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Kala Bharati has made considerable efforts to create and maintain a steady flow of ideas and exchanges to share expertise with artists and scholars. The experience at Kala Bharati has been shared through regular participation at various conferences in Canada and abroad at which several papers have been presented on various aspects of dance and in particular on Indian classical dances. Teachers and students have been encouraged to carry out research on subjects related to dance, for projects as part of their academic studies. Kala Bharati itself has organised a number of symposiums and workshops, and has invited several scholars and artists to come and give talks, workshops, lecture-demonstrations etc. thus contributing to the learning process and artistic development.
Kala Bharati encourages visits by artists and scholars to share their expertise with its students. For 8 weeks in 1982 and another 5 weeks in 1985, the Gurus U.S. Krishna Rao and U.K. Chandrabhaga Devi of Bangalore came and conducted summer courses and workshops.
In 1985, Guru Govindarajan of New Delhi came and gave a course for 6 weeks. Other visitors have come and given lecture-demonstrations and workshops, thus contributing to the learning process and artistic development of the students. Among the visitors have been Dr. Sunil Kothari, V.R. Devika, Kalanidhi Narayanan, Shakuntala, Yamuna Krishnan, Shantibala, Indrani Rehman, Jhelum Paranjape and Rina Singha.
During his many visits to Montreal to provide music accompaniment to the Kala Bharati dancers, Guru K.J. Govindarajan has given a number of workshops in collaboration with Mamata Niyogi-Nakra on the theme "Linking Music and Dance".
The experience at Kala Bharati is shared with others in the field of dance through participation in related conferences in Canada and abroad. Papers on the various aspects of technique and show-casing Bharata Natya in the Canadian context have been presented by Mamata Niyogi-Nakra at the "Dance and the Child International Conference", London, England, 1988; Indian Dance in America Conference at the University of Toronto, 1985; Annual Conferences of Ragmala (Canada) at Calgary, 1987, and Saskatoon, 1990.
Kala Bharati itself has organised a number of symposiums and workshops. The first of these was (in 1982) the symposium on "Indian Classical Dances" with chief guests Gurus U.S. Krishna Rao and Chandrabhaga Devi from India. Of this, American journal Dance Magazine wrote:
| "Even taking into consideration the enormous achievements of last year's Dance in Canada Conference here, the Indian dance meeting was by far the most challenging event to be held in the city's thirty-five-year history of professional dance. Kathakali, Kathak, Bharata Natya and Odissy experts shared the secrets of their dance forms with about 100 students and over 550 who watched the single public performance, which helped break down the fear that Westerners often feel toward dance from the East." |
The most recent was in October 1990 under the themes "Explorations"
with guest speaker Dr. Sunil Kothari from india and "Reaching out"
with guest speaker Rina Singha from Toronto.
Operating in the environment outside India, dance activities are closely
linked to the wider question of maintaining one's cultural roots. In this
connection, Kala Bharati organised a symposium on "Reflections on
Indian Culture" in April 1990 with guest speaker Dr. Utpal Banerjee
of New Delhi. One session was devoted to the "growing pains of culture
transplant".
List of lectures, demonstrations and workshops
Lecture for three hours at Michelle Febvre’s dance course at Dept. of Dance, University of Québec in Montreal.
Lecture at the Centenary celebrations of E. Krishna Iyer, at Madras Music Academy, Struti Foundation, in Chennai, and at India International Centre at Delhi.
Colloque on Indian classical dances outside India, at Tangente, Vox Populi, Kala Bharati, in Espace Tangente, Montreal
Illustrated talk on ‘Scaping the Seasons’ at India International Centre, Delhi.
Interview recorded at CPC Delhi on ‘Recent trends in Indian dance: Personal Perspective’ for broadcast in connection with 50th anniversary celebrations of Indian Independence.
Paper presented at a course on Intercultural Education at Concordia University on ‘Use of aesthetics in Education’.
Workshop for dance students of Brydon Paige at L’École secondaire Pierre-Laporte, Montreal.
Workshop for dance students of Isabelle Morin at Polyvalente Mont Sacré-Coeur, Granby.
Workshop and teaching of Indian dance at Carlyle school, Town of Mont Royal
Lecture and animation at Académie Sainte-Thérèse
Lecture and animation for Centre Access - Cible Jeunesse, Montreal
Demonstration and animation at several Montreal
Secondary and Primary schools.
| "The 550 people who were squeezed
into Theatre Alfred Laliberté Saturday to watch an astonishing
smorgasbord of classical Indian dance must have been surprised by
the variety of dance styles and the excellence of their interpreters. But magnify that feeling three or four times and you'll understand how it felt to be a part of the three-day symposium on Indian classical dance organised by Montreal's Kala Bharati Foundation in collaboration with the University of Quebec at Montreal." The
Gazette, Montreal |
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| "This was a unique event in
the history of Indian dance where many internationally famous dancers
from USA, Canada and India took part in the deliberations on "Tradition
and Experimentation in Indian Dances" and also performed excellently
to packed audiences on the evenings of 24th and 25th September 1982.
The workshops conducted during the symposium were eye-openers to
all dancers and dance students, the majority of whom were (happily)
Canadians who had come in large numbers to attend the Symposium.
As far as we know, nowhere else has such a symposium been conducted. Kala Bharati is doing excellent work in exposing Indian dance and culture to Canadians." |
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