Cultural' Diary
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
CULTURAL' DIARY JANUARY The ten-day eighth National Conference and Festival of the Indian People's Theatre Associa tion concluded in New I.P.T.A. Delhi on January I. About Festival 1,000 artistes from 14 States participated in the Con Shri Mogliai Ozha, the famous drummer from ference and the festival which was inaugurated Assam, as he appeared at the 1.1'.T.A. festival. on December 23 by the Vice-President, Dr. S. Radhakrishnan. Delegates from the Soviet Union and China also attended. On the concluding evening of the I.P.T.A.'s festival of music, dance and drama, a number of the most successful items presented earlier were repeated. Among these were the Harvest Dance of West Bengal, the Fishermen's Dance of Andhra and the Chhau Dance of Bihar. One of the most outstanding features of the festival was a dance recital by Guru Gopinath, well known exponent of Kathakali. A scene from Bengali Jatra presented at the A scene from a dance number presented I.P.T.A. festival, at the I.P.T.A,festiral. The Conference elected Shri Sachin Sen Kesarbai Kerkar, Gangubai Hangal, Nazkat Gupta as the new president of the Indian Ali and Salamat Ali and Vilayat Khan and People's Theatre Association, while Shri Imrat Khan featured the programme of the Niranjan Sen was re-elected as General concluding night. The duet Violin and Shahnai Secretary. Shrimati Kamala Devi Chatto by V. G. Jog and Bismillah Khan and party padhyaya, Vice-Chairman of the Sangeet Natak provided an titting finale to an eight-day music Akademi, was among the 13 Fellows elected to programme. the I.P.T.A. *** On behalf of the Bharat Sewak Samaj, cups The Annual Convention of the Bharatiya Natya were presented to various groups for the best Sangh was held in New Delhi on January 19. items. The Conference passed a number of • Nearly 70 delegates from resolutions. Bharatiya all over the country *** Natya Sangh attended the Convention Vidwan T. Chowdiah, President of the 31st which was presided over Conference of the Music Academy, was presen by Shrimati Kamala Devi Chattopadhyaya. ted with birudu and Shri Chowdiah insignia of Sangita The Convention decided that the Sangh Honoured Kalanidhi on January 1 should give high priority to the construction when the Sadas marking of a chain of theatres with rehearsal halls to the conclusion of the conference was held in hasten the progress of the theatre movement in Madras. Sangita Kalanidhi K. Vasudevachar the country. It emphasised the need for train presided over the Sadas. ing in theatre crafts, particularly modern stage techniques, and urged the International Theatre A large and distinguished gathering of Institute to increase the number of Fellowships musicians and music-lovers was present and for advanced studies in dramatic arts for cheered Shri Chowdiah and five other Vidwans countries where the theatre was in a depressed as they were honoured and presented with state. awards. Prizes and Diplomas were also - awarded to successful competitors in the The Convention, in this connection, wel various music competitions and also to the comed the establishment of the Asian Theatre students of the Teachers' College of Music run Institute in New Delhi. by the Music Academy, Madras. ** * Addressing the Convention, Shrimati Kamala The 16th All-India Music Conference, organised Devi Chattopadhyaya said the greatest by the Prayag Sangit Samiti, concluded in tragedy of the Indian theatre was its complete •• Allahabad on January 6. divorce from the traditional classical drama. Ali-India MUSIC The Conference, which After briefly analyzing the causes of the Conference was preced~~ by a four- decline of the Indian theatre, she said what day compeution, attracted was needed today was a standard for the theatre several top-ranking musicians of India. and "evolving our own style without employing For three days the organisers gave of Western standards". an almost round the clock programme of Hindustani classical music, both * * vocal and instrumental, and dances. William Warfield, well-known American singer, gave a song recital in Delhi on January 19. The championship trophy was annexed by .• Warfield, one of the Vani Vidya Vithi of Calcutta. Kesar Sansit Wilham greatest baritone voices Vidyalaya of Allahabad got the runners-up Warfield the United States has pro- shield. ... duced in recent history, ** * arnved 10 India on January 16 during his ten The 13th session of the All-India Music Con- week concert tour of Asia and the Far-East. ference came to a successful conclusion in Touring under President Eisenhower's special •• Calcutta on January 9 international programme for cultural presenta Ali-India MUSIC when the programme for tion, the. celebr.ated Negro singer gave 28 Conference the tenth and last sitting concerts m India, Iran, Pakistan, Burma, was gone through. Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines and Demonstrations of Indian classical music by Hong Kong. 80 The President, Dr. Rajendra Prasad, inaugu "If the country is to achieve its cherished goal rated the Asian Theatre Institute in New Delhi such institutions should be encouraged." on January 20. The Asian Theatre Institute, founded by the The 16-day Festival opened with a concert . Bharatiya Natya Sangh, by Semmangudi Srinivasa Aiyar and party. Instrtute with the help of UNESCO, Ustad Vilayat Khan gave a recital of Hindus the Government of India and the Sangeet tani instrumental music during the Festival. Natak Akademi, will help train artistes and The Sabha has 2,700 members on its roll. experiment with theatre craft. The first of its kind in India, the Institute will run courses in rural and children's theatre. * * * The Sangh has offered 20 scholarships to Among Republic Day honours, the following students from all over the country. Besides, artistes were included: the States of Madras, Madhya Pradesh, Mysore, Andhra and West Bengal have Padma Bhushan: Ustad Allauddin Khan (musi sent two students each to study at the cian) and Shri Ariyakudi Rarnanuja Iyengar Ins.iiute. (musician). The services of two experts in children's and rural theatre, Mr. A. Elimore and Mr. M. Lee, Padma Shri: Nargis (film artist), Shrirnati have been lent by the UNESCO. Devika Rani (rilrn artist), Republic Day Shri Debaki Kumar Bose In his inaugural speech, Dr. Rajendra Honours (film producer), Shri Prasad spoke of the importance of drama and Satyajit Roy (film direc theatre in life "as a handy and popular tor) and Shri Shambhu Maharaj (dancer). medium of emotional expression". Every society bad progressed from one stage of intel • • lectual development to another "through * social institutions like tbe community drama", Teams from various States presented a rich the President said. variety of Indian dances in New Delhi on January 27, the first day Earlier, Shrimati Kamla Devi Chattopadh Folk Dance ofthe two-day Folk Dance yaya said a long-felt need had been fulfilled Festival Festival held in the by the establishment of the Institute. She Capital in connection boped that the Asian Institute would shortly with the Republic Day celebrations. become the centre of study and experimenta tion of various forms of Asian theatre where The participating troupes were from Assam, students from all parts of the wor ld would Bihar, Jammu and Kashmir, Madras, Manipur, gather. Dr. Nihar Ranjan Ray, Director. of the Andamans and Nicobar Islands, Uttar the Institute who also spoke on the occasion, Pradesh, Mysore, Bombay, Punjab, Pond,icherry, referred to the important role the institute was Orissa, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, HImachal going to play in co-relating various experiments Pradesh and Kerala, etc. made in new lines in the country by amateur as well as professional theatrical groups. Bihar won the Sangeet Natak Akademi Tbe Institute is shortly going to be taken trophy for the best performance, a~ the fes~ival over by the Akademi as part of its National and received it from the Prime Minister, BIhar Institute of Drama. bagged this coveted trophy in 1956 also. Silver cups were presented by Shri N~hru to the * * * Punjab Madhya Pradesh, Pondicherry and Uttar Pradesh troupes for outstanding perfor The eightb Music and Dance Festival of Sri mances, while the N.E.F.A. group was a\~ar Shanmukhananda Fine Arts and Sangeetha ded a special cup and Bombay and Orissa Sabha was inaugurated special recognition medals. Music & Dance in Bombay on January Festival 20. In his inaugural p~ogramme open~ng bega~ address, Mr. G.D. Somani, The on the day with the Kashmir team performing the Gaddi M.P., praised the work of the Sabha and said: 81 The Bihar troupe photographed with Shri Nehru from whom they received the Sangeet Natak Akademi trophy (seen in the photograph) for the best performance at the Folk Dance Festival. dance in which only men took part. The musi Dressed in colourful costumes, the men and cal instruments used were drums and flutes. women dancers from the Punjab presented the Next came Madras with their dance item called Nati dance displaying grace and rhythm. The Karagam in which brightly dressed men and tempo of the dance mounted to a climax when women balanced pots decorated with flowers the artistes danced vigorously to the accompani on their heads. The Manipuri dancers presented ment of drums. The team from Pondicherry a piece called Jounei in which both men and performed a tribal dance dealing with the women took part and sang and danced to the trapping of animals. They were followed by accompaniment of instrumental music. the martial dancers from Orissa who performed the Paik dance. With swords and shields in The contingent from the Andamans and their hands, these dancers, belonging to different Nicobar Islands, which was represented at the age groups, presented an impressive miniature Festival for the first time, performed a dance bat tIe scene.