|
Magazine
Bangalore
A ghazal singer from South America — whatever will they think of next? It's a double bill from the Indian Council for Cultural Relations this week, with music and dance troupes from Suriname and The Seychelles. Kries Ramkhelawan from Suriname, who specialises in ghazals, bhajans, baithak gana and qawalis, will not attempt to bring coals to Newcastle during his Indian trip. His concert, titled "Chutney Music", will have "foot-tapping and soulful melodies". Kries, who started as a young boy singing bhajans in the mandir in Suriname, went on to learn other styles, and recently completed a three-year course in vocal classical. He released baithak gana and ghazal albums, and popularised Bhojpuri music all over the Caribbean. This yoga teacher who runs a shop selling CDs, saris and pooja items, has performed at music festivals worldwide. He and his troupe will play on January 21 at 7 p.m. at Chowdaiah Hall.
* * *
THE ICCR is also bringing down a bunch of dazzling young traditional dancers from The Seychelles (the oldest is 27 and the other three are all 22). "Kaleidoscope" will include Creole music and the spectacular Sega dance, which involves a lot of vigorous hip movement. The French colonial influence is seen in the Kontredans, a dance that dates back to the time of Louis XIV. Slaves originally practised the Moutya, using of a drum made of a coconut trunk covered with goatskin. Moutya songs express sadness, suffering, and hope. The Masezarin is a stick dance, and one of its accompanying songs is about a mother-in-law who kills her in-laws' aunt and preserves the meat for food during the southwest monsoon! "Kaleidoscope" is on at Chowdaiah Hall on January 22 at 7 p.m.
Passes for both events at the ICCR office on Sankey Road Cross, Abshot Layout (adjoining Windsor Manor Hotel) between 10 a.m. and 5.30 p.m. Phone 2257868 or 2287170 for details.
* * *
A photographic exhibition "Forms of Shiva" is presented Alliance Française de Bangalore, Embassy of France in India and the French Institute of Pondicherry. The 24 forms of Shiva displayed in this exhibition, which are representative of the rich iconographic tradition of Tamil Nadu, are part of the French Institute's photo library, which has a collection of about 130,000 photographs on art, architecture and archaeology from South India. The exhibition will be inaugurated on January 22 at 6.30 p.m. with a presentation by Prof. S. P. Narang, Head of the Department of Indology, French Institute of Pondicherry, on "Shiva: History and Development". Exhibition from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the Atrium, Alliance Française. On till February 8.
C.K. MEENA
Printer friendly
page
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Magazine
|
