The Remembering Veenapani Festival of Music at Adishakti will conclude this weekend with dance and drama performances.
This festival, which began on April 9 to commemorate acclaimed theatre personality Veenapani Chawla on her birth anniversary that fell on April 5, is the second edition of ‘Remembering Veenapani’ festival. Adishakti Laboratory for Theatre Arts and Research hosted 12 shows including theatre, dance and music.
The last weekend of ‘Remembering Veenapani’ festival will begin with ‘Songs of Kabir’, a blend of Carnatic and Hindustani music, on Friday evening. Vedanth Bharadwaj and Bindumalini are musicians trained in Carnatic and Hindustani Classical Music.
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“Vedanth’s guitar is what our voices ride on and we make and sing songs that capture a well blended union of our voices and the guitar. Kabir and other mystic poets of India inspire us apart from the many other songs that are soul stirring and melodic in nature. The music we make is a blend of Carnatic and Hindustani complemented by western chords of the guitar,” says Bindumalini.
Vedanth Bharadwaj has been pursuing music as a full-time career for the last eight years. He has formally learnt Carnatic classical music for over 15 years from Neyveli Santhanagopalan and currently under the tutelage of Ramamoorthy Rao for advanced Carnatic and Hindustani vocal training for the last six years.
Bindu Malini is trained in Carnatic Classical music. She has learnt under eminent musicians like Rama Ravi, Kiranavali, Mangalam Shankar and G.Mahadevan. She is now a disciple of Ustad Abdul Rashid Khan, a resident guru of Sangeet Research Academy, Kolkata, learning Hindustani Classical in the Gwalior Gharana Gayaki.
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‘Songs of Kabir’ will be followed by an Odissi recital by Vandana Supriya and Poornima Kartick at 7.30 p.m. on Friday. Vandana Supriya said: “I have never met Veenapani. However, Adishakti has always remained a special place for me since I participated in a workshop here.” A graduate in psychology, she pursued her passion for dance by joining Nityagram. Later, she joined Natya Institute of Kathak and Choreography.
Poornima Kartik, a trained Odissi dancer, has over 20 years of dancing and teaching experience. An architect by profession, she decided to listen to her heart and pursue her passion for dance full time. The duo will perform with four musicians.
The last day of this festival will showcase a comical play ‘How to Skin a Giraffe’. Directed by Rajiv Krishnan, the play ‘How to Skin a Giraffe’ is inspired by the play ‘Leonce and Lena’ by the iconic German Playwright, Georg Buchner (1813 – 1837). It is considered one of the genuinely comic pieces in the German language and is Buchner’s only humorous work. This play was initiated by The Goethe Institut- Max Muller Bhavan, Chennai in 2013 to commemorate Buchner’s 200th year.
In the original, Buchner takes a gently ironical look at some of his favourite subjects: idleness and boredom, love, autocratic government and people as puppets among other things, treating all these in an absurd vein.
The adaptation keeps the comic and absurd nature of the original intact while translating Buchner’s poetic language into everyday speech.
The addition of live music and movement combined with a strikingly simple set and colourful costumes will add colour and vibrancy to the adaptation of the play.
The play will be staged on Saturday and Sunday.