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The Hindu
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Hindu
Preethi Athreya's ‘Rubber Girl' is a tribute to the cabaret
Movement is any dance's motor. But when it comes to cabaret, a theatrical form that also features music, song, recitation or drama, a dash of oomph is also a requisite. This weekend at the Black Box, a unique black-chair multi-functional space that seats around 165, G5A presents plenty of all that makes cabaret memorable in Rubber Girl by Preethi Athreya. G5A produces and co-creates interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary work often seen as experimental, and Preethi has been part of its In Residence programme, a production series that creates space for practitioners to explore their craft and expression and refine their practice. The work, which is grounded in traditional and contemporary performance methods, is then hosted over a period. Preethi is a contemporary dancer based in Chennai who also trained in Bharatanatyam. After a post-graduate degree in Dance Studies from the Laban Dance Centre, London, she uses dance as an agent of change, constantly trying to free it from the strictures of more traditional dance practices. It is this blue-print that Preethi employs in Rubber Girl, a 57-minute performance where she looks at cabaret through different angles. 'Rubber Girl was the name given to Cuckoo Moray, an Anglo-Indian actress and cabaret dancer, who peppered many Hindi films of the 1940s and 1950s with her graceful moves,' says Pravin Kannanur, a Chennai-based multidisciplinary artiste overseeing the dramaturgy and technical direction of the performance. 'But Cuckoo Moray is not the subject itself. The pretext is the idea of the cabaret. Preethi will explore this idea, what it was in pre-war Europe, Edith Piaf's torch ballads (laments on unrequited love) and how the German playwright Bertolt Brecht drew from the cabaret, among others. Cabaret allowed for a certain challenging of the status quo, the governing aesthetic of the time. It also challenged the political. The work also references the cabaret sequences in Indian films. Cuckoo's moniker of the 'rubber girl' looks at erasure on the one hand, and the polyvalence of this person on the other,' says Pravin. Rubber Girl has the structure of a travelogue, but it is not a history lesson or a linear production. 'It juxtaposes the dance bars that were taken to court in India and how the cabaret has morphed into the discotheque space and other legitimate spaces. The idea is introduced through well-known songs such as 'Mera naam chin chin chu',' adds Pravin. In the performance, Preethi as a contemporary dancer-choreographer references identity and rebellion and how folk forms were incorporated and hyper-sexualised when they were translated for screen. Music for the performance is by Chennai-based composer and bass guitarist Paul Jacob who has spent a lifetime empowering folk artistes. 'He has reconstructed certain iconic songs,' says Pravin. 'The tone of Rubber Girl is quite enjoyable. The choice of costumes by Preethi ranges from a sequined red dress, to a plastic sheet. Lighting design is by Gurleen Judge.' Rubber Girl came out of research undertaken at the Centre National de la Danse, Pantin and Cite des Artes, Paris in 2022 and was developed with assistance from the Alliance Francaise of Madras. 'A new production, it also references the Supreme Court judgment on dance bars in India and characters from film and culture. It's a fun piece, especially for women,' says Pravin. Tickets are priced at ₹750 for performances at 5pm and 7.30pm at G5A Warehouse G-5/A, Laxmi Mills Estate, Shakti Mills Lane, Mahalaxmi West, Worli, Mumbai on May 31 and June 1. Look up for details
Time of India
13-05-2025
- General
- Time of India
Class X board results: Tamil Nadu tops India with 99.86%
Tamil Nadu emerged topper in the country along with Kerala, achieving a 99.86% pass percentage in the CBSE Class X board exams. Of the 1,03,259 students who appeared, 1,03,117 cleared it. Preethi and Sanjana of Maharishi Vidya Mandir Senior Secondary School in Chennai's Chetpet scored 495 of 500 marks. City school students scored centum in Tamil, science, and maths. Modern Senior Secondary School in Nanganallur recorded the highest number of centum in Tamil, with 12 students achieving the distinction. "In our school, all Class X students cleared the exam. We have four centums in science and Tamil and five in maths this year," said Vasanthi Sundararajan, principal of PSBB Senior Secondary School in Nungambakkam. Kendriya Vidyalaya, IIT Madras also saw all students pass in Class X."The Class X results are good compared to last year," said R N Sendhil Kumar, Principal of KV, IIT Madras. Students from 1,460 schools spread across the state appeared for the Class X board exams this year."CBSE schools, even in rural areas, attract better teachers. It is one of the main reasons for the good results in Class X exams," said K Manoharan, former principal of SBOA School and Junior College in Anna Nagar.
Time of India
01-05-2025
- Time of India
Bengaluru woman gets proposal from man with ‘Canadian citizenship', loses Rs 5.6 lakh
Bengaluru: A 29-year-old woman searching for a life partner on a matrimonial website lost Rs 5.6 lakh to cybercriminals. Preethi (name changed), a resident of Indiranagar, in her complaint to East CEN Crime police on April 24, stated she created a profile on a matrimonial website. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now On March 3, she received interest from a profile named Jayendra Kumar, who claimed to be of Karnataka origin, but with Canadian citizenship. He claimed to be working as a senior officer in a reputed company and earning well. He proposed to marry Preethi. They exchanged phone numbers. Kumar used to text and call her from WhatsApp number +17093092358. After interacting and exchanging their personal details over the next few days, Kumar claimed he was visiting India to meet her in person and take the proposal forward. To make her believe he was flying to India, he sent her a photo of his flight ticket and claimed that he was bringing her costly gifts and carrying a large amount of money. On April 17, he claimed he had landed at IGI Airport in Delhi and was stopped by immigration officials. He said the officials detained him for carrying costly gifts and money, and sought her financial help to get released. Meanwhile, a woman introducing herself as Bhavana Singh called Preethi from number 9821256482. She said Kumar was detained and would be jailed if he didn't pay the customs charges and tax for carrying cash beyond the permissible limit. Meanwhile, Kumar called her, broke down, and begged for help. She trusted him and transferred Rs 5.6 lakh in multiple transactions to the account numbers provided by the fraudsters until April 20. After fleecing money from her, both Kumar and Bhavana became unresponsive to her calls. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now It was only then she realised it was a fraud. She alerted the cyber helpline 1930 and later lodged a complaint with the police. A senior police officer said such incidents have been happening for the last four to five years. "People should understand no one gets costly gifts and a huge amount of dollars or pounds, when they claim they are coming to India. People should be careful about such frauds," he added. A case was registered under the Information Technology Act and BNS Section 318 (cheating).
Time of India
22-04-2025
- General
- Time of India
From farmer's field to UPSC fame: Cook's daughter secures 263rd rank sans coaching
1 2 3 Mysuru : It was 1pm on Tuesday when 53-year-old Channabasappa, a resident of Mayigowdanahalli village in Saligrama taluk, was watering his 20 guntas from the borewell of his neighbour. His younger daughter, Preethi AC , called him to share her one of the best achievements of her life — getting 263th rank in UPSC Civil Services Examination 2024 , whose results were announced Tuesday. Decades ago, Channabasappa, who never went to school and works as a part-time cook for his livelihood, sowed the seeds of the IAS dream in the mind of Preethi, who took it as her life's goal. "It was one of the most joyous and happiest moments of my life," Channabasappa told TOI, reflecting on his first thoughts after learning of his daughter's triumph. Channabasappa, who was working at a choultry in Periyapatna on Tuesday evening, said he was always confident about his daughter. "Due to poverty, we sent her to govt Kannada medium primary and high schools until SSLC. After that, she joined govt PU College, KR Nagar. She completed her BSc in Agriculture from the College of Agriculture, Mandya, and later did an MSc in Agriculture at Banaras Hindu University," he said. "From dailywage work to cooking, I did a lot of work to support the education of my two daughters. It is a moment of satisfaction. No one supported me in all my struggles," he said. Preethi's mother, Netravati, is a homemaker. For Preethi, who didn't opt for any coaching for the IAS preparations, this was her third attempt. "I took anthropology as my optional," she said. "It was my father's dream. I studied only in the govt-run educational institutions," she said.
