PRODUCTIONS

Shakuntala – A Dance Drama

This production is composed, conceived and choreographed by Hemant & Vaishali in terms of its music, presentation, sets, costumes and script. This dance drama involves love, romance, fate, tradition, emotions, and martial art skills and is a piece of history that tells how India came to known as Bharat, a name which is still official in Indian languages.

The play was first performed on October 10, 2005 with live local musicians and a cast of 30 members at National Cultural Centre Guyana. This artwork laid the foundation of Voice of Vedas Sangeet Academy in Canada when Dr B. Doobay , President VOV invited Hemant and Vaishali to serve as cultural educators in the organisation.

This ballet is engaging their Canadian students in a rare creative experience. The literature, dance, music, theatre and painting has found a fuller expression in presentation of “ Shakuntala”

Upcoming show - July 12, 2008, 7.00 pm at Vaughan City playhouse Theatre.

Kathak – Flamenco

This is an unusual fusion yet a vibrant combination of the Indian & Spanish art forms. Flamenco is a traditional dance of Gypsies who left Northern India in 800-900 A.D and reached to Spain through different migratory routes in 14^th century, thus, acquiring different cultures resulting into the inevitable transformation of the art. Flamenco which was restricted to family group of Gypsies, was later adopted by the general population of Spain after 1782.

Performing a long series of concerts with Flamenco dancers namely, Gabriela Gutarra, Sara Gutarra, Rebecca Caramona & Juan Iron, the duo has experienced a perpetual contingency due to existence of similar percussive foot movements, sharp angles of the body, comparable outturned leg positions, deep pauses & rapid barrel turns. The presentation establishes a deep rooted link among two diverse cultures that eventually merge together in uplifting beats.

SAMLAYAN (Fusion)

Percussion instruments Taasha, African Drums & Tabla have their own local tradition and style of performance, yet, rhythm is universal which is manipulated in innumerable ways by the dancer and different percussions to reveal varying degrees of sounds but maintaining the tempo. This is an attempt to integrate these percussion instruments and their rhythms – all of which vie with each other for the attention of the dancer and his ankle bells

The Elements (Panch Tatva)

This Production is a combination of Dance & Yoga and is based on Vedanta theory that the human body is made up of five elements i.e earth , sky, wind, fire and water. On the other hand, the word Yoga has been derived from the word ‘yog’ meaning union. An artistic treatment has been given to correlate various Aasanas of yoga and dance movements of Kasha to draw parallel lines between the oneness of soul and oneness of expressions.

Kathak Bharatnatyam Jugalbandi

This item strengthens the mutual understanding between the two Indian traditional dance styles, one from the south and the other from the North. This induces a thrill of innovation not only in the dancers but also in the percussionists. The exposition is an integration of the two techniques with interchanged vocabulary and involves the experimentation done on Tillana and Jati by kathak dancers and Tarana, Aamad & Tihai by Bharatnatyam dancers but retaining the purity of Dance.

Pratiksha (Awaiting)

It is a dance composition based on the love pair of Rajasthan ‘Dhola Maru’ where Maru is a female awaiting the arrival of her beloved Dhola. The Dance depicts various state of mind like making his image on sand, writing missives and sending through pigeons, conjecturing the reason of the delay in the arrival of her paramour. Dhola arrives for a short visit expressing his love and sharing the moment of joy and Maru is thinking at the same time that this night should be as long as her own life. The beauty of this composition lies in its Rajasthani verses.

Grace & Vigor

In kathak dance where gender recognition is based on one’s own individuality, feelings and emotions, the dance also attains an identity through movements, styles and techniques executed by the dancer.

In order to fully fathom the depths of gender in Kathak dance, the composition ‘Grace and Vigor’ is hallmarked by comparing and contrasting the innate characteristics of man and woman. Man’s qualities lie in force, power, energy,and vitality as oppose to woman’s charm, beauty, elegance and shyness were well depicted by the duo while performing on the mnemonic syllables of kathak in slow tempo. The duo inclines towards each other through the medium of rhythm to achieve a perfect equipoise of beautification and exhilaration.