Latest news with #NatyaShastra
The Print
5 days ago
- Business
- The Print
IICT landmark step for institutionalising India's cultural, creative strengths: I&B secretary
Sanjay Jaju, Secretary, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, was speaking at the CII Summit here at a session — 'India's Soft Power: Catalysing Global Ascendancy'. The IICT has been envisioned as the 'creative counterpart' to the IITs and IIMs. New Delhi, May 30 (PTI) The recent establishment of the Indian Institute of Creative Technology (IICT) in Mumbai is a landmark initiative for institutionalising the country's cultural and creative strengths, a top official of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting said here on Friday. Jaju underscored India's unique civilisational journey and diverse cultural expressions as the foundation of the country's growing global soft power, according to a statement issued by the organisers. Drawing on classical references like 'drishti', 'shruti' and 'kriti' — representing India's visual, oral and written traditions — the Union secretary emphasised how ancient legacies like the Natya Shastra and the Vedas, along with storytelling epics, music and mudras, continue to shape the country's vibrant creative economy. He highlighted the establishment of the IICT as a landmark initiative for institutionalising India's cultural and creative strengths, the statement said. Jaju emphasised that India is a 'storytelling superpower', with many untapped narratives waiting to be transformed into immersive global experiences. He reaffirmed the country's 'potential to become a creative superpower', urging the industry to harness this opportunity through unity, innovation and a shared cultural vision. Union Culture and Tourism Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, in his address, highlighted that India's rising stature on the global stage is a result of a renewed national pride and a transformed self-image. He noted a paradigm shift in tourism post-COVID-19, with travellers increasingly seeking immersive and experiential journeys. India's tourism sector, supported by robust infrastructure development, airports, roads and railways, is witnessing significant growth, particularly in spiritual and domestic tourism, the minister said. Destinations like Ujjain's Mahakal Lok corridor have attracted more than 10 lakh visitors in a month, illustrating the sector's resurgence, he added. With domestic tourism showing greater potential than international travel, India is aiming to align its tourism GDP contribution to global benchmarks, targeting 10 per cent of the national GDP by 2030, Shekhawat was quoted as saying in the statement. Puneet Chhatwal, Chairman, CII National Committee on Tourism and Hospitality, emphasised that India's soft power is deeply rooted in its rich culture, heritage and hospitality, which serve as powerful tools for global engagement and trust-building. He noted that every USD 1 million invested in tourism can generate nearly 100 direct and 250 indirect jobs and significantly increase foreign-tourist arrivals and foreign-exchange earnings. PTI KND RC This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.
The Hindu
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Hindu
Bharatanatyam exponent Priyadarsini Govind to launch an online abhinaya course
It's a warm summer morning. Priyadarsini Govind is at her performance space and black box theatre, KG1 studios in Royapettah, Chennai. She is sitting alone — on the floor — dressed comfortably in a pair of tracks and a T-shirt, absorbed in her thoughts with a notepad and a pencil in hand. For the last few weeks, this renowned Bharatanatyam artiste has been busy giving the finishing touches to the four-part certificate course on abhinaya, which will be launched online in July. It is an extension of Learning Ladder, an abhinaya pedagogy she developed two years ago. 'Any art form is a work-in-progress,' says Priyadarsini. Learning Ladder found its genesis in the years of the pandemic when she conducted a series of immersive abhinaya sessions online — on the Ashtanayikas and Navarasas — for dance students from across the globe. 'After every session, where I would teach abhinaya for a composition,' says Priyadarsini, ' I would spend hours thinking about how students need to experience the rigour of a structured learning (of abhinaya) that could allow them to ease their way into a composition. The more I thought about it, the more I was convinced why I should come up with a system that could help learners to look beyond lyrics to understand abhinaya.' After several days of contemplation and many rounds of discussions with senior students, Learning Ladder began to take shape. It's built on the premise of teaching abhinaya to anyone in the field of performing arts — dancers, theatre practitioners, and storytellers. Learning Ladder envisages learning as a process of training the mind and understanding how to communicate what one intends to in a way that is effective and evocative. 'Abhinaya is all about imagination,' explains Priyadarsini. 'But to explore the honesty of an emotion and to convey it meaningfully require training, practice, curiosity and questioning. The uniqueness of Learning Ladder is that it looks at abhinaya both as a personal expression of emotions and a collective consciousness as far as the impact of the emotions are concerned. Hence, a great deal of thought has gone into designing a system of learning that does not at any point intend to create clones because every emotion is different.' Since its inception in 2022, Learning Ladder has unfolded as a series of modules (in the form of 24 videos) where Priyadarsini and her students develop and put into practice ideas and exercises. These are built on a learning framework that draws from the Natya Shastra and Abhinaya Darpana. The focus, however, ison imagination and the training needed to translate it into visual expression. For the past two years, Priyadarsini has also been travelling extensively to conduct Learning Ladder workshops. 'As far as abhinaya is concerned what gets across to the audience sometimes may be quite different from what the artiste has in mind. Abhinaya is not merely instinctive, a structured training can go a long way in helping to communicate the emotions better.' Priyadarsini feels Learning Ladder can fill the gap. 'In today's world learning, in general, is not in-depth, and often lacks a broader perspective. Look at the pace of life now,' says the dancer as she goes back in time to recall her abhinaya sessions with the legendary Kalanidhi Narayanan. 'I went to her as a nine-year-old and my understanding of abhinaya grew with each session. Kalanidhi mami would delve deep into a character, which made the expressions deep and layered. We'd spend days to unravel a poetry. The experience was phenomenal. Learning Ladder draws from this experience and my own discovery as a performer and teacher,' says Priyadarsini.
