Music matters
Know thy heroes
Perched between the Trinity and Sri Rama (at Rama Rao Kalyana Mandapam - the venue for NCAT's programmes), are a set of photographs of "our heroes" (links). If you want to time-pass between concerts and wish to know more, they are Jnanpith Awardees in Kannada -- Sarvasri KV Puttappa (1967), Dattatreya Ramachandra Bendre (1973), K.Shivaram Karanth (1977), Maasti Venkatesa Iyengar (1983), V K Gokak (1990), U R Ananthamurthy (1994) and Girish Karnad (1998). The President of Karnataka Sangha was kind enough to read out their names printed in Kannada. Can some stickers, therefore, be put in English too?
For a good shot
One finds a distinct change in the attitude of the press photographers these days. They don't breeze in and out of music halls anymore. They patiently wait for the performer to warm up for some choice shots. None of those routine clicks anymore.
Divine writing
It is not uncommon to find rasikas carefully jotting down the sahitya, the raga and so on. The other day, a lady was found writing ceaselessly for the better part of the concert. A discreet peep revealed that she was writing Sriramajayam. Why not, she challenged. Even at home, the atmosphere is not so conducive for this kind of activity, she explained.
Wood for comfort
One thought that constantly crosses the mind as we watch the dancers is, apart from the performance and other things, the Stage. Scientifically, wood is said to be best for dance, since it takes much of the impact as the artistes land on their knees. Concrete and other surfaces are bound to hurt the joints and in the long run, cause severe damage.
For the sake of the artistes, the sabhas should provide wooden floor. And on the same subject, some cleaning is necessary on a daily basis with so many performances happening and incessant traffic.
Often the dancers raise a cloud of dust as they move around and it won't be an exaggeration to say that footwork is watched through this veil.
(Contributed by G. Swaminathan, S. Sivakumar and Rupa Srikanth)
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