into full fledged classical arts.
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