Seminar - Ananya Dance Festival 2009

Seher welcomes you to
Pratibimb: a 2-day seminar
with the artistes of Ananya Dance Festival.

The choreographers featured this year
will talk about their works
and interact with the audience
to enable an insight into their presentations.

Moderator : Smt Sudha Gopalakrishnan
Coordinator : Amrita Lahiri

Tuesday 6th October - Wednesday 7th October, 2009
10.30 am - 1.30 pm
Alliance Francaise, 72, Lodi Estate, New Delhi - 110003

The seminar titled Pratibimb - a reflection on the Ananya Dance Festival organized by Seher, New Delhi- aims to create a dialogue between the choreographers and the audience, and to open up a discussion on some of the key issues in classical dance today. During the two- day seminar, each dancer-choreographer who presents her/his work at the festival will speak on their creative process. Choreographers and dancers will be in dialogue with the moderator, Sudha Gopalakrishnan, eminent panelists, and most importantly, the audience. Ananya Festival draws thousands of viewers each year, and has created a new direction in thinking about classical dance forms. Seher was founded with the vision of taking Indian culture to large number of people, not just a small cultural elite. It has achieved this through thoughtful and imaginative initiatives such as the Ananya Festival and the connected seminar, Pratibimb.

During the seminar we hope to look into the defining features of the ‘classical’. Has the word ‘classical’ become an excuse for small audiences? How does the choreographer engage with the grammar and vocabulary of classical dance forms, codifications that we are taught as students of dance, and yet make them engaging for a large audience?

In a world of infinite choices- cinema, satellite TV, jazz, salsa, bollywood- what does classical dance offer that is more attractive than these other options? What is the duty of the choreographer in presenting something ‘classical’ to the masses? Who is the dance created for and are audiences adequately sensitized to engage with the art?

Tradition and modernity are ambiguous terms in classical Indian dance. Where are the spaces for innovation within the grammar and vocabulary of classical dance? What are the limits of freedom for an artist, while attempting to be appealing and ‘modern’ through experimentation and innovation in productions? In Pratibimb, we seek to get an insight into how the choreographers who presented their work at Ananya retain the essential spirit of the classical form, while also being innovative and creative.

The seminar is a dialogue, led by the choreographers, but enlivened through the participation of the audience-young dancers, scholars, students, dance-enthusiasts, All are welcome. Debate is encourged.