A Day-long Symposium and Ticketed Performance that celebrate the contributions of Courtesans to India’s Performing Arts For Immediate Release Any study of India’s rich history of arts will be incomplete without a reference to the Tawaif, Baiji or Courtesan who served as vision and muse for poets, painters and musicians, and is a consummate artiste in her own right. Courtesans were known for their delicate poetry, a fine interlacing of Persian and Awadhi languages, their profound influence on musical traditions (like ghazals, dadra, thumri and gayaki) and their most indelible impact on expressive dance disciplines, imbuing the language of dance with poetics and soul. The Tawaifs and Baijis were once considered the epitome of performance art. They were held in high esteem and treated at par with Royalty. However, the important contributions of Courtesan Culture to Indian heritage have unfortunately been mitigated in the pages of history, having left residual and often highly romanticised traces. Journey back into India’s performative past with a unique event that brings the magic, the mannerisms and mujras of the Tawaif back to life! Sufi Kathak Foundation, The Royal Opera House, Mumbai and Avid Learning present Tehzeeb-e-Tawaif: Courtesan Culture and Women Performers in India (18th- 20th Century), an illuminating day-long Symposium exploring The role and significance of women artistes and how they irrevocably influenced dance and musical legacies of the Indian Tradition. Please read below for more on the Symposium: Conceptualised by Kathak Dancer and Founder of the Sufi Kathak Foundation Manjari Chaturvedi this symposium will be divided into sessions that re-tell stories, reaffirm histories and address issues related to these exemplary performers. The seminar will aim to encourage awareness and academic exploration of the fast-fading history and legacy of the Tawaif and highlight the important role of women performers in the shaping of, preservation and promotion of cultural heritage. This symposium follows on the heels of its recent iteration held in Delhi, and continues the exploration of the subject since the first-ever All-India Tawaif’s Conference held in 1961. Through discussions, film screenings and performance, the Symposium will aim to introduce alternate narratives about these incredible women performers that have been marginalized by history. Speakers will include doyens from the worlds of the performing arts, academia and cinema, like Shubha Mudgal, Lata Singh, AN Sharma and many more. The day will also include a screening at the venue of the documentary film Anwesha which explores the performance traditions of Calcutta. The Symposium will close with A Tribute to Begums and Baijis of Bollywood: The First Women of Hindi Cinema by Manjari Chaturvedi that will pay homage to early depictions of courtesans in film and bring back to life the magic, grace and soul of the Tawaif. Sessions include: Panel Discussion | Courtesan: Women Performers and Male Gaze Presentation | Tawaif: The Muse in Cinema Panel Discussion | Performance Art of the Tawaifs and Baijis Panel Discussion | The Tawaif’s Song: The Journey from Live Performer to Recording Artiste Documentary Film Screening | Anwesha by Sanghamitra Sarkar Closing Performance | A Tribute to Begums and Baijis of Bollywood: The First Women of Hindi Cinema Asad Lalljee, SVP, Essar Group, CEO, Avid Learning and Curator, Royal Opera House, Mumbai says, ““This landmark symposium promises to revive and evoke the lost art and gravitas of the Tawaif, a trope that has immense relevance for the history and cultural milieu of Mumbai’s performance arts ecosystem, and, especially for the Royal Opera House, Mumbai. We are proud to host Manjari and this symposium and performance, that will showcase the renaissance of the art of the Courtesan.” Manjari Chaturvedi, Kathak Dancer and and Founder of the Sufi Kathak Foundation says, “My efforts are to question and remove the social stigmas associated with the Tawaifs and give them their respectful place as artists par excellence. It is time we respect art for arts sake...nothing more, nothing less...This is an unusual subject as even in the history of performing arts this subject has always been brushed away as it has many social stigmas attached to it. We need to draw the attention of the society towards our erstwhile courtesans and how discriminatory practices impacted NOT only their life but also of their families. Thus, advocating and creating much required space for them as an ‘artist” in society through cultural activism and social change.” Do not miss this insightful symposium and vibrant performance that celebrate the culture of the courtesan, demystifies myths, promotes awareness and historically and socially repositions these artistes par excellence for the significant cultural contributors they truly were. Where: Royal Opera House, Mama Parmanand Marg, Mumbai - 400 004 When: Saturday, 27th April 2019 | 10:30 AM – 11:00 AM – Symposium Registrations | 11:00 AM – 5:30 PM – Symposium Sessions | Symposium Registration: www.avidlearning.in Press Email / Call: Ayeshah Dadachanji on [email protected] / +91 9820155297 About Manjari Chaturvedi Manjari Chaturvedi is a Classical Dancer, Director, Choreographer, TedX Speaker and Cultural Academic. Among the 300 concerts that she has performed in 20 years, a few prestigious venues include the Symphony Space, New York City, Judith Wright Centre For Performing Arts – Brisbane, Sydney Opera House, Australia, National Gallery Of Victoria, Australia, Rashtrapati Bhawan, New Delhi and Parliament House, New Delhi. She is the leading exponent of classical dance in India. Her productions as a dancer are projects that are meticulously researched and documented; it includes gender sensitive subjects that through her medium of dance, explores the many traditions woven into poetry and music. Under the banner of the Sufi Kathak Foundation she supports similar research and encourages marginal artists to participate in dissemination of their art. She has been the part of the Sufi Symposium at the prestigious Smithsonian Museum Washington D.C. and of the conference on Living heritage by UNESCO and is the Jury and member of “Think Tank on Asian dance” for the prestigious Asian Dance Committee in Korea. About the Speakers Shri A. N. Sharma, I.R.S., Ex-Principal Commissioner of Customs, Mumbai is a known Archivist and Historian of Early Recorded Sound’s History of the Indian sub-continent. He has devoted 30 long years of his life in discovering and documenting early sound discs including rarest of the rare Brown Wax cylinders of the Indian Sub- continent. He is credited to have re-written the history of this esoteric field of our cultural heritage by discovering and documenting the lost voices of Ustad Allahdia Khan; Dada Saheb Phalke; Bhaurao Kolhatkar; Pandit V.D. Paluskar and Pandit Bhaskar Bua Bakhale, all recorded on Brown Wax Cylinders. He is equally admired for discovering Indian sub-continent’s oldest and earliest voice recordings of 1899 in the form of ‘Abha Cylinders’. His two books titled as ‘Bajanaama’ and ‘The Wonder That Was The Cylinder’ are internationally acclaimed seminal works of this field. His talk will primarily centre around recently discovered non- commercial sound recordings on brown wax cylinders entwined with history of early commercial sound recording era of the Indian Sub- continent (1899-1910), with a special emphasis on recordings of nautch-girls of early India. Kushal Gopalka is a Dhrupad singer, Archivist of Indian music, music historian and researcher based in Mumbai. Pertaining to Indian music, he has curated exhibitions and permanent displays, lent research and archival audio and video material for making films, made documentary films, conceptualized and presented live thematic shows (over 250), produced and organized festivals of classical music, interviewed music makers, edited a newsletter (for 7 years), extensively written articles and essays, very closely interacted with musicians and music directors, etc. Kushal hosts his own ongoing monthly musical show at the Indian National Theatre- Aditya Birla Centre for Research and an annual seminar on Cinema music. He has recently produced an LP record featuring the great singer- Zohra Bai of Agra. All his passion and hectic musical activities are supported by his chemical business and encouraging family. Dr. Lata Singh is an Associate Professor in the Centre for Women’s Studies, School of Social Science, JNU. Her expertise in women’s studies is a multifaceted one which looks at women subjects through the lens of colonialism and nationalism in India, gender binaries, women’s movements and cultural and performance studies. Her interest in women performers in public spaces has been documented as ‘Courtesans and the 1857 Rebellion: The Role of Azeezun in Kanpur’ in Biswamoy Pati, ed. book, The Great Rebellion of 1857 in India: Exploring Transgressions, Contests and Diversities, Routledge, 2010, and ‘Retrieving Voices from the Margins: The Courtesans and the Nation’s Narrative’ in Indian Journal of Gender Studies, Vol. 14, No. 1 that directly concern itself with nautch performers. And other works like ‘The Women Performers as Subjects in Popular Theatres: Tamasha and Nautanki’, ‘Modern Theatre as Epitome of Middle Class Civilized Culture: Scripting of Stage Actresses as ‘Prostitutes’ and ‘Fallen’ Women’ that highlight stigmatisation of women performers in theatre. Malavika Sangghvi is a journalist, editor, author and columnist with three decades experience in media. She has edited newspapers like The Sunday Review - and written for respected international journals like the New York Times and the Sunday Times, (UK). She has been regarded as a pioneer in lifestyle journalism and content creation. She has also worked as a broadcaster for BBC Radio and a TV anchor on Star TV and is a published poet and author of two books. Sangghvi currently writes a popular daily city diary column 'Malavika's Mumbai' in Mid- day and 'Woman of Letters' in DNA. She has recently co-founded a luxury and lifestyle consultancy 'SANGUINE' which curates bespoke events and which will launch an upscale digital content and e-commerce platform shortly.