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Various
workshops on Indian dance and music took place at Stirchley Primary
School, Crudginton Primary and Donnington Wood Juniors in Telford,
Shropshire.
Our
cultural correspondent, Manish Gajjar attended one of the workshops
held at Hadley Juniors, Crescent Road, Telford.
He chatted
to the various artists present.
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Sandip Mallik - Kathak dancer.
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Can
you tell us what this workshop is all about?'
‘Workshops
are a practical way of getting the children involved with
the basic aspects of the dance and the music. It gives them an insight
of what is involved with regards to the live performance on stage.’
‘Today
I will show the children the basic movements involved in the classical
dance call kathak. The pattern of kathak involves angles, turning,
movements of hands and feet.’
Sandip
goes on, ‘I have been learning the kathak dance since the age
of 4 years. I am now 28 years old and involved in a more contemporary
dance form which is a mixture of Kathak and folk.’
'As
a Kathak dancer, do you get to travel a lot around India?'
‘I
am constantly on the move due to my tight schedule. I am based in
Calcutta but frequently travel to North India which includes Delhi,
Jaipur, Hydrabad and Nagpur.
These
are the places where most of my performances take place.’
Sandip
continues talking passionately about his profession, ‘I
have been learning the art of Kathak from my guru, Shrilekha Mukerjee.
But since 1991, I have also been doing numerous workshops in the
company of Pundit Birjoo Maharaji. This occurs whenever he comes
to Calcutta'.
'I
have on many occasions, travelled to Delhi to receive further training
from Birjoo Maharaji' says Sandip.
This
is Sandip’s second visit to the UK and says that he loves all aspects
of the English culture apart from the British weather.
He finds
it very depressing. I am sure we all agree with him on that point!
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Mr Debasish Mukherjee – Tabla player
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'How
long have you been playing the tabla?'
‘I
was born in Calcutta and started my training at the age of two and
half years. Its now 30 years.'
My
Guru was my dear father at that time.’
Mr
Mukerjee continues smilingly, ‘This is my 8th visit to the UK
and so I am used to doing these workshops. I am really surprised
that the children over here are very keen to learn about our Indian
culture'.
'This
makes us feel good about our profession and gives us the inspiration
to carry on' says Mr Mukherjee.
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Baluji Shrivastav – Sitar, Dilruba and Vocals
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‘For
the past 20 years, I have been based in London but do go up to Yorkshire
from time to time to do some workshops’ says Mr Shrivatsav.
He
continues, ‘I will be travelling to Berlin, Vienna and Paris
later on this year to give a solo performance on stage and so it’s
going to be a busy schedule ahead.’
Mr
Shrivatsav adds, 'all three of us are individuals in our own
right but this time round, thanks to Annapurna Indian Dance Company,
we got the chance to work together.’
He
continues, ‘this is how we, as artists get together with different
musicians and dancers. It’s always a pleasure to work with Debasish.
We go back a long way.’
Looking
at the school children, Mr Srivastav adds, ‘I always love working
with children. They are so wonderful and so sweet. Most of all,
they really love my music and that really makes me feel good inside.’
Take a
look at our pop gallery below to see pictures of Hadley Juniors during
the Indian dance workshop.
Click
here to enter the pop-up gallery.
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