SPIC MACAY Bangalore presents Virasat 2010

Starting August, SPIC MACAY Bangalore will be hosting Virasat 2010 – an annual series featuring an eclectic mixture of various Indian dance, music and art forms. The motivation behind this series is SPIC MACAY’s objective of taking Indian art and culture to the student community at large by conducting programs and interactive lec-dems at academic institutions. The series which will be featuring 5 different art forms conducted over 60 days spanning across 40 schools and colleges in and around the city. Virasat 2010 is dedicated to Guru Rabindranath Tagore to mark the beginning of his 150th birth anniversary.

Virasat 2010 will be inaugurated by Hon’ble Governor of Karnataka, Shri H.R.Bharadwaj on 2^nd August at 11 AM at KLE’s S Nijalingappa College, Rajajinagar

The artists’ list this year includes:

You can contact Kurup (9845722014) or Mythraeyi (9986030210) or Navaneeta (8971969811) for further details.

Write to us at spicmacay.bangl@gmail.com.

For more details visit: http://www.spicmacay.com/

August Schedule for Virasat 2010:

Pt Ajay Pohankar: Hindustani Vocal

Shri Bundu Khan and Langa Manganiyar troupe: Rajasthani Folk Music

Artiste’s details:

Pt.Ajay Pohankar (Hindustani Vocal):

Pt Ajay Pohankar is one of the great Indian classical artistes and has been singing Kirana, Patiala and Gwalior gharana gayakis. Ajayji was a child prodigy and was introduced to Classical music by none other than Ustad Amir Khan saheb in 1958 at the age of 10 at the Calcutta music conference. Over the last 50 years, Pandit Ajay Pohankar has performed innumerable concerts in India and around the world. He has performed in almost all conferences and major festivals in India like Harvallabh festival-Jalandhar, Pune’s Sawai Gandharva Fest, Tansen Festival-Gwalior, Sankatmochan-Benares, Saptak and many more besides the prestigious tourism festivals and innumerable international concerts in some of the most prestigious venues of Africa, U.K and America.

Shri Bundu Khan Langa & Manganiyars troupe (Rajasthani folk music):

Born in the family of Langa, traditional folk singers of Rajasthan, Shri Bundu Khan had his initial training in singing from Ustad Allauddin Khan Langa and later received advanced training from well known folk singer Ustad Rehmat Khan Langa. He gave his first public performance at the age of 12 and has been giving performances both in India and abroad for over 3 decades. He is a recipient of Rajasthan Sangeet Natak Academy Award, Sangeet Kendra Aditya Vikram Birla Kala Kiran Puraskar and Maroo Dhara Sanstha Award. He is also a senior A-grade artist in All India Radio.

Shri Gurappa Chetty (Kalamkari):

Jonnalagadda Gurappa Chetty began learning the art of Kalamkari from his father at the age of 13. He perfected this art and carried it to new horizons and even depicted legends from the Puranas. His works have been taken to several foreign locations including Vienna, UK, Australia, Canada and China. Shri Gurappa was honoured with the title of “Shilpa Guru‟ in 2002 by the Crafts Council of India. He won the Presidential National Award for Crafstmanship in 1976 for his 20m Ramayana panel, Kamaladevi Vishwa Karigar Award and Tulasi Samman from Bharat Kala Bhawan, Bhopal. “The award is a tribute to the recognition of Indian Art,” is how Sri. Gurappa Chetty reacted upon winning the President’s award.

Guruji Gangadhar Pradhan & troupe (Gotipua):

Gotipua – the precursor to Odissi dance – is performed by boys dressed in female garb and costumes. The word ‘Gotipua’ literally means ‘goti’ that is one and ‘pua’ that is boy, in Oriya. By vigorous bending and twisting of the body, the dancer strikes bandha or acrobatic poses.

Guru Gangadhar Pradhan, Founder-Director of Konark Natya Mandap is a teacher, performer choreographer and a Mardal player who earned name and fame in the international arena in the field of art and culture. He is a recipient of Senior Fellowship from the Ministry of Human Resources Development, Govt. of India. For his outstanding contribution, President of India honoured him with the highest award Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1998. Recently he was conferred the Padmashree Award by the Govt. of India and D.litt. from Utkal University for his contribution to Odissi and Gotipua Dance of Orissa

Ms. Manasi Prasad (Carnatic Vocal):

Manasi Prasad is one of the rising stars among the new generation of Carnatic musicians. Manasi was initiated into Carnatic classical vocal music and Bharatanatyam dance at the age of 5. Since then, she has been pursuing the arts with passion and dedication. She has been featured in most of the prestigious venues of classical music at Bangalore, Mumbai, Chennai, Delhi and other cities in India. She is an empanelled artist of the ICCR (Indian Council for Cultural Relations), and has also performed concerts in the US, Singapore, Middle East and Africa. Numerous awards have come her way, including the prestigious Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar from Government of India’s Sangeet Natak Akademi, an award from the Madras Music Academy. Manasi Prasad is truly a multi faceted artiste. Apart from her passion for the arts, she is also academically accomplished. She is an Engineering graduate and also completed her MBA at the prestigious Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore.