Pluralism and Performance : The Many Voices in Ramayana.

Supported by Ford Foundation

Program 3 : Poetry and the Ramayana

Participants:

Arshia Sattar,

Adishakti, 

Chhanda Shastra expert Sampanda Mishra,

Sama Vedic Chanting

Tolkapiyam expert MD Muthukumarswamy ,

Supriya Gandhi scholar of Islam and Koran poetry at Harved University ,

Contemporary Poet Jeet Thayil,

Hindi Poet

Shardhalu Ranade

Karan Makhija –film maker

Dev Makhija-film maker

Program Assistant Nimy Ravindran

Duration: 5 days

Site: Adishakti

Program Concept:

• The Ramayana has always considered itself to be poetry in all the languages of its composition
• This poetry needs to be acknowledged in wider spheres, such as among Indian poets writing in English
• To acquaint ourselves with para-Ramayana poetry in other Indian languages
• To consider how poetry and heightened verse work on stage as well as to consider the creation of heightened verse for performance
• To consider the importance of recitation and to acquaint ourselves with traditional Indian theories and methods of recitation

The Process:

• The program will bring together scholars and practitioners from different traditions within and without the Ramayana
• Performance and poetry cultures will be contextualized as well as placed outside the contexts which generate them
• Traditional Indian processes explored in the Chhanda Shastra and Tolkapiyam will be demonstrated and considered

•  Adishakti will share its own experience and practice with breath and voice for performance

•  Contemporary poets will be asked to create new works that include inputs from the workshop and return with them at the Interpreters Meeting in Year 3

Benefits:

•  Recorded materials can be disseminated through CDs and DVDs

•  Potentially, the new poetry can be published

•  To make participants from diverse practice traditions and diverse contemporary situations aware of each other's works

•  To give performers a greater awareness of their craft and to enhance their performance skills

•  To allow translators and writers to see the techniques and processes that inform the spoken word on stage.

Program 4: Music and the Ramayana

Participants:

Arshia Sattar

Adishakti

Satyasheel Deshpande Musicologist& Archivist—Hindustani Music

Gowri Ramanarayana—Carnatic Music,

Gulzar/ Javed Akthar on film lyrics,

Ashok Ranade, scholar of Indian film music,

Sufiyana Kalam Singer

Koranic Chanting

Shubha Mudgal

5 and other practitioners of devotional music from various religious traditions, devotional folk singers,

David Shulman for Ramayana folk songs in the Telugu tradition

Narayana Rao for Ramayana folk songs in the Telugu tradition

5 Puppeteers

Koodiyattam Performer

Ottan Tullal Performer

Kathakkali Performer

Ramanatam Performer

Karan Makhija –film maker

Dev Makhija-film maker

Program Assistant Nimy Ravindran

Site: Adishakti Campus

Duration: 4 Days

Program Concept:

•  Since the Ramayana underpins so much Indian performance, the role played by music must be examined more closely.

•  The long tradition of folks songs by women that subvert the Ramayana tradition need to be explored

•  Traditional and contemporary devotional music can be seen in the light of each

•  The influence of films and film music on the devotional traditions can be highlighted

The Process:

•  Through performance and discussion, the theory and practice of devotional music based in the Ramayana will be explored in various contexts – traditional performance, contemporary concert performances and film

•  Build on the inputs from the poetry and recitation workshops

•  Comparisons between different traditions of devotional music from different religions can be explored and their points of convergence and divergence discussed – for example, a comparison between sufiyana kalaams and bhajans, kirtans, etc.

•  Adishakti's theories and processes of breath and voice work will be shared with singers and vice versa

Benefits: