E Arun
Port Blair, Dec 07: Impressed with the beauty of Andaman and Nicobar Islands the renowned Kathak Dancer from Belgium, Seema Mehta today left for Mumbai after completing her four day workshop on classical dance form, Kathak, at Port Blair.
Talking to Andaman Sheekha about Kathak, she said that she wants to dedicate her complete life for Kathak Dance Form. “I want to dedicate my entire life for this one dance form,” she said.
About the four day workshop, which was organised by Samhita Veda Acharya (Koyal) from NAACH Academy of Performing Arts and INTACH, Mehta said that she want to teach children of these Islands, whatever knowledge she has gathered till now to create awareness and inculcate the knowledge of dance and culture among children in fun way. A good number of students attended the workshop, which was organised at Delanipur Community Hall.
“Children of these Islands are very talented and they pick up very fast,” she said.
However, deeply upset with littering and indiscriminate garbage dumping, she said that authorities in Andaman should take serious steps to keep all tourists sports litter free. “Fines must be imposed on littering to preserve beauty of these Islands,” she said.
When asked about the organiser of the event, she said “Samitha is working very hard and trying to provide high quality of artistry, therefore the govt should support her.”
Pofile of Seema Mehta: Her life has been shaped across borders. Born in Mumbai, Seema soon moved to Antwerp, Belgium. A born artist, she graduated from the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, California, USA where she completed her BFA, Bachelors of Fine Art specializing in painting and sculpture. This is also when she embarked on a journey as a Kathaka.
Gurukul
She has found a new life, a new birth after twelve years of riyaaz with her Guruji Pandit Chitresh Das. She is a part of the Chhandam School of Kathak, one of the world’s largest Indian Classical Dance Institutions with over 500 students with centers in Kolkata, California, Boston, Canada and Mumbai. Chhandam has and continues to impact the preservation and promotion of Kathak of the highest caliber locally, nationally and internationally. While she continues to train under her Guru, she is also the Director of Chhandam Nritya Bharati, India. Under her, Chhandam India has in two years grown into a big family of over 100 students.
Performing Career
She performed her debut Kathak solo at NCPA, in January 2009. She was accompanied by some of India’s greatest musicians, such as Pandit Bhawani Shankar on Pakhawaj, Pandit Ramesh Mishra on Sarangi. In her debut performance itself she demonstrated the unique innovation of Kathak Yoga, where she was continuously singing, reciting and dancing various compositions while playing the harmonium.
Kathak Yoga
Seema is an expert practitioner and performer of Pt. Das’ innovation- Kathak Yoga, where the dancer sings a melody while playing the harmonium and performs complex compositions, rhythms or chhands at the same time. Kathak Yoga, a cardio vascular, weight-bearing technique was researched at Harvard University for its complexity of organic mathematics. As a representative of her Guru in India, she plays a significant role in bringing this human wonder to India.
Seva and Tyaag
Seema has gone beyond the traditional preview of dance and touched lives through her work. She believes that teaching is vital part of passing on the legacy. As part of a core team, she has worked with the children of Kolkata’s red light areas, the New Light Project in particular. She also teaches children from the Akanksha and SMILE Foundations in Mumbai.
Pandit Das and his students have been traveling across the globe and touching lives beyond the stage. As Director of Chhandam India she is taking forward the vision of empowering women and bringing joy through dance.
Also performed at:
2003 – San Francisco State University, California
2004 – Young Audiences, California
2005 – Temple of Fine Arts at Shivanjali, Coimbatore – Tamil Nadu
2006 – Fort William, Kolkata – West Bengal
2007 – Jamshed Bhabha, NCPA, Mumbai – Maharashtra
2008 – G.D. Birla Sabhagar, Kolkata – West Bengal
2009 – Traditional Kathak Solo, NCPA, Mumbai – Maharashtra
2010 – Tata Theatre, NCPA, Mumbai – Maharashtra
2010 – Shaniwarwada Festival, Pune – Maharashtra
2010 – Bangalore Club, Bengaluru – Karnata
2010 – Bridges – Godrej Dance Academy Theatre, NCPA, Mumbai
2010 – Bridges – Town Hall, Kolkata – West Bengal
2010 – JPGW Zensar Amphitheatre – Pune – Maharashtra
2011 – Sanatana Dharma – Little Theatre, NCPA Mumbai – Mumbai
2011 – Dynamic Rhythms – Birla Auditorium – Jaipur
2011 – Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan Dance Festival – Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu
2011 – Music and Me Festival, Mumbai
2012 – Performed in ‘Darbar’ – Asian Arts Museum – San Francisco
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