Sufi strains, jazz tunes, contemporary moves and experimental theatre - these are just some of the offerings at Mumbai's National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA) in November. Culturati in the city will have a busy month rushing from one festival to another, dedicated to every facet of the performing arts.
The cultural fiesta is kicked off with the Contemporary Dance Season, which starts on November 6 and goes on till December 18. The highlights of the event will be performances by the Mamata Shankar Dance Company and Bharat Sharma, son of dancer-choreographer Narendra Sharma. "Both Mamata Shankar and Bharat Sharma present pieces inspired by Uday Shankar, and yet the choreographies are different in many ways," says Swapnokalpa Dasgupta, head of dance-programming at the NCPA. The event will also feature a talk by Sumeet Nagdev on contemporary dance and a film based on Narendra Sharma.
"We also have an interesting performance by Terence Lewis called Scrambled Eggs. If Sharma and Shankar are about looking back at the heritage of modern dance, Lewis is about looking ahead at the future," adds Dasgupta. Any talk of contemporary dance is incomplete without the mention of Chandralekha, who created a post-modern fusion dance form by blending together elements from martial arts like kalarippayattu and classical forms like Bharatanatyam. Sadanand Menon will present a tribute to this legendary dancer on December 6, which happens to be her birthday.
The Sufi festival, Sama'a 2013, too promises a unique line-up of events, starting on November 22 with a film in Sindhi, Kachchhi and Hindustani about the life of medieval Sufi poet Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai. Performances by an Egyptian Mawlawiyah group, qawwali by Wajahat Jaffer and Sufiana strains by Parthiv Gohil are also on the anvil.
But the highlight of the month-long cultural festivities will be the fourth edition of Centrestage, starting November 29, which is known for bringing new plays and theatre formats to the stage. "The idea is to create a body of work that carries on to mainstream theatre. Plays that have premiered at Centrestage have gone on to be invited by numerous festivals across the country," says Deepa Gahlot, head of theatre and film programming at NCPA. "In fact, four to five plays that opened at Centrestage in the past few years are still running - like Interview, Meera and Bollywood ka Salaam. It inspires people to write new plays and create new groups."
This time too, Centrestage promises an eclectic mix of plays for the audience starting with Sunken Garden, a 30-minute-long street play by Waves, the winners of Nukkad Natak. Another interesting watch is Khidki, directed by Sananda Mukhopadhyaya, which is about two girls looking into each other's lives through the windows. The play has been inspired by the urban landscape photography of Gabriele Basilico.
The cultural fiesta is kicked off with the Contemporary Dance Season, which starts on November 6 and goes on till December 18. The highlights of the event will be performances by the Mamata Shankar Dance Company and Bharat Sharma, son of dancer-choreographer Narendra Sharma. "Both Mamata Shankar and Bharat Sharma present pieces inspired by Uday Shankar, and yet the choreographies are different in many ways," says Swapnokalpa Dasgupta, head of dance-programming at the NCPA. The event will also feature a talk by Sumeet Nagdev on contemporary dance and a film based on Narendra Sharma.
"We also have an interesting performance by Terence Lewis called Scrambled Eggs. If Sharma and Shankar are about looking back at the heritage of modern dance, Lewis is about looking ahead at the future," adds Dasgupta. Any talk of contemporary dance is incomplete without the mention of Chandralekha, who created a post-modern fusion dance form by blending together elements from martial arts like kalarippayattu and classical forms like Bharatanatyam. Sadanand Menon will present a tribute to this legendary dancer on December 6, which happens to be her birthday.
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Music buffs have a wide platter to choose from this month as two music festivals - Jus' Jazz 2013 and fifth edition of Sama'a 2013 - will be bringing international artists to the city. Come November 8, and a heady mix of acoustic guitar, jazz organ and saxophone will resound at the NCPA with the James & Wes Legacy Band taking to stage. This act will be followed by performances by Houston Person and the Helen Sung Trio, with special guest artiste Regina Carter on the violin.
The Sufi festival, Sama'a 2013, too promises a unique line-up of events, starting on November 22 with a film in Sindhi, Kachchhi and Hindustani about the life of medieval Sufi poet Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai. Performances by an Egyptian Mawlawiyah group, qawwali by Wajahat Jaffer and Sufiana strains by Parthiv Gohil are also on the anvil.
But the highlight of the month-long cultural festivities will be the fourth edition of Centrestage, starting November 29, which is known for bringing new plays and theatre formats to the stage. "The idea is to create a body of work that carries on to mainstream theatre. Plays that have premiered at Centrestage have gone on to be invited by numerous festivals across the country," says Deepa Gahlot, head of theatre and film programming at NCPA. "In fact, four to five plays that opened at Centrestage in the past few years are still running - like Interview, Meera and Bollywood ka Salaam. It inspires people to write new plays and create new groups."
This time too, Centrestage promises an eclectic mix of plays for the audience starting with Sunken Garden, a 30-minute-long street play by Waves, the winners of Nukkad Natak. Another interesting watch is Khidki, directed by Sananda Mukhopadhyaya, which is about two girls looking into each other's lives through the windows. The play has been inspired by the urban landscape photography of Gabriele Basilico.