LOVE IN THE TIME OF KAMA: Solo Bharatanatyam By Sharanya Chandran Comes to CD Deshmukh Auditorium

LOVE IN THE TIME OF KAMA! Solo Bharatanatyam Performance celebrating love and togetherness by DANCER SHARANYA CHANDRAN (daughter and disciple of Guru Geeta Chandran) will be held on Friday, 14 February 2020, 7pm at CD Deshmukh Auditorium, India International Centre, 40 Lodi Estate, New Delhi-110003.

ENTRY IS FREE AND OPEN! ALL ARE WELCOME!

14 February is celebrated as Valentine's Day, a day for lovers. But love and desire have always been enshrined in the Bharatanatyam repertoire.

In her performance LOVE IN THE TIME OF KAMA, Dancer Sharanya Chandran presents the unique motif of the ardhanareeshwara where Shiva and Shakti, reside side by side, complementing their energies and capabilities.

The varnam, a Tanjore Quaret gem in Ragam Kamboji narrates the plight of a dejected heroine completely besotted by her Lord, Shiva of Brihadeeshwara. Even as she awaits his arrival, she is tormented by arrows of love by Cupid, Manmatha or Kamadeva.

In the Vidyapati piece, the aspect of nindastuti comes alive as Radha argues with Kamadeva about how he has mistaken her for Shiva.

Daughter and disciple of (Padmashri) Geeta Chandran, Sharanya has been passionately learning, choreographing and performing Bharatanatyam for over 25 years.

As a solo artist and as a senior dancer of the Natya Vriksha Dance Company, Sharanya has performed at prestigious festivals including at the Khajuraho Dance Festival, Nalanda Nrityotsava, HCL Concert Series, Haridas Samaroh, in Chennai at the Narada Gana Sabha and the Brahma Gana Sabha in India; and in eminent festivals in the US (including at the Lincoln Centre in New York (as part of Incredible India @ 60 festival); and at the Consulate General of India in New York), Thailand (as part of the Thai Cultural Festival, Bangkok), in UK (at the Nehru Centre in London), and in Chile and Colombia as part of the Festival of India series by Ministry of Culture.

Sharanya is empanelled with the Indian Council for Cultural Relations as a solo artist and is also nationally graded by Doordarshan. She is a recipient of the Swami Haridas Sangeet Kala Ratna Samman, The Yuva Natya Shiromani award, Parampara Award and the Chitra Kala Sangam Award.

Sharanya is an integral part of Natya Vriksha, an organization founded by her guru Smt Geeta Chandran, which aims preserving and promoting Indian dance and culture. At Natya Vriksha, Sharanya assists with teaching, and curating festivals, especially aimed at providing young dancers a platform to present their art. Sharanya is also trained in Nattuvangam & has assisted her guru & other performers on several occasions.

Sharanya balances her career as a dancer with her other pursuits. She completed her Masters in Development Studies at the London School of Economics as an INLAKS scholar and is concurrently pursuing a career as a policy professional at J-PAL South Asia, a policy-research network aimed at reducing poverty across the globe.

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