June–July 2007 - Sangeet Natak Akademi

Traditional Puppetry /Theatre / Video ReportsAKADEMI’S FORTNIGHTLYPERFORMANCES IN DELHIKalasutri Bahulya: StringPuppetry of MaharashtraKalasutri Bahulya, literally ‘dollmoved by thread’, presents storiesfrom Ramayana from the birth ofRama to the killing of Ravana. Theperformers are also good chitrakathitellers and narrate tales from theepics. The performance begins withan invocation to Lord Ganesha bythe singer and his accompanyingmusicians who sit in front of thestage. The musical instruments usedare the tabla, tuntune (a stringedinstrument), cymbals and conch.The puppets are small, with bodiesmade of wood and joints at theshoulders. They do not have legsand wear long skirts. There is onepuppet with moveable jaw. Thepuppets are manipulated fromwithin a box-like stage by pullingthree strings that are attached totheir hands and the top of theirheads at one end, and a triangularcontrol at the other end.A performance of Kalasutri Bahulyawas held on 27 July 2007 at 6.30p.m. at Meghdoot Theatre-II, NewDelhi. The group, Lok Kala Bhavan,Pinguli, presented a story, ‘Ahiravanaand Mahiravana’. The group is a wellknowngroup of Maharashtra andhas earlier performed on theoccasion of Swarn Jayanti 2003 atthe invitation of the Akademi, andagain in 2005 in Mumbai and 2006in Lucknow.The director of the group, GanpatSakharam Masge, is an eminentpuppeteer belonging to a traditionalfamily of puppeteers adhering to theKalasutri Bahulya tradition in Pinguliin Sindhudurg district, Maharashtra.His family has been practising thisart for some 300 years, adhering tothe original style. Ganpat Sakharamlearnt this art from his guru andfather Bhikaji Sakharam Masge. Hehas received the Sangeet NatakAkademi award for his contributionto the puppetry of Maharashtra.Shivdas K. Ganpat Masge was ontabla, Eknath P. Masge on Jhanjh,Sakharam V. Masge on Tuntune andPandurang B. Sawant on Jhanjhari.Lights were taken care of byDattaprasad C. Rasankute. He alsomanipulated the puppets along withSagar B. Gangavane and GanpatMasge.Progressive use of HindiHindi WorkshopIn pursuance of the recommendationsof the Parliamentary OfficialLanguage Committee the Akademiholds quarterly Hindi workshops, atwo-day Hindi Workshop wasorganized on 25-26 June 2007 inMeghdoot Theatre II. TheWorkshop was conducted byProfessor Ganga Prasad Vimal ofJawaharlal Nehru University, NewDelhi. Translation, noting, draftingand correct sentence formationwere the topics of discussion.Sixteen employees of the Akademiparticipated in the workshop, whichwas meant to enable the staff to useHindi in their day-to-day officialwork.DocumentationNritya Pratibha, Dehradun, 21 - 24July, 2007; 8 hours video; 300photographs.In MemoriumS.V. ParthasarathySangeet Natak Akademiand its associate bodiesdeeply mourn the saddemise of Shri S.V.Parthasarathy, an AkademiAward-winner.Shri S.V. Parthasarathywas born in 1917 atThiruvannamalai in TamilNadu. He received histraining in Carnatic vocal music under ShriT.S. Sabesa Iyer, Shri K. Ponniah Pillai, TigerK. Varadachariar and Shri Krishna Iyergerduring the 1930s and subsequently learnt toplay the veena. Shri Parthasarathy started hisprofessional career as a Lecturer in music atAnnamalai University in 1954 but for thebetter part of his working life was producerof carnatic and light music at All India Radio,Trichy, He resumed teaching at AnnamalaiUniversity as Professor of Music in 1985 andbecame the Dean of the Fine ArtsDepartment in 1988.Shri Parthasarathy had performed vocal musicsince the late 1930s and had distinguishedhimself as a composer of light music and amusic broadcaster. For twenty years at AIR,he covered the Thyagaraja festival inTiruvaiyaru and continued to perform overradio. Shri Parthasarathy wrote on music inThe Hindu and produced recordings of songssung by himself. He was bestowed withseveral honours for his work by Sabhas inTamil Nadu.Shri S.V. Parthasarathy received the SangeetNatak Akademi Award for his contributionto Carnatic vocal music in 2005.Shri Parthasarathy passed away in Chennaion 25th July 2007.For private circulation. Published by Secretary, Sangeet Natak Akademi, Rabindra Bhavan, Feroze Shah Road, New Delhi 110 001. Tel: 23387246/7/8.Fax: 23381621. E-mail: sangeetnatak@bol.net.in. Designed and produced by stetdelhi@gmail.com