There is only one master in dance........

Master can we move here??? Master should we do this??? Master should we change??? Master should we eat???

Well now these days in Malaysia, especially Indian Commercial Dance scene, if you can coordinate two three dance steps, you will be given the title master...They regard themselves as choreographer and expect their fellow dancers to call them as Master....
Well let me give the definition of choreography here:

Choreography is the art of designing sequences of movements in which motion, form, or both are specified. Choreography may also refer to the design itself, which is sometimes expressed by means of dance notation. The word choreography literally means "dance-writing" from the Greek words chorea and writing. A choreographer is one who creates choreographies.

The term choreography first appeared in the American English dictionary in the 1950s.Prior to this, movie credits used various terms to mean choreography, such as "ensembles staged by" and "dances staged by".

Coming back so called Masters.....
These is the scenario
1) watch a movie, imitate the moves, tadaa its a choreography
2) Watch other groups, imitate the move, its another choreography
3) Go on stage , do syok sendiri dance, another choreography.

So where the heck these masters came from??? Aswara??? Temple of Fine Arts?? UM or UKM pusat kebudayaan???
Nope actually, these are the people who used to dance in schools and colleges. They dont have any basic in dance form, either classical or contemporary. Never heard of West End Production or Broadways.....

I have seen them so comfortable of what they do....One even had her dance T shirt printed with name as The Master....so lamelah.....

For you be recognised as choreographer you dont have to make others to call you one......we are not in India where dancers are engaged fulltime for 900 over films in a year...They can afford to have a dance master...but in Malaysia, Nee enna appadi perisa senjuttha???? 2 or 3 weddings shows per year??? some rundown events at Dewan Orang Ramai Bandar Tun Razak???

For me to be a master its an evolution ...from a dancer ( Revathy Sutra, Manju Fine Arts, Tina Asthana, Segar Era) to choreographers ( Radhimalar Sutra, Shankar TFA, Laksman Aswara, ) to an artistic director ( Ramli Ibrahim Sutra, Roopalavanya, Pamela Laya, Indran Era, Gayathri Dance Exchange)...and there are many more. So it takes not only one journey but few to improve yourself in dance and performing arts world..... and to get the due recognition....

A choreographer does only think about dance, but the dancers, the welfare , the brand, the attitude, the presentation and more.....So there are some dungus, who thinks they can choreograph, then they can be par to MJs choreography .....
Let me share...last 11th October, Asthana did an opening and three more dance item for Swan Stage Productions Deepavali event at Sivic Centre PJ. As usual the Asthana did the creative fusion Mahaganapathy, first time choreography for Colonial Cousin's song, MJ medley and Jai Ho....Then there was this another group...It seem the leader did so many local film choreographies.....With their DIVA attitude, the group did tried something on stage...infact the leader was bit snobbish with " rajasthan mix slovakian" english slang.....

Then this particular artist sang a spanish song....Ok what comes into ur mind when you think of Spain...tango??? Salsa??? Meringue??? Well what this team did, is some short Micheal Jackson's triller movement....ayo kadavale.....Yo Hablar Espanol Senor !!!!!...Thats not the way...worst part is the girls are wearing RM25 ringgit gown from Petaling Street...... to showcase Spain???

So where did they go wrong???? The dance, the genre, the message or again THE SYOK SENDIRI element??? Neway the so called Master was quite happy for what he have presented to the audience.... i say that was pathetic....

Being exposed to Indian Classical both in Sutra and TFA, Contemporary with Anthony, Malay Dance at UPM, Chinese, Commercial types of genres and attached as masters student in performing arts specialising in dance at UM...In fact how many out there can do Labanotation in dance??? LABA WHAT??? Well its dance writing techniques similar to music score....
Events and functions ....Solla theveyillei...From Award ceremonies- ITFA, IFF, to concerts - Astro Talents Quests, Konsert Suria, Raaga Concerts, From grand launchings - Global Indian Festival, tonnes of wedding events, showcases, production, done it. infact a recipient of Asian Youth Ambassador Award and nominee of the upcoming The Outstanding Young Malaysia Award ....Devised the syllabus and juggles three university's co curriculum , did talks on performing arts and the artistic director of Asthana Arts.....and if anyone calls me Master, first thing i tell them to call me Ravi Shanker....because i feel the word "master" is too high and overqualified for me to be addressed at....just Ravi Shanker....

There is only one master in dance.....

Aangikam Bhuvanam Yasya,
Vaachikam Sarva Vaangmayam,
Aharyam Chandra Tharadi,
Thum Numah Saat vikam Shivam...

You, whose limbs are the universe,
You, the originator of all speechess,
You , who adornment of moon and stars,
You are the truth.....

LORD NADARAJA I BOW TO THEE

i cant dance to your beat...if can, you dance to my beat.

Quite interesting qoute isnt it?? Well this is not about a qoute on dance??? Its about a attitude showcased by a young lad to me....He is the one pronounce these words.... A 20 something young exec....working some where in Sunway...He looks presentable...

So to make long story short, Asthana decided to send a team for Astro's dance competition. After cracking our head Sherina came up with the name Swastika Asthana. They managed to go through the audition. After that, a dancer withdrew himself from Swastika Asthana before the heats recording, we managed to get this young boy in to the team.....He came for the briefing and we thought everything was fine.....until he showcased his true colour....

1) He comes for class with jeans and working attire
2) Handphones is his best friends
3) Looks down on other peoples choreography
4) Despise indian???

Well, the first issue was highlighted to him . A second chance was given still he did the same. Lets look at other dancers in various dance institution. Istana Budaya, TFA, Dua Space, Kwang Tung, etc. The dancers are very disciplined to use attire that is proper for practice. Palazzo pants, tights, track bottom, dance sarees. You Name it. A dancer should be disciplined of what they wear in the class. Our body is temple or Sariram. The Talent is the divinity in us. The Temple should not be currupted with unwanted decorations. For our macha here is bout his lifestyle....his attitude...his fashion...." Iam comfortable with what i wear" he strictly reiterated to me...fine...i have to let go because he is an outsider with a rebelious culture that i cant mould him now.

The handphones stuffs is big headache. Whenever a dancer touches the dance floor, the attention and focus should be in the dance. But that not the case here. This is not the culture in this cyberage society. Not only him there are others who do this in universities and my own studio. Well no point of blaming him alone..

A choreographer has the responsibility of bringing out the best in the dancers. From the rasa, angasutha, nitta and nritya . This does not only apply for classical dance but also to any other genre of dance . Mr. A being a choreographer of his own ( surprising he cant even do a proper contemporary movement), conveniently changes the style of the dance when the actual choreographer not around...in this case , my own studio manager. He orders others when he himself is not a perfect dancer.....well bro , u can do this with any other group but not us....we look into creativity here, not any Indian Kutthu movements. Kutthu is actually a bit harsh word for those syok sendiri folk based dances with bit of headbanging concept. Thats my opinion yo.

"You guys too much indian....stop thinking like an Indian"....you are a typical indian....This young lost boy from civilisation have labeled me and asthana dancer being too much indian....Very daring ah???? If thats the case, what do you call those dancers who only know about Indian Modern and Folk, Prabhu Deva and Master Kala are the only choreographers in this universe they know, Vijay & Shreya are great dancer, make costumes out Fully synthetic sequined materials with gawdy colours, striking blue eye shadows for yellow thaipusam colored costume....For me Asthana comes with creative and fashionable choreography.....Look at the Statues of Kajhouraho, The kalinga Traders, Suvarbhumi, Panchasunthara the production.....Half of the Indians out there might be wondering what are these alien words as they so much submerged into Indian Cinematic era.....Our Macha here is neither Wade Robson nor Martha Graham's grandson ....or Shobana's brother nor Kalakshetra graduate....So for him is about MTV or Channel V that he gets to peek at any mamak shop and refers that as cool stuffs .....for him to be proud of.....My experience as Promotions Producer and pioneer team for Malaysia 1st English Music Channel Astro Hits. Tv do let me to look at the Western World Nearer. Well i dont have to be Snoop Dogg or Justin Timberlake....its about techniques and dance style dude...Being Indian is very subjective....There are typical Indians, There are middle income indians, and of course the elite. Macha belongs to the category :Being American Born Indian. Can you get the acronym???? I will write about this another day on Indians who are hypocrites about their race, culture and arts. How many Indian knows about the Mohenjo Daro or Harrapa, Sillapathikaram, the Rama's bridge....so many things of them dont know of what are they being ignorant of....So our Macha here is not as fair as Prince Charles, or has Micheal Bolton blond hair . But one thing for sure he has fake English Slang ??? Sounds like some Rajasthan mix Slovakian Language...How many of us are familiar with these kind of characters??? I bet we have met some of them.

Well, if anyone are into anything , it should come from their heart. Even in work, in life, in dance .....

From the Natya Shastra, a text on the arts, this beautiful quotation and translation was often quoted by Chitresh Das:

"Yato hasta stato drishti"..."Where the hand is, the eyes follow"
"Yato drishti stato manaha"..."Where the eyes go, the mind follows"
"Yato manaha stato bhava"..."Where the mind is, there is the feeling"
"Yato bhava stato rasa"..."Where the feeling is, there is mood"

Our friend here and lots of performing artists still missing these links......
So, Being American Born Indian, Asok conveniently send a SMS that he is withdrawing from the team one day before the competition. How professional??? This was expected but did waste our timing moulding this log. I was not dissapointed in fact happy that he quit because of his cowardness. Afraid of his failure. Because not all performing artist can withstand the challenges ....

So our back up plan worked and we moved on . In fact the ambience was better in the group. After all the hard work, the team now is in the finals of Aattam 100 Vagai.....

PANCHASUNTHARA

We have heard about the Pancha Paandavas….The 5 great warriors of Mahabaratha…And how about Pancha Bootha?…The Earth, Water, Wind, Fire and Sky co existing together for the harmonious life…The 5 coloured 5 Pancha Varma parrot mesmerizes the onlooker….Now comes the Pancha Sunthara…The 5 young men. spreading the message on community in choreography….Asthana Arts Kuala Lumpur, for the first time brings together 5 friends into a production that rare to be seen by KLites….comprising new age fusion Indian dance incorporating Kathak, Bharathanatyam, Odissi, Contemporary, Jazz and Ballet, is a creative ideas that the new age Malaysian should look at.

Pancha Sunthara’s

Ravi Shanker – Graduated from UPM in Bachelor Arts in English, and currently pursuing his studies in Masters in Performing Arts at UM, has 10 years experience from choreographing stage, TV and Concerts. The finalist of The Malaysian Dream Awards, Ravi Shanker’s persistent in arts never stopped even his corporate days in a Broadcasting Company. Currently he is the Artistic Director, the leading Indian fusion dance company , Asthana Arts and as well teaches as partime lecturer in UPM, UM and UKM for the subjects of Indian Classical Dance. Ravi Shanker’s passion in dance was ignited in Temple of Fine Kuala Lumpur under the tutelage of Srimathi Geetha Shankaran Lam. Later Ravi Shanker ventured to Orissa India explore the Art of Odissi with Guru Gajendra Panda.

Laxman Balakrishnan – Lex as is fondly known, is one of the fine quality dance choreographers that can be found in Malaysia. The graduate of Akademi Seni budaya dan warisan kebgsaan ( Aswara) Lex have explored variety of dance genres and choreographies in his young age. He was part of Ismail The Last Days, Tunku The Musical, Sirah Junjungan, Race, Citra and Kaki Blue. His Choreography includes Ababil Aswad, Black Body, Black Draft. Lex is basically a bold choreographer working with contemporary and new age genre highlighting social issue in the community. Lex is also the Asistant Artistic Director with Asthana Arts Kuala Lumpur.

Kunaratnam – Kuna started his Indian Classical Dance of Bharathanatyam at The Temple of Fine Arts Kuala Lumpur and Lassya Arts of Guruvayur Usha Rama Chandran. Kuna who have completed his Arangetram last July, his also well chiselled modern and folk dancer. He has been actively involved with Era dancers performing for events and production. In Asthana Arts, Kuna’s role as studio manager has moulded him to a dancer with a management skills. Kuna have represented Malaysia to Indian, Germany and Thailand promoting Indian Classical Dance.

Rama – Rama’s exploration in Indian dance started in his fine age of 7. From his hometown Banting, he travels to Kuala Lumpur to learn Bharathanatyam with Guruvayur Usha Rama Chandran of Lassya Arts. He is a dancers, choreographer, designers, props maker, make up artist and everything that a creative person that should have. Rama has his owqn school at Banting teachning them Bharathanatyan from beginners stage to advance level. Apart from that , Rama have entered Aattam 100 Vagai dance competition and emerged as winner under the banner of Era. Currently Rama is the resident choreographer of Asthana Arts and exploring on the fusion side of dance.

Lawrence – Graduting from Information Technology from PTPL, he gained the knowledge of Odissi from The Temple of Fine and Sutra Dance Theatre. Later he progressed with Guru Gajendra Panda, Guru Dhurga Charan Ranbir and Dr. Chandrababu. Lawrence have performed locally and internationally. Currently Lawrence is In House Instructors of Asthana Arts Kuala Lumpur. The

THE ITEMS

Metrosexual Mayura

The crows being black in nature....tries to imitate the move of peacock...The peacock...with long lustrous feathers...with majestic walk.....explores the world with confidence....It get all its attention....the human being admires its gracefulness, the beautiful body and the dance...unlike the crow..ugly, dirty, being used, pathetic voice , despised because of its colour...yet the crow stands on its feet’s struggling to survive ...will it??? If you are beautiful and colour is different, you make the world to praise you...love you...How bout us?? Black, low, unwanted, last in list....


The Chakkar lady

I wait here in this room,make sure when you come in..bring me more of what i desire for....talk to me with gold and silver.,pour to me pearls and diamonds...dont you want to touch my body that is bejewelled with your care and passion...till then my love to you i shall never give it you...more you surrender to my need, the more love that you get .


Lalitha

Contemporary love has different priorities. We believe that longer the love more is the pain of separation and hence more is the suffering. By the fear of future suffering many never are able to start loving in the very first case. And things are worse in case of marriage! People keep on thinking that they have all the time of a life-time; they take each-other for granted. And again the result is that they can never start living and loving.

Black File

Black File: No one Know WHAT really happen…HOW many are there in the list…WHERE it happened….WHO did it???/ And WHY??? Black File....remains unopened....remains a mystery

TechnoTillana
My forefathers came to this land…seeking the new life…new meaning….today I am the third generation….Life was so simple….but now is moving fast …everything changes. Is it Gucci or Kanchipuram? Is it Cappuchino or Chaya? TGV? GSC? How can I fit into this?

Ardhanareeswara

My salutations to both Parvathi and Shiva,

To Her who has black hairs resembling the swollen cloud,

To Him who has copper matted locks which are like lightning,

To Her who is the goddess of the mountains,

And to Him who is the Lord of the universe.

My salutations to both Parvathi and Shiva,

To Her with glittering ear rings of gems,

To Him who wears a great serpent as ornament,

To Her who is the darling of Lord Shiva,

And to Him who is the sweetheart of Parvathi.

My salutations to both Parvathi and Shiva,
To Her wearing garland of sweet smelling flowers,

To Him wearing the garland of skulls,

To Her who dresses in great silks,

And to Him wearing the eight directions.

My salutations to both Parvathi and Shiva,
To Her whose body is smeared with musk and saffron,
To Him whose body is smeared with ashes of the burning ghat,
To Her whose prettiness radiates love,
And to Him who destroyed the God of love.

My salutations to both Parvathi and Shiva,
To Her whose feet is adorned by the lotus offered to her,
To Him whose feet is decorated by the anklet of snakes,
To Her who is as shining as the moon,

And to Him who wears moon as an ornament.

My salutations to both Parvathi and Shiva,

To Her whose dance marks the creation of the world,

To Him whose dance destroys everything,

To Her who has even number of eyes,
And to Him who has odd number of eyes.

My salutations to both Parvathi and Shiva,

To Her who has eyes as wide as the blue lotus,

To Him who has eyes as wide as a fully opened lotus,

To Her who is the mother of the universe,
And to Him who is the father of the universe.

My salutations to both Parvathi and Shiva,

To Her who is the beginning , middle and end,

To Him who sees east, west and all directions
To Her towards whom everything travels,

And to Him , in whom all things meet their end

The Nine Emotions in You

Navarasa in YOU…..

In Shringhara, I found my passion in YOU,

In Hasya, it is the joy that YOU & I share together,

In Karuna, YOU taught me compassion to those around me,

In Bhibitsa, when others despised me being with YOU,

In Veera, it is the valor made me stay truth to YOU in whatever circumstances, In Bhayanaka, I still had the fear of losing YOU each day,

In Rudra, it is fury in me to live & explore further with YOU,

In Arputha, an ecstasy, I cherished the moment I found YOU in me,

Finally YOU gave me Shantha,

The peace that I long for…it is YOU to be with me forever……MY DANCE…..

When indians dont appreciate their own arts, why bother about indian rights??

Well, its 4 something in the morning and thought of writing of what i had in my mind....around 11 pm came back from Serdang after cordinating the Indian Classical Dance Classes... I have been teaching indian classical dance in three major universities in Klang Valley...As usual the mudra's, navarasa, the adavus etc etc.... Most of my students are either Chinese or Malay followed by small number of Indian students....The Non Indians do come for classes , do extra works on internet and use proper attire for class. No complains. Now when it comes to Indian Girls, they feel they know everything about dance... One always busy with her handphone smsing .... One comes to class with jeans or trousers..... One blurs when Alaypayuthey Kanna abhinaya when a sarawakian chinese girls can sing and dance at the same time. Sir what time i time can go back asks one because the next day she has exam....arent the Chinese and Malay students have exam on the next day??? Arent they are there to finish the dance choreography??? Every semester we see, Indian Students taking everything so light in the dance class..... Then there are so called Mayats. They dont take part in any activities,neither join Indian Dance Cocurriculum. Eventually these are the hypocrites who "konon" want to "memupuk semangat perpaduan " and " memelihara seni dan budaya India" via their annual concerts in Universities....Well dancing for Silambattam " Where is Party" and Kanthaswamy " En Peru Meenakumari" songs are some sort of Budaya they see in their eyes. We cant run away from these commercial genres but what happens to other part of the Indian heritage that was build in centuries by our forefathers when they came to this land.... Now three main Universities are offering Indian dance under the co curriculum section, but the so called Indians who are proud of the Indian root rather click to register for easier co curriculum subject rather than learning what is Bharathanatyam, Kuchipudi or Kathak. At one point i asked why not Indian Dance??? Her Reply " Nolah Senior, couldnt concentrate if dance...." I asked myself, so you are getting 4 flat each semester for not being active in cocurriculum ??? Arent these people understand about dance energizes you mind .....Dont Temple of Fine Arts has dancing doctors??? I even have corporate communication friend who does Salsa and Latin.... At one university, due to factions of anti and pro raggers, the partisans cant meet eye to an eye and both loose out taking Indian Classical dance in another height. The victim is the arts itself.When the Malay Artis Budaya perform indian dance, the question is "Yen Tamizhan Illaya namma dance seyya??"...Mutha Kaariyum nee vanthataane..... How long we gonna keep hitting the Kolattam Stick for every single opening of the universitis Malam Kesenian??? I feel the word kesenian itself is being prostituted by the so called seniors and followed by the freshmans. And there is this scenario,every semester the pengarah persembahan of the concerts will call " Sir Engalukku Indian Cultura patri nalla opening dance venum, creative ah venum" Oklah, i agree and create all these beatiful openings events such As Techno Tillana, Velli Chalaingkal, Vande Mataram, The Shiva Shakti Dance, Om Namashivaya etc etc....but after a period i feel, these dance are only there to compliment the event for beginning and no one appreciates end of the day . Ithuellam Kalakshetra and Swarnamalaya Story. I write this another day. So now i have decided that if Indian dont appreciate Indian Dance, I am not gonna choreograph for any University concerts......pull stop.... Now let the senate of the universities take out Indian Classical dance from its co curriculum subject....Is this where the so called politician and Indian Based NGOs comes after the administration of Universities??? Another Indian Language Department case in UM? issue to pop it in Tamil Nesan and Makkal Osai??? You know what, Indian Dance Subject is not only for Indian but also for others.....so the pride of such paper should be also more with Indian students and be pro active.....but thats not the case here....And there are small numberIndian students that are very supportive of Indian Arts in UM, UPM and UKM. Thank You Girls. For Simple arts cant be appreciated by us, how we gonna appreciate what we have in Malaysia....Every day we are seeking for Indian rights, be it in politics , social and welfare.....but are we appreciting with what we have already to ask more????