# pulseconnects


## Posts

- [On The Rasa Trail - A journey through the South Indian performing arts](https://pulseconnects.com/on-the-rasa-trail-a-journey-through-the-south-indian-performing-arts/): New York Public Library (NYPL), Stavros Niarchos Foundation Library (SNFL)April 3, 2026Reviewed by Dhruva Lakshminarayanan for Line &amp; VerseImage credit: Siddarth Hanumanthu It’s 6:00 am on a Tuesday morning. Your parents have somehow managed to disrupt your peaceful slumber, get you dressed and drop you at your pattu (carnatic music) class before heading to school. As you walk in all grumpy and irritable, you’re wished a good morning by the nectarine notes of the Venkateswara suprabhatham flowing through your ears, and just like that, your mood instantly calms?  That is the power of Rasa, the innate emotional essence woven into [&hellip;]
- [Caught Again in the Net of Rebirth- Chandenie Gobardhan](https://pulseconnects.com/caught-again-in-the-net-of-rebirth-chandenie-gobardhan/): The Place Theatre, London28 February 2026Reviewed by Vipul Bhatti Image credit: Camilla Greenwell The precision and detail that Chandenie Gobardhan choreographed in her first full length work Caught Again in the Net of Rebirth is spellbinding, unravelling a metaphysical story of the birth of the universe and the arrival of the human race. It is sweeping in its scope, referencing the stages of evolution from a harmonious beginning to struggles for domination before equilibrium is re-established. Caught Again starts in absolute darkness, forcing a sensory shut-down, except thunderously heavy and long notes resound. There is no melody, the musicality of [&hellip;]
- [In Conversation with Balbir Singh](https://pulseconnects.com/in-conversation-with-balbir-singh/): Sanjeevini Dutta chats to Balbir Singh on the occasion of his receiving his MBE award at Windsor Castle on 12 March 2026. SD: Balbir when I saw pictures of you at Windsor Castle in your outfit complete with turban, my first thought was, ‘son of Punjab’. How much of your heritage is expressed through your dance? BS: It’s always present. I was born in India and raised in Bradford, so I’ve grown up between cultures. Kathak connects me to heritage, rhythm and storytelling, while my life and practice have unfolded here in the UK. The work naturally brings those worlds [&hellip;]
- [Astitva](https://pulseconnects.com/astitva/): Jaivant Patel CompanyThe Place, 3 March 2026Review by Pranav Yajnik With the lights up and the stage marked out in a square of blue light, the dancers walked through the space, ships in the night: sometimes edging to an encounter, sometimes a-cruise at a distance, but always passing. Two dichotomies: the “British” and the “Asian” from British Asian; and the “LGBTQIA+” and “not”, and specifically “Not, because we’re Asian.” Thus the costumes flipped from the conservative and plain to the gay and gaudy, while fragments of popular music played in the air, Freddie Mercury and Alka Yagnik alike. A glance, [&hellip;]
- [An Evening with Artists from the Diaspora Generation](https://pulseconnects.com/an-evening-with-artists-from-the-diaspora-generation/): Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan,New York City14 February 2026Reviewed by: Shiva Kannan for Line &amp; Verse It’s 6:15 pm on Valentine&#8217;s day in Manhattan, and the seventeenth floor of 305 Seventh Avenue smells like masala chai. The elevator opens into the familiar warmth of the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, USA, where a handful of early arrivals cradle paper cups and settle into their seats as the sound of Pandit Nitul Banerjee&#8217;s bansuri drifts through the room — a recording of Raag Bageshri, unhurried and full of evening tenderness, setting a tone the rest of the night would build upon.Presented by Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, [&hellip;]
- [What Flows Between Us](https://pulseconnects.com/what-flows-between-us/): 92NY, New York City,21 February 2026Written by Neha Kher for Line &amp; Verse The What Flows Between Us festival, curated by kathak artist Rachna Nivas, was a full-day immersion into Indian classical music and dance in conversation with jazz, opera, poetry, and tap. I had the privilege of experiencing the festival not just as a kathak student or as an audience member, but as a production assistant. I got to be a small part of the planning and coordination for the weeks leading up to the show. Assisting 92NY’s production manager, Louise Brownsberger, was such a great learning experience to [&hellip;]
- [Salangai, Swarams, and Stories: An Afternoon of South Indian Classical Arts](https://pulseconnects.com/salangai-swarams-and-stories-an-afternoon-of-south-indian-classical-arts/): By Dhruva LakshminarayananPhotos: Vijay Krishna Indra Parameswaran On the 31st of January, a frigid Saturday in the heart of New York City, people gathered into the cosy confines of a yoga studio with their freshly brewed chai and nostalgic desi snacks to witness ‘a Manhattan Margazhi Mela’, an attempt by Jeevika Bhat and Vaibu Mohan to teleport us all straight to the vibrant lanes of Mylapore, Chennai: A true Mecca for connoisseurs of the South Indian classical arts. The evening opened with a bharatanatyam presentation of Bhogindra Shayanam, in raga Punnagavarali and performed by Pavitra Kumar. The piece, choreographed by [&hellip;]
- [Amma’s cherished Andal Pasurams](https://pulseconnects.com/ammas-cherished-andal-pasurams/): Varshini KrishnaswamyHoboken Dance Academy, New Jersey4 January 2026 Reviewed by: Swetha KrishnamurthiPhoto Credits : We know pictures by Vinotha Margazhi mornings carry a different kind of magic, a lull before dawn, a hint of cold in the air, and devotional music from the theatre speakers that seems to float gently around you. Against that sacred backdrop, a self-produced Bharatanatyam performance led by dancer and educator Varshini Krishnaswamy unfolded, and I had the joy of serving as the compère for the morning. The program opened with excerpts from Andal’s Thiruppavai Pasurams, rendered as Ragamalika and Talamalika pieces. These verses are very [&hellip;]
- [Dhit Dhit Tree: Watching Dance and Forest Bathing](https://pulseconnects.com/dhit-dhit-tree-watching-dance-and-forest-bathing/): Why an Indian classical dance concert is like forest bathing By Durga Tilak Dancer Featured: Chamu KuppuswamyImage credit: Simon Richardson Every now and then, I get asked a question:“I am fascinated by Indian classical dance. There is such beauty to it. The elaborate codified way of telling stories, the delicacy of the expression, it’s amazing. But…”But what?“But I don’t know what I’m watching. I don’t know what I’m supposed to keep an eye out for. And then, eventually, I, I…Yes?“I stop trying to follow; to understand.” I have had many such conversations and felt the need to help out- to [&hellip;]
- [Quiet Audacity: Inside Ami Jayakrishnan’s Work to Build a Fairer, Sustainable Bharatanatyam Community](https://pulseconnects.com/quiet-audacity-inside-ami-jayakrishnans-work-to-build-a-fairer-sustainable-bharatanatyam-community/): Through London Adavu and London Margazhi, the ex-management consultant turned full-time performing artist builds spaces where tradition meets bold reinvention. Guided by what she calls her “triangular compass” Ami embodies an audacious tenacity: when something does not exist, she does not wait for it – she builds it. By Deepa Ramathilagam “Potential, purpose, and impact, that is the triangular compass that has always guided me,” says Ami Jayakrishnan, her words sharp yet serene, as we settle into a corner of Foyles Café on Charing Cross Road. “Every time I take on something new, I ask myself: does it serve all [&hellip;]
- [Attuning- Meera Patel Dance](https://pulseconnects.com/attuning-meera-patel-dance/): Bradford Arts CentreDecember 4th, 2025Reviewer: Kamal KaanImages: Screen shots from teaser Attuning, an immersive dance-theatre experience directed and choreographed by Meera Patel, inspired by the imagined world of Tanmaatra, inviting audiences to explore elemental states of rock, water, air and light through movement, sound and tactile interaction. Presented as a relaxed, fully accessible performance with integrated Audio Description and BSL, the work positions itself at the intersection of South-Asian classical dance, sensory dramaturgy and audience-led encounter. An ambitious undertaking, offering moments of real imaginative charge.The performance opened without dialogue but with a clear bilingual framing delivered through BSL, audio description [&hellip;]
- [Just Enough Madness](https://pulseconnects.com/just-enough-madness/): Payal RamchandaniDance City, Newcastle,22nd Nov 2025Reviewed by Sudipta RoyImage credit:Luke Waddington The title gives one some inkling of the context of this dance-theatre performance by Payal Ramchandani with excellent live accompaniments provided by Prathap Ramachandra on percussion, Vijay Venkat on flute and Ramya Tangirala, vocals. Rehearsal Director Debbie Fionn Barr and Technical Manager Matthew Carnazza also deserve a mention here, because the sets, lighting, and arrangement together contributed to the creation of an emotive and unique performance. Payal is a north of England-based performer, with a rigorous education in the South Indian classical dance style of kuchipudi. Her recent works [&hellip;]
- [The Gaze- My Experience](https://pulseconnects.com/the-gaze-my-experience/): Tramway, Glasgow22nd November, 2025 By: Durga ChatterjeeImage credit: Susan Hey Himadri Madan’s Gaze is a brilliant multi-media experience that tells the story of a woman as just that; a story of a woman. Whether you relate to her, disagree, whether you feel for her or feel afraid of her, that is up to you as the audience. Walking into the space felt strangely intimate, as though I was entering someone’s home rather than an exhibition. I’d seen Himadri once before in Edinburgh as part of a collaborative film installation, where she was one of the dancers. At the time, I [&hellip;]
- [Clothesline / ಒಂದು ಸೀರೆಯ ಕಥೆ - Jeevika Bhat](https://pulseconnects.com/clothesline-%e0%b2%92%e0%b2%82%e0%b2%a6%e0%b3%81-%e0%b2%b8%e0%b3%80%e0%b2%b0%e0%b3%86%e0%b2%af-%e0%b2%95%e0%b2%a5%e0%b3%86-jeevika-bhat/): Leonard Davis Center for the Performing Arts13, 14 November 2025Reviewed By: Jeeno Joseph for Line &amp; VersePhotography credit: Dora Nano Dancers: Shalini Basu, Keshav Agiwal, Samanvita Kasthuri, Rutva Satish Jeevika Bhat’s Clothesline (ಒಂದು ಸೀರೆಯ ಕಥೆ) unfolds as an imaginative, tender, and surprisingly humorous meditation on culture, inheritance, and the many forms “home” can take. Rooted in South Asian and specifically Karnataka identity, the production manages to feel universally resonant, speaking not only to those who have draped a saree, but to anyone who has carried memories, language, and tradition across time and geography.What makes Clothesline immediately striking is its conceptual [&hellip;]
- [3-In Close Company](https://pulseconnects.com/3-in-close-company/): Nervation Theatre, New YorkOctober 30th, 2025Reviewed By: Varsha Radhakrishnan for Line &amp; VersePhoto credit: Shail Joshi The joy of veneration, a personal love of the practice of classical dance, and endearing camaraderie seemed to represent the foundations of 3, presented by Swati Seshadri, Dhruva Lakshminarayanan, and Meghana Boojala. The small-scale gathering, the balance of respectful informality in setting, performance, and costume, and the close proximity between artist and viewer, rendered an experience similar to that of a Mehfil. Swati, Dhruva, and Meghana presented a repertoire that was grounded in an anthology of popular devotional pieces, with a handful of non-devotional [&hellip;]
- [Lessons from My Mothers](https://pulseconnects.com/lessons-from-my-mothers/): Lessons from My MothersSonali SkandanGibney Theater, New York7 and 8 November 2025 Reviewed By: Gouri Veerubhotla   Lessons from My Mothers, presented by Jiva Performing Arts that premiered at The Gibney Theater on November 7 and 8, 2025 was a Bharatanatyam-based dance ballet choreographed and directed by Sonali Skandan. Featuring Sonali Skandan, Aparna Shankar, and Rithika Ashok, the production blended classical dance, theater, and spoken word to portray the intergenerational experiences of South Asian immigrant women. Centered around a handwritten cookbook, an emblem of memory and survival, the narrative unfolded through moments of departure, adaptation, loss, and rediscovery. It followed [&hellip;]
- [Supriya Nagarajan – singer, composer, synesthete.](https://pulseconnects.com/supriya-nagarajan-singer-composer-synesthete-2/): New ideas and aesthetics inspire Supriya Nagarajan, classically-trained Carnatic vocalist, erstwhile bank manager, and founder of the Yorkshire-based arts organisation Mansamitra. Sanjeevini Dutta took the opportunity to find out more about her musical development and the career changes that have led to the release of Dusk Notes, the debut album she has created with Duncan Chapman. ‘My life is here, I want to reach audiences here’, Supriya Nagaranjan, Carnatic vocalist based in Leeds tells me in our Zoom conversation ahead of the launch of her debut album Dusk Notes. Looking back at her journey as a musician and composer it [&hellip;]
- [Echoes of the Ordinary – An Interview in New York City with Dr. Manu S Pillai](https://pulseconnects.com/echoes-of-the-ordinary-an-interview-in-new-york-city-with-dr-manu-s-pillai/): Alita Maria Stephen for Line &amp; Verse The sound came from the fields. A woman’s name, called out loudly and without reverence. Kalyani paused. It was her own name she heard, drifting through the humid air of Kerala in the 1940s. The voice belonged to one of the peasants who worked her family’s land, a man who by the rules of caste was forbidden from even uttering her name. Yet here it was, shouted boldly across the paddy. Soon she realized what had happened. The farmhands, Dalits who were considered “untouchable,” had named every cow and buffalo after her family [&hellip;]
- [Shujaat Husain Khan:  Legacy of the Maestros™](https://pulseconnects.com/shujaat-husain-khan-legacy-of-the-maestros/): Shujaat Husain Khan Legacy of the Maestros? 6th September 2025 Britten Theatre, Royal College of Music, London Reviewed by Ken Hunt Photo credit: Paul Coombes Pinro Media was founded in 2024 by Imran Khan and Ustad Shujaat Husain Khan’s London recital and the one the next evening at Royal Northern College of Music Theatre in Manchester were the organisation’s first concerts in an inaugural series entitled Legacy of the Maestros™. A branding observation: the more gender-neutral ‘Virtuosos’ might’ve been better since virtuoso is widely used to cover both sexes. And I mean who says virtuosa? Mind you, the violin virtuosa [&hellip;]
- [Jiva Parthipan- Celebration of a Life](https://pulseconnects.com/jiva-parthipan-celebration-of-a-life/): By Magdalen Gorringe It’s the opening night of the ‘Al Quaeda State Ballet’. A dancer in a hijab traverses the stage with a number of mock arabesques and pirouettes. At one point the dancer reveals knickers bedecked with the Union Jack and the Stars and Stripes and throws them somewhat gleefully into the assembled audience. A different show, a different stage. A dancer waltzes around a stage bearing aloft a China teapot. The dancer is mischievously yet seriously reflecting on the supposed civilisation of afternoon tea, rooted as it is in the barbarism and violence of colonialism. These are snapshots [&hellip;]
- [Rising Voices: Women, Myth, and Movement at Aalokam’s We R Dancing Festival Day Two](https://pulseconnects.com/rising-voices-women-myth-and-movement-at-aalokams-we-r-dancing-festival-day-two/): &nbsp; By Dhruva Lakshminarayanan for Line and Verse Across time and myth, women have been forces of power, courage, and transformation. Goddesses and mortals, rebels and nurturers, they find themselves in Tara’s quiet strength, in Surpanakha’s defiance, in Sita’s endurance and in Draupadi’s unyielding fire. They love, they grieve, they fight, and they reclaim spaces long denied. They rise, resist, and shatter the narratives that have sought to confine them, boldly claiming their place, their voice, and their story in a world that too often tries to silence them. Day 2 of the Aalokam We R Dancing Festival featured five [&hellip;]
- [Saints, Sinners, and Goddesses: Aalokam’s We R Dancing Festival Day One](https://pulseconnects.com/saints-sinners-and-goddesses-aalokams-we-r-dancing-festival-day-one/): &nbsp; By Dhruva Lakshminarayanan for Line and Verse They call them saints, sinners, goddesses: women who bore the weight of love and consequence. Andal, who dared to desire the divine, and Renuka, who was cast aside only to rise again as Yellamma, mother to the forsaken. Both women cross the fragile line between reverence and rebellion, their stories echoing with devotion turned defiance. In their transformations lie the oldest questions of faith &#8211; what does it mean to be pure, to be faithful, to be free? It is within this spirit of questioning and transformation that Aalokam’s We R Dancing [&hellip;]
- [Pandit Ajoy Chakrabarty- Student’s Perspective](https://pulseconnects.com/pandit-ajoy-chakrabarty-students-perspective/): Vocalist Ranjana Ghatak and sitar and vocal artist Debipriya Sircar speak to Pulse about their experiences of learning under the master. Vocalist Ranjana Ghatak has been quietly but steadily carving out a niche for herself on the music map of the UK. Her name has appeared on line-ups line-ups with musicians, poets and writers such as John Mclaughlin, Bert Jansch Tribute with James Yorkston and Jon Thorne, and Robert Macfarlane (Kendal Mountain Festival). As a teacher, her in-person and on-line classes and workshops are attracting a host of followers/students. Ranjana’s vocal training has been under Pandit Ajoy Chakrabarty of Kolkata, [&hellip;]
- [Caste Away: From Devotion to Heresy Prathiba Batley](https://pulseconnects.com/caste-away-from-devotion-to-heresy-prathiba-batley/): 30 August 2025 Robinson Theatre, Cambridge Reviewed by the Pulse Team The title is deep and its scope is ambitious. The opening film, first with the image of the revolving Nataraj, &nbsp;followed by an introduction to the background and history of Indian dance, sets up certain expectations as it challenges the received wisdom of the ‘dance of temples’ that ignores the influence of folk and tribal and social dances.&nbsp; Dr Batley commenced with the ‘Shloka Vande Mataram Ambika Bhagavati’, which was followed by the famous invocation to the Devi (Shri Chakraraaja Simhasananeshwari). Even though it fits the title ‘from devotion’, [&hellip;]
- [Line & Verse Review: Erasing Borders Dance Festival 2025, Day Two](https://pulseconnects.com/line-verse-review-erasing-borders-dance-festival-2025-day-two/): Photos:&nbsp;Nir Arieli/Erasing Borders Dance Festival &nbsp; Day two of the Erasing Borders Dance Festival, presented by the Indo-American Arts Council, offered a rich interplay of classical rigor and contemporary storytelling. The evening opened with a student group from the Odissi Dance Company, under the direction of Dr. Aparupa Chatterjee. A vibrant ensemble of six young odissi performers danced to O.S. Arun’s soulful rendition of Jayadeva’s Ashtapadi Chandana Charchita in ragam Brindavani, evoking gopikas in the gardens of Vrindavan expressing their devotion and divine love for Krishna. The dancers radiated joy and rhythmic confidence, bringing youthful vitality to the stage. Their [&hellip;]
- [Line & Verse: Erasing Borders Dance Festival 2025, Day One](https://pulseconnects.com/line-verse-erasing-borders-dance-festival-2025-day-one/): Photos: Nir Arieli/Erasing Borders Dance Festival The Erasing Borders Dance Festival Day, presented by the Indo-American Arts Council, opened with a diverse evening of Indian classical dance that highlighted both emerging talent and veteran artistry. Across bharatanatyam, odissi, kuchipudi and kathak, the program revealed the breadth of these art forms. The evening began with the Nrityanjali Dance Ensemble, under the direction of Ramya Ramnarayan. A trio of young bharatanatyam students opened with a vrittam (sloka) in praise of Lord Shiva with enthusiasm and clear potential. With only three on stage, a tighter formation would have focused the audience’s attention. They [&hellip;]
- [We, Caliban – Watching dance, thinking theatre](https://pulseconnects.com/we-caliban-watching-dance-thinking-theatre/): Shobana Jeyasingh Dance Company 2 October 2025 Mayflower Studios, Southampton Ranjini Nair, dance scholar and kuchipudi practitioner, reflects on her first experience of watching the work of Shobana Jeyasingh live.&nbsp; &nbsp; As my train made its journey from London to Southampton, the windows clicked through scene after scene filled with warm autumnal light; tall buildings falling away to rolling fields to flashes of the sea as my destination approached. However, only minutes after I began my walk from Southampton Central, I came across a small crowd of people shouting slogans. Their hands held the white and red crossed St George [&hellip;]
- [Arangetram: Reflections of a Dancer](https://pulseconnects.com/arangetram-reflections-of-a-dancer/): Arangetram: Reflections of a Dancer Annapoorna Kuppuswamy 31 May 2025 Seven Arts, Leeds &nbsp; Photos: SAA-uk I will admit that when I was first asked to review Arangetram: Reflections of a Dancer by Dr. Annapoorna Kuppuswamy, organized by SAA-UK, I was not particularly enthusiastic. It was not due to any doubts about the artistry – I admire a professional who can straddle both the research and art worlds with ease – but rather a certain fatigue. Having witnessed countless arangetrams over the years, I wondered: what could possibly feel new in yet another iteration of the kauthuvam, alarippu, shabdam, jatiswaram, [&hellip;]
- [Clay, cues and cardboard houses: A day in the double life of a Performer-director](https://pulseconnects.com/clay-cues-and-cardboard-houses-a-day-in-the-double-life-of-a-performer-director/): Clay, cues and cardboard houses: A day in the double life of a Performer-director By Vidya Thirunarayan Artistic Director, Thirunarayan Productions www.vidyathirunarayan.com &nbsp; Photos: Robert Golden &nbsp; HOLY DIRT premiered at the Ensemble festival, London over the last weekend of July’25. Creator /performer : Vidya Thirunarayan Director/Designer: David Glass &nbsp; Somewhere in the creaky corridors of memory I recall a beloved column from the plastic-wrapped Times magazine of the 90s : A Day in the Life Of. It always featured a celebrity, an author or minor aristocrat who, by 9 a.m., had already meditated, done Pilates, and secured a book [&hellip;]
- [Line & Verse – Brooklyn Baithak (Part 1)](https://pulseconnects.com/line-verse-brooklyn-baithak-part-1/): Brooklyn Baithak (Part 1): Community &amp; Culture in the Heart of NYC By Meghana Boojala, written for Line &amp; Verse Brooklyn Baithak has grown to be a popular South Asian music event in New York City &#8211; its guiding ethos is centered around community, culture, collaboration, and a fundamental dedication towards the “raga-based” classical arts (music that follows Hindustani or Carnatic frameworks).&nbsp;&nbsp; Its founder, Sapan Modi, grew up with a dual identity, listening to both classical Indian music and American rock and hip-hop. His journey led him from a Bollywood rock band to helping start a South Asian open mic [&hellip;]
- [Line & Verse: Erasing Borders: Where South Asian Dance Meets the World](https://pulseconnects.com/line-verse-erasing-borders-where-south-asian-dance-meets-the-world/): &nbsp; Every September, New York City’s cultural calendar is marked by the Erasing Borders Dance Festival, presented by the Indo-American Arts Council (IAAC).&nbsp; In 2008, IAAC began this annual dance festival with a mission to create a platform for exceptional Indian classical, folk, and contemporary dance in the United States. Over the past 17 years, it has grown into New York’s premier Indian dance festival gaining international recognition for both its programming and its cultural impact. IAAC’s guiding principles, as stated on their website, are clear: &#8216;Build an awareness of Indian artistic disciplines in North America… Promote and build an [&hellip;]
- [Introducing Line & Verse](https://pulseconnects.com/introducing-line-verse/): We were delighted to receive a call from New York City. Swati Seshadri, bharatanatyam dancer and Carnatic vocalist formerly based in London, had moved to NYC and felt the need of a space for critical conversations about dance and the arts there. We felt that to offer the pulseconnects platform would enable this initiative to be realised immediately. We welcome Line &amp; Verse here. Swati in her own words&#8230; Introducing Line &amp; Verse: A New Chapter for South Asian Arts in New York City We are thrilled to announce the launch of Line &amp; Verse, dedicated to celebrating and critically [&hellip;]
- [Clay, cues and cardboard houses: A day in the double life of a Performer-director](https://pulseconnects.com/clay-cues-and-cardboard-houses-a-day-in-the-double-life-of-a-performer-director-2/): Clay, cues and cardboard houses: A day in the double life of a Performer-director By Vidya Thirunarayan Artistic Director, Thirunarayan Productions www.vidyathirunarayan.com Photos: Robert Golden HOLY DIRT premiered at the Ensemble festival, London over the last weekend of July’25. Creator /performer : Vidya Thirunarayan Director/Designer: David Glass Somewhere in the creaky corridors of memory I recall a beloved column from the plastic-wrapped Times magazine of the 90s : A Day in the Life Of. It always featured a celebrity, an author or minor aristocrat who, by 9 a.m., had already meditated, done Pilates, and secured a book deal. Naturally, I thought: [&hellip;]
- [Drishti – The Gaze of the Beloved](https://pulseconnects.com/drishti-the-gaze-of-the-beloved/): Drishti – The Gaze of the Beloved The Hat Factory, Luton 19 July 2025 Presented by Kadam Dance Photos: Simon Richardson In celebration of the start of South Asian Heritage month, Elena Catalano and Katie Ryan Yeung presented Drishti – The Gaze of the Beloved. Drishti, meaning ‘gaze’, evokes a range of emotions, of commitment and inner peace, all of which were on display in the odissi duets and solos. Duets bookended the show, with traditional solos interspersed with contemporary choreography created and performed by each of the dancers. The opening Saraswati Vandana was a danced offering to the Goddess [&hellip;]
- [Garbh](https://pulseconnects.com/garbh/): Richmond Festival of Ideas Little Green, Richmond 22 June 2025 Report by Anita Chanda It was a lovely surprise discovering an entrancing and soulful dance performance on a sunny Sunday afternoon in Richmond’s Little Green. As the Indian music kicked off and dancers began taking their positions, there was an air of expectancy with passerby’s curiosity aroused. Without any posters proclaiming names of the dance group, the genre of dance nor a brief description of the performance we were going in blind. Other than one banner which said &#8216;Richmond Festival of Arts and Ideas&#8217;&nbsp;there was nothing that indicated what one [&hellip;]
- [Pandit Ajoy Chakrabarty-pioneer of raga music for all](https://pulseconnects.com/pandit-ajoy-chakrabarty-pioneer-of-raga-music-for-all/): The name of Pandit Ajoy Chakrabarty is well-known to lovers of classical Indian music in the UK and around the world. His musical career spans five decades. Now in his early seventies, there is not a prestigious stage whether in his native Kolkata, or the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London, Carnegie Hall in New York or the Jazz Preservation Hall in New Orleans, that Ajoyji has not graced. His deep, resonant voice and seamless delivery interprets classical raga, semi-classical, devotional and film music with equal felicity. The internet offers countless clips of all types of Ajoyji’s singing, but of course [&hellip;]
- [Choreographing Displacement: On What Moves and What Doesn’t](https://pulseconnects.com/choreographing-displacement-on-what-moves-and-what-doesnt/): In India, dance is not merely performed; it is lived. It seeps into the body through ritual, mythology, familial memory, and collective inheritance. As an odissi dancer rooted in India&#8217;s classical traditions, my relocation to the United Kingdom marked more than a geographical transition. It required a fundamental reframing of my artistic orientation. In India, dance is not merely performed; it is lived. It seeps into the body through ritual, mythology, familial memory, and collective inheritance. It is an epistemology of being. In the UK I encountered a different ecology altogether—one where dance is institutionalised, often determined by funding structures, [&hellip;]
- [On Metrics and the State of Being in Classical Dance](https://pulseconnects.com/on-metrics-and-the-state-of-being-in-classical-dance/): Over the past few months, one of my favourite thinking dancers/dancing thinkers, Dr Apoorva Jayaraman has been writing what she describes as a spontaneous series on Instagram. She calls these pieces ‘Make a Little Space for Dance’. In it, she speaks about some of the prominent themes of discussion that currently plague the Indian classical dance ecosystem. Dr Jayaraman also nudges the reader into a different headspace by suggesting that maybe the metrics – the need to judge by measurement – should not be central to our conversations surrounding dance. When I mulled over what she said, I realised that [&hellip;]
- [Brooklyn Baithak at Jalopy Theatre](https://pulseconnects.com/brooklyn-baithak-at-jalopy-theatre/): Brooklyn Baithak at Jalopy Theatre: An Evening of Collaboration and Engagement By Meghana B, written for Line &amp; Verse On August 9th, Brooklyn Baithak hosted its annual showcase at the Jalopy Theatre, continuing its mission of blending raga-based traditions with accessibility and collaboration. Rather than presenting music as isolated performances, the sold-out event unfolded as a demonstration of how South Asian classical forms can be shared in community-centered contexts (Performance brochure linked here). Two themes stood out across the evening: instrumental collaboration and audience engagement. &nbsp;Instrumental Collaboration One of the most striking features of the showcase was the diverse array [&hellip;]
- [Astad Deboo – An Icon of Contemporary Indian Dance](https://pulseconnects.com/astad-deboo-an-icon-of-contemporary-indian-dance/): Ketu H Katrak Published by Seagull Books (2024) Reviewed by Sanjeevini Dutta A biography of Astad Deboo, the father of Indian Contemporary Dance, has been written by his lifelong friend Ketu Katrak, Professor Emerita of drama at the University of California, Irvine. A fellow Zoroastrian from the city of Bombay, she was first a family friend before her own scholarly journey into drama, dance and the arts. Astad Deboo passed away on 10 December 2020, aged seventy-three, leaving behind legions of friends and admirers and an incomparable dance legacy. Deboo’s family turned to their trusted friend Ketu Katrak to become [&hellip;]
- [Rooh: Within Her – Pagrav Dance Company](https://pulseconnects.com/rooh-within-her-pagrav-dance-company/): ROOH: Within Her Pagrav Dance Company Lilian Baylis Studio, Sadler’s Wells, London 25th April 2025 Pulse Dance Club review Image: Pari Naderi Our group found this dance-theatre work to be a moving and powerful expression of female bravery and power. The kathak artist and choreographer Urja Desai Thakore used a palette of kathak, martial and folk dance alongside her own singing voice, narrated words and live music, with the musicians (Gurdain Singh Rayatt, Kaviraj Singh, Prathap Ramachandra and Vijay Venkat) on stage with her, immersed in the stories. Some of those attending such a performance for the first time found themselves [&hellip;]
- [Towards a British Natyam -Magdalen Gorringe](https://pulseconnects.com/towards-a-british-natyam-magdalen-gorringe/): Towards a British Natyam Magdalen Gorringe Published by Berghahn, 2025 Reviewed by Sanjeevini Dutta The timing of Magdalen Gorringe’s book Towards a British Natyam happily coincides with the uplift South Asian dance received in the last funding round of the Arts Council (2023-2026). It is almost as if the weight of thinking around the next steps for the dance form began to shift the needle as the author was gathering data for her PhD at Roehampton University on which the book is based. The central question that the author poses is why Indian classical forms have not found the space [&hellip;]
- [Dvanda  – Amritha Jayakrishnan](https://pulseconnects.com/dvanda-amritha-jayakrishnan/): Dvanda&nbsp; Amritha Jayakrishnan 6th April 2025 Bhavan, London. &nbsp; Dvanda, a themed solo bharatanatyam performance by Amritha Jayakrishnan, promised to be a show exploring the concept of duality that is all pervasive in life.&nbsp; We eased into the evening with a mellow rendition of an invocation to Ganesha, the elephant-headed God, the remover of obstacles. The first dance item was a composition by Sage Pathanjali in praise of Lord Shiva sung in the style of a ‘viruttham’ (hymn) set to the dramatic Ragam Revathi. This had a trance-like quality with Amritha striking powerful poses followed by the Dance of Shiva [&hellip;]
- [Brooklyn Baithak: Community & Culture in the Heart of NYC](https://pulseconnects.com/brooklyn-baithak-community-culture-in-the-heart-of-nyc/): By Meghana B, written for Line &amp; Verse Brooklyn Baithak has grown to be a popular South Asian music event in New York City &#8211; its guiding ethos is centered around community, culture, collaboration, and a fundamental dedication towards the “raga-based” classical arts (music that follows Hindustani or Carnatic frameworks).&nbsp; Its founder, Sapan Modi, grew up with a dual identity, listening to both classical Indian music and American rock and hip-hop. His journey led him from a Bollywood rock band to helping start a South Asian open mic series in Boston, experiences that taught him the power of bringing people [&hellip;]
- [Ancient India: living traditions](https://pulseconnects.com/ancient-india-living-traditions/): Ancient India: living traditions British Museum, London Until 19 October 2025 Ancient India is a huge topic. The art of the major religions, Jainism, Buddhism and Hinduism, is the focus of this inspiring exhibition at the British Museum. The items have been selected because of what they represent, rather than primarily for aesthetic reasons; but the exhibition and its design is very beautiful, with a big space divided into sections by long gauze drapes, the series of statues set off by dramatic lighting. The evocative sound design mixes art and nature including tabla and birdsong. &nbsp; &nbsp; Particularly impressive are [&hellip;]
- [Mythili Prakash – She's Auspicious](https://pulseconnects.com/mythili-prakash-shes-auspicious/): She’s Auspicious Mythili Prakash Sadlers Wells East, London 2 March 2015 Reviewed by Prathiba Batley Mythili Prakash’s She’s Auspicious: Brilliant, Bold, but Elusive A bharatanatyam dancer from Chennai, with over 34 years of experience, and a Yorkshire-born Englishman with some knowledge of the art form, attended Mythili Prakash’s, She’s Auspicious, at Sadler’s Wells East. What has followed is an ongoing conversation—one that still hasn’t reached a conclusion. Let’s get straight to the point. Mythili is a phenomenal dancer. The production was visually and sonically mesmerising, with meticulously arranged music, led by the powerful vocals of Roopa Mahadevan and co, and the brilliant percussion [&hellip;]
- [A Rising Tide Lifts All Boats Intersections Conference 2025: Traditions and Innovations in Indian Classical Dance](https://pulseconnects.com/a-rising-tide-lifts-all-boats-intersections-conference-2025-traditions-and-innovations-in-indian-classical-dance/): Something exciting is about to shake up the classical Indian dance scene in the U.S. The very first Intersections Dance Conference 2025. Co-hosted by MITHAS and the Lakshmi Mittal and Family South Asia Institute at Harvard University, this one-and-a-half-day gathering is a meeting ground where artists, scholars, and cultural leaders come together to ask hard questions, swap ideas, and imagine a stronger future for Indian classical dance in America. Curated by the dynamic duo behind Boston’s Anubhava Dance Company, Shriya Srinivasan and Joshua George, the conference grew out of a massive listening project. Through interviews with more than 60 teachers, [&hellip;]
- [Madhavi Reimagined: A Bharatanatyam Exploration by Amritha Jayakrishnan](https://pulseconnects.com/madhavi-reimagined-a-bharatanatyam-exploration-by-amritha-jayakrishnan/): &nbsp; Madhavi Reimagined: A Bharatanatyam Exploration by Amritha Jayakrishnan March 28, 2025 Kala Sangam, Bradford&nbsp; Women have always borne the brunt of war—whether in reality, fiction, or mythology—often paying with their bodies. Madhavi, from the Mahabharata, is one such character. She is bartered among several men due to two unique boons: the ability to restore her virginity after childbirth and the destiny to bear sons who would become great kings. Amritha Jayakrishnan has adapted her grandfather O.N.V. Kurup’s Malayalam poems on Madhavi into a bharatanatyam production. The performance, presented by Kala Sangam through Mind the Gap theatre, brought this ancient [&hellip;]
- [10 Nights](https://pulseconnects.com/10-nights/): Riverside Studios, Hammersmith 11 January 2025 Review and image by Imrana Mahmood &#8216;But this is not just about faith, it&#8217;s about more…&#8217; &nbsp; Shahid Iqbal Khan’s Olivier Awards nominated play, directed by Samir Bhamra, is a funny and inspiring portrayal of a British Pakistani Muslim man’s journey of transformation and self-acceptance as he observes Itikaf (practice of spiritual seclusion) during the last ten nights of Ramadan. The pinky-purple hues of the stage lighting (Rajiv Pattani) evoke a sense of beauty, warmth and tranquility. For practicing Muslims, the colours look familiar to the skies we often experience after the Fajr prayer [&hellip;]
- [The Great Mughals: Art, Architecture and Opulence](https://pulseconnects.com/the-great-mughals-art-architecture-and-opulence/): Victoria &amp; Albert Museum, London Until 5 May 2025 Reviewed by Charles Robertson The exhibition draws together material from the V &amp; A’s own very rich collection with important loans from a range of private and overseas collections. It offers an absorbing exploration of a fascinating period of cultural history. This is more than simple enchantment or interest because the style is not just evidently beautiful but one of the most successful creations in all human culture.&nbsp; Mughal art and culture present a conundrum.&nbsp; On one hand it is quintessentially a court style articulating the life and power of a [&hellip;]
- [Reflections on Divya Sharma – Manch Pravesh](https://pulseconnects.com/reflections-on-divya-sharma-manch-pravesh/): Saturday 14th September 2024 MAC, Birmingham&nbsp; By Hiten Mistry &nbsp; As I entered the Midlands Arts Centre I was swept up by the excitement of guests, artists, and friends, echoing the vibrant atmospheres of Delhi or Chennai&#8217;s sabhas (gatherings). Divya Sharma (who is a dentist by profession) from Birmingham, now living in Newcastle, was presenting her kathak Manch Pravesh.&nbsp; The evening diverged from a typical solo kathak recital while maintaining traditional elements – devotional, romantic, abhinaya/semi-classical, and taal pieces. The performance was divided into two parts: the first included expressional works –&nbsp; ‘Namaha’, ‘Hori’, thumri, and tarana – while the [&hellip;]
- [Dhārā – Shyam Nayan](https://pulseconnects.com/dhara-shyam-nayan/): Dhr Shyam Nayan Bhavan, London, 31 August 2024 Reviewed by Pranav Yajnik &nbsp; Photo: Vipul Sangoi In these latter days of kathak, we can no longer rely on the gharana as the indication of how a dancer will dance.&nbsp; Perhaps it was true, even only fifty years ago, that lineage and tradition were the major determinants of style and approach, but those lines have since faded.&nbsp; Now, on the one hand, many dancers sit comfortably astride all the gharanas performing compositions from each with a generalised style of movement; on the other hand, the gharanas themselves have changed: some of [&hellip;]
- [Optics. Dance film by Anjana Bala](https://pulseconnects.com/optics-dance-film-by-anjana-bala/): Optics by Anjana Bala, Sadler’s Wells Digital Stage Reviewed by Stacey Prickett The title Optics evokes properties of light as well as perspective, as in how something is perceived, both manifest visually and metaphorically in the short dance film. Choreographer Anjana Bala joined dancers Aishani Ghosh and Adhya Shastry in a mesmerising trio that travels on a journey of relationships and place. Composer Nicole Robson with Ritesh Sunnasy on tabla contribute to the atmospheric power and distinctiveness of the film’s three sections.  Prismatic flashes open the scene, the camera pulling back to reveal three women in black kneeling on the floor bathed [&hellip;]
- [GIGENIS: The generation of the Earth](https://pulseconnects.com/gigenis-the-generation-of-the-earth/): GIGENIS: The generation of the Earth by Akram Khan &amp; Guests November 20, 2024 Sadler&#8217;s Wells, London Reviewed by Donald Hutera Premièred in France at the end of August, British dance superstar Akram Khan&#8217;s latest creation is being hailed as a return to his classical Indian roots. Khan himself recognises that GIGENIS, in which he performs (for the first time in four years) collaboratively alongside six other soloists, is a means of acknowledging &#8216;my past which has always informed my present.&#8217;&nbsp; But the hour-long production&nbsp;also marks a return to form for Khan after recent, intermittently powerful – and what dance [&hellip;]
- [Hemantika Festival-Sujata Banerjee Dance Company](https://pulseconnects.com/hemantika-festival-sujata-banerjee-dance-company/): Arts Depot, London 10 November 2024 Reviewed by Sanjeevini Dutta &amp; Stacey Prickett The annual Hemantika Festival produced by Sujata Banerjee Dance Company (SBDC) is in its ninth edition and has built up a core of dedicated young followers.&nbsp; The foyer at the 6.30 performance was buzzing with excited voices. The earlier programme of the day had featured a number of SBDC student groups and guest artists ClimArts – an odissi duo and kathak dancer Sambhavi Dandekar from the US. The later programme had three sections: SBDC’s Youth Group; invited kathak artist, the internationally-renowned Aakash Odedra (reviewed below) and finally [&hellip;]
- [Mandelbrot, Meera’s Madhava, and Messy Meaning-Making](https://pulseconnects.com/mandelbrot-meeras-madhava-and-messy-meaning-making/): An alliterative title, three seemingly divergent concepts, and the idea that repetition can produce complexity.&nbsp; Durga Tilak takes us into her imagination, visualising mathematical principles living out in performance arts. Each occurrence of the word Mandelbrot carries a different hyperlink; please do check these out.&nbsp; A few days ago, I was sent a YouTube short of Neil Degrasse Tyson and Grant Sanderson speaking about the Mandelbrot set. The Mandelbrot set is an intricate, ever-evolving geometric pattern in the two-dimensional plane of complex numbers. Summarily, this is how it goes: One starts at zero, computes its square, and adds a complex [&hellip;]
- [ROOH: Within Her](https://pulseconnects.com/rooh-within-her/): Venue MK, Milton Keynes 26 October 2024 Reviewed by Donald Hutera The title of Urja Desai Thakore&#8217;s latest work for Pagrav Dance Company (soon to mark the 20th anniversary of its inception) translates from Gujarati as &#8216;essence.&#8217; Created as a solo for herself, this collage of dance, text and music is, in essence, designed as an inspiring tribute to the courage, resilience and generosity of women &#8211; those she has either known in her own life, or known of from literature and contemporary history.&nbsp; The kinetic style is kathak, Thakore&#8217;s chosen form of expression. The text, which is mainly recorded, [&hellip;]
- [Introducing our new writer – Durga Tilak](https://pulseconnects.com/introducing-our-new-writer-durga-tilak/): Bharatanatyam dancer and mechanical engineer Durga Tilak has crossed&nbsp; continents in pursuit of her academic studies, but her love and devotion to dance is something that has followed her. Pulse caught up with Durga when she responded to an open call-out for dance writers. Her interest in looking at dance through a wider lens – she raves about a wide-ranging podcast that has absorbed her (Amit Verma&#8217;s The Seen and Unseen) which demonstrates her appetite for thinking about dance broadly also from a socio-economic perspective. This of course, perked our interest. The only child of economist parents, Durga grew up [&hellip;]
- [Nadī by Aishwarya Raut](https://pulseconnects.com/nadi-by-aishwarya-raut/): Nad® by Aishwarya Raut, 20 September, 2024 Rambert, London Reviewed by Stacey Prickett &nbsp; Photo: Deborah Jaffe Long lengths of cloth bathed in orange and red light soften the angles of the Rambert studio, while the sound of running water evokes a calm evening at sunset. We are taken to another place, its aura enriched by multi-layered sound score and lighting changes that delineate temporary performance spaces. Unintelligible vocalisations are interspersed with whispered phrases that hint at concrete images as attention is drawn to a shadow moving behind fabric hanging from the ceiling. Undulating gestures and a low, grounded squat [&hellip;]
- [WHO ISN'T Against Casteism in Indian Performing Arts?](https://pulseconnects.com/who-isnt-against-casteism-in-indian-performing-arts/): We invited responses to the statement published on Pulse in April this year: We Stand Against Casteism in Indian Performing Arts. Dr Avanthi Meduri has written the essay below in reply to the statement. As before, if you wish to respond to any of the issues raised, please write to info@pulseconnects.com – PULSE This essay responds to the global We Stand Against Casteism solidarity Statement that was published in pulseconnects on April 22, 2024. Three well-known dance academics, leading on the AHRC-funded South Asian Dance Equity (SADE) Dance Matters grant scheme, and including a fourth from UCLA, drafted the global solidarity Statement. [&hellip;]
- [Divya Sharma’s Manch Pravesh](https://pulseconnects.com/divya-sharmas-manch-pravesh/): On 14 September 2024 a milestone event will take place at the Midlands Arts Centre, Birmingham for dance student Divya Sharma and her guru Sonia Sabri. Sanjeevini Dutta spoke to both the shishya and the guru about the significance of the presentation of Divya’s Manch Pravesh.  A Manch Pravesh, ‘entry on the stage’ is a rite of passage for a dance student. When a teacher decides that their dance pupil has reached a point of proficiency when they can dance a full repertoire, usually to live music, a performance is held in front of family, friends and other invitees. It [&hellip;]
- [Ranjit Singh: Sikh, Warrior, King](https://pulseconnects.com/ranjit-singh-sikh-warrior-king/): Ranjit Singh: Sikh, Warrior, King The Wallace Collection 10 April–20 October 2024 Normally, safely in neighbouring glass cases in the Victoria and Albert Museum, rest two most important objects, spoils of empire, that mark Britain’s fraught encounter with India at the turn of the nineteenth century: the mechanical tiger devouring an officer of the East India Company made for Tipu Sultan and golden throne of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. Tipu, 1751-1799, and Ranjit, 1780-1839, a Muslim and a Sikh, were dynamic rulers who created great realms which challenged the East India company, drawing on the strength and ingenuity of their subjects, [&hellip;]
- [Ananta, The Eternal, Ragamala Dance Company ](https://pulseconnects.com/ananta-the-eternal-ragamala-dance-company/): Ananta, The Eternal Ragamala Dance Company&nbsp; Reviewed by&nbsp; Donald Hutera at Assembly @ Dance Base on August 13, 2024 &nbsp; Photo: Kyle Flubacker Confession: I have followed, if somewhat fitfully, the progress of Ragamala Dance Company since it was founded by Ranee Ramawamy in my American birthplace of Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1992. But it&#8217;s not the hometown connection that prompts me to sing the praises of this hour-long performance mainly choreographed by her daughter, Aparna Ramaswamy, and danced by Aparna and her sister Ashwini. Rather, I can rave about the work of these siblings because their dancing is so exquisitely [&hellip;]
- [Aakash Odedra Company, Songs of the Bulbul](https://pulseconnects.com/aakash-odedra-company-songs-of-the-bulbul/): Songs of the Bulbul Aakash Odedra Company Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh Reviewed by&nbsp; Donald Hutera on August 9, 2024 &nbsp; Photo:&nbsp;Kuldeep Goswami Aakash Odedra&#8217;s new solo has the distinction of being the only dance production to have its world premiere at this year&#8217;s Edinburgh International Festival. It doesn&#8217;t matter that there were only two others in the Festival&#8217;s entire three weeks-and-a-bit programme. It&#8217;s still quite a feather in the cap of this internationally-recognised, Leicester-based artist and his creative team. And there is much to admire here. The 55-minute work was inspired by an ancient Sufi myth in which the bulbul, a [&hellip;]
- [Sonia Mehta – Protest Songs in Ancestral Languages](https://pulseconnects.com/sonia-mehta-protest-songs-in-ancestral-languages/): Sonia Mehta is a singer and social activist whose twin passions have been driving her through a career spanning three decades.&nbsp; Sonia was born in Liverpool into a second-generation Punjabi family in the 1970s where music was an integral part of family life. Whether it was a gathering of friends and family or an occasion like a wedding, the dholak would be brought out by her dad, a skilled dholak and tabla player. Punjabi folk and filmi songs were the staple. ‘Growing up in a working class community, this wasn’t high culture, it was survival and holding onto a culture [&hellip;]
- [Divya Ravi, Marta Guerra Doblas (Dobladanza) and Matthew Howard at Resolution 24](https://pulseconnects.com/divya-ravi-marta-guerra-doblas-dobladanza-and-matthew-howard-at-resolution-24/): Divya Ravi, Marta Guerra Doblas (Dobladanza) and Matthew Howard, 6th February 2024 Resolution Festival, The Place, London This was an evening of contrasting experiences – by turns enigmatic, moving and exuberant – that together made an enjoyable and well-curated whole. It encompassed eastern and western, classical and contemporary, profound professionalism and youthful energy. &nbsp; Poem of Rua by Matthew Howard The tableau-like presentation was visually arresting: two shapes, a little like pawns in a chess set (reminiscent of Oskar Shlemmer at the Bauhaus), robed in white, on a white circle, with a deep and rather threatening electronic soundscape. The head-dresses [&hellip;]
- [Examining the role of Indian dance & dancers in Air India’s 'Safety Mudras'](https://pulseconnects.com/examining-the-role-of-indian-dance-dancers-in-air-indias-safety-mudras/): Air India&#8217; &#8216;Safety Mudras&#8217; In Air India’s recently released safety video &#8216;Safety Mudras&#8217;, dancers take on the roles of air stewardesses and perform the most memorable in-flight safety briefing yet. When a passenger opens the plane’s safety instruction booklet in the video, she accesses a portal to an India symbolised by temples, courts, beaches, forests and fields and stewarded by classical and folk dancers. Against these lush landscapes, fully decked-out dancers representing different dance forms and their regions of origin mime safety instructions with safety belts, life vests, and oxygen masks, flexibly incorporating the safety agenda into the idiom of [&hellip;]
- [Aruna Sairam-Darbar Festival](https://pulseconnects.com/aruna-sairam-darbar-festival/): Barbican Centre, London 17th October 2024&nbsp; Reviewed by Ken Hunt &nbsp; Aruna Sairam’s return to the Darbar Festival was a late morning into early afternoon recital. She last appeared at Darbar in September 2016. Every Aruna Sairam concert comes with the likelihood of being taken on a grand adventure. This concert did just that. Of all her extensive discography the audio-recordings to which I return most often are the ones Charsur Digital Work Station preserved between 2001 and 2006. The Chennai-based label recorded her at various venues on her and the company’s home-turf during the Margazhi (December/January) season. Maybe romantically, [&hellip;]
- [Embracing Bharatanatyam - Navigating Tradition, Belonging and Identity](https://pulseconnects.com/embracing-bharatanatyam-navigating-tradition-belonging-and-identity/):   Arangetram photos: by Simon Richardson     When I walked into my first ever bharatanatyam class in Cambridge almost 11 years ago, I remember feeling curious and excited about nurturing my interest in the Indian arts. I didn’t have this opportunity in my native Italy, but after moving to the UK, I couldn’t continue my gymnastics career, so I started dancing instead. I learnt about Indian Classical dance forms during my first trip to Tamil Nadu in 2012. At the time, however, I did not fully grasp the complex history and tensions around these art forms.  As I continued [&hellip;]
- [SEVENS and Kattam Katti tour India](https://pulseconnects.com/sevens-and-kattam-katti-tour-india/): Image: Kattam Katti (above) SEVENS&nbsp;(below) from Instagram company publicity &nbsp; As the performance season in the UK directs us towards pantos and Christmas carols, South Asian dancers have been looking to new frontiers. In the coming weeks Pagrav Dance and Srishti are taking their dance shows to tour the length and breadth of India. It is not the first time that UK-based artists are performing in India &nbsp;– &nbsp;there have been British Council-sponsored tours in the past – but this time the companies have taken the initiative themselves, with nine performances for Nina Rajarani Dance Creations and four for Pagrav [&hellip;]
- [Frankie Goes to Bollywood](https://pulseconnects.com/frankie-goes-to-bollywood/): Watford Palace Theatre 4 May 2024 Reviewed by Sanjeevini Dutta Rifco Company’s Frankie Goes to Bollywood, at the Watford Palace Theatre attracted one of the largest Asian audiences that I have ever seen in a mid-scale venue. What they witnessed in the course of the evening appeared to have exceeded expectations. It gave them the glamour and glitz of a Bollywood film but watched with a live cast. The lavishness started with a spectacular set created with a series of telescoping Mughal arches, dripping in gorgeous hues that alternated between turquoise, pink, green, gold and red, a veritable Bollywood set. [&hellip;]
- [In Conversation with Aishwarya Raut](https://pulseconnects.com/in-conversation-with-aishwarya-raut/): Image credit: Camilla Greenwell Reflecting on her work in The Place’s Resolution series, choreographer and dancer Aishwarya Raut identified multiple strands of influence in the creation of What About the Rain? &nbsp;From Mumbai to London via Liverpool, Raut’s artistic development differs from other choreographers with South Asian heritage currently making work in the UK. Rather than a classical South Asian dance background, Raut studied from the age of eight with Shiamak Davar whose blend of Bollywood, jazz and contemporary dance is taught in a network of dance academies across India. Starting dance classes at a young age helped channel her [&hellip;]
- [Painting Freedom: Indian Modernism and its rebels](https://pulseconnects.com/painting-freedom-indian-modernism-and-its-rebels/): Painting Freedom: Indian Modernism and its rebels Brunei Gallery, SOAS, London Until 22nd June 2024 Painting Freedom offers a very rich experience of a century or so of painting made in undivided Bengal, principally Kolkata, from the middle of the nineteenth to the middle of the twentieth century. This is an enlarged reiteration of the inspiring exhibition of this collection held at Leicester Museum and Art Gallery in 2021. The collection is now accompanied by a catalogue introduced by a series of essays. It is beautifully displayed, allowing for telling comparisons between works. With the loss of America, India had [&hellip;]
- [Waltzing The Blue Gods](https://pulseconnects.com/waltzing-the-blue-gods/): The Place, London 16 April 2024 Reviewed by Donald Hutera Since founding his eponymous company in Wolverhampton two decades ago, the dancer, choreographer and artistic director Jaivant Patel has slowly, steadily carved out a niche for himself as a queer south Asian artist keen to inhabit and explore the interface between cultural and kinetic traditions (particularly kathak) and contemporary issues and modes of being and moving. His latest work, a solo in two parts (or, as referred to in the free sheet, interludes), exists in a carefully considered and constructed stage world that offers a fresh,&nbsp; personal and relevant spin [&hellip;]
- [MEHEK – Aakash Odedra Company/Aditi Mangaldas Company](https://pulseconnects.com/mehek-aakash-odedra-company-aditi-mangaldas-company/): MEHEK Aakash Odedra Company / Aditi Mangaldas Company Friday 12 April 2024 Sadler’s Wells, London Reviewed by the Pulse Dance Audience Club Mehek  was a textured experience formed by set, lighting, music and the visual quality as well as flawless dance layered with drums, electronic music and vocals. The love story between an older woman (danced by Aditi Mangaldas, 64) and a younger man (danced by Aakash Odedra, 38) moved some to tears. Their performances were faultless, whether in dialogue or in synch., each in tune with the other, in joy and in torment. Odedra’s athleticism is extraordinary, with his jumps [&hellip;]
- [We Stand Against Casteism in Indian Performing Arts](https://pulseconnects.com/we-stand-against-casteism-in-indian-performing-arts/): By now many will be aware of the furore that broke out in Chennai (with ripples felt globally) over the Music Academy’s Sangita Kalanidhi award to Carnatic musician T M Krishna and the reaction by several musicians including the Gayatri sisters to boycott the Conference. T M Krishna has a long record of ruffling the feathers of the establishment. He has railed against both the false religiosity attributed to the origins of the music that link it to Brahminical Hinduism and has called out the domination of Brahmins amongst both the promoters ‘the sabhas’ and in the industry generally. He [&hellip;]
- [In Conversation with Jaivant Patel](https://pulseconnects.com/in-conversation-with-jaivant-patel/): Jaivant Patel has had a meteoric rise in the world of dance since his graduation from Northern School of Contemporary Dance in 2004. Kathak came into his life post-graduation, from the legendary Nahid Siddiqui, and has become his principal medium of expression. But it was after he found his artistic voice in expressing narratives of the South Asian Queer experience that the path of progression opened up for him.&nbsp; On Tuesday 14 April Jaivant brings his Waltzing the Blue Gods to The Place Theatre, for its first London showing. Waltzing the Blue Gods reimagines the Queer symbolism of Hindu gods [&hellip;]
- [Sohini Alam in conversation](https://pulseconnects.com/sohini-alam-in-conversation/): Simone Sultana spoke to Sohini ahead of Khiyo&#8217;s performance at the Southbank Centre&#8217;s South Asian Sounds Festival: Khiyo: From Bangladesh to Britain | Sun 10 March | 3 pm |&nbsp;Purcell Room at Queen Elizabeth Hall&nbsp; Khiyo’s deeply soulful tunes – mixed in with tracks that make the spirit fly – must reflect some of the breadth of experience that has informed your songwriting. I know your world changed irrevocably aged nine, and the trajectory that you followed has brought you here, performing with your own band Khiyo, belting out Bangla-fusion songs with Lokkhi Terra, on stage with the likes of [&hellip;]
- [KALAK - Live in Mumbai –  EP by Sarathy Korwar](https://pulseconnects.com/kalak-live-in-mumbai-ep-by-sarathy-korwar/): The EP KALAK &#8211; Live in Mumbai, featuring Tamar Osborn (baritone saxophone/flute/voice), Alistair MacSween (synthesisers/drums/voice) and Sarathy Korwar (drums/voice), is out exclusively on Bandcamp. It is available to download on a ‘name your price’ basis. The four tracks featured on the EP cover from melody-focused to exclusively percussive, from abstract soundscape to a balance of all elements skilfully sewn together in the longest track ‘Utopia is a Colonial Project’ at 12.36. The opening number ‘Remember to Look Out for the Signs’ begins with a dense canopy of sounds, mostly naturalistic, dots of colour on the canvas. The underlying percussion drives the movement [&hellip;]
- [The Philosophers of Bombay](https://pulseconnects.com/the-philosophers-of-bombay/): One of the richest experiences of holidaying in India, and here I refer to my home city of Bombay, is the exchange with taxi drivers of the yellow and black cabs.&nbsp; These beaten-up vehicles with interesting shrines on the dashboard are ubiquitous and very affordable. Conversations strike up very easily and my Hindi is enough to communicate, though when it comes to the finer and more subtle points, I cannot match the eloquence of my fellow conversants. Last night, Javid Pratapgadhi, quoting a kalam in Urdu and Awadhi, made my tongue feel uncouth in comparison to the silver utterances from [&hellip;]
- [Srishti Pathways](https://pulseconnects.com/srishti-pathways/): Srishti Pathways 3 March 2024 Bhavan, London Srishti Pathways is an apprenticeship programme for students from various schools to come together under the guidance and mentorship of Nina Rajarani, CEO of Srishti Dance, &nbsp;for a twelve-month period. The programme concluded with a performance at the Bhavan London on 3rd March 2024. Pathways is designed to help bridge the gap between reaching proficiency and becoming a &nbsp;full-time dance artist and professional, a welcome initiative on the part of Nina Rajarani and Srishti dance school. The four emerging dancers were Linea Hussman, Mitesha Mageswaran, Disha Varsani and Ritu Raj, with Varsha Vijay [&hellip;]
- [The Making of MEHEK – Aditi Mangaldas](https://pulseconnects.com/the-making-of-mehek-aditi-mangaldas/): Kathak dancer and choreographer Aditi Mangaldas has established an international reputation for excellence of technique and aesthetics and for breaking new ground in the themes she has tackled, from feminine desire to violence against women. In MEHEK she teams up with friend and fellow dancer Aakash Odedra to create the narrative of the relationship between an older woman and a young man. The performance of MEHEK, which premiered in Abu Dhabi in February 2024, is coming to Sadler’s Wells Dance House on 12 and 13 April. Here Aditi Mangaldas talks to Sanjeevini Dutta on the making of MEHEK. 1. Last Autumn 2023 you presented [&hellip;]
- [Kalasetu – Building Cultural Bridges](https://pulseconnects.com/kalasetu-building-cultural-bridges/): Kalasetu, Bridging Cultural Bridges&nbsp; March 24th 2024 Fairfield Halls, Croydon Organised by Subrang Arts as part of &#8216;This is Croydon&#8217; London Borough of Culture Reviewed by Parvati Nair Photos: Vipul Sangoi Kalasetu brought together eight artists, four each working in musical and dance traditions from India and Spain respectively. Using rhythm, vocals, instrumental music and dance, the artists came together to explore synergies and ways of cross-cultural dialogue through performance. Most striking was the interplay of sitar and guitar, as well as that between kathak and flamenco dance. With the exception of the flamenco singer, all the artists are based [&hellip;]
- [Resolution 2024: Aishwarya Raut, Hannah Waters, Seirian Griffiths and Aurora Casatori,](https://pulseconnects.com/resolution-2024-aishwarya-raut-hannah-waters-seirian-griffiths-and-aurora-casatori/): Aishwarya Raut, Hannah Waters, Seirian Griffiths and Aurora Casatori, 27 January 2024, Resolution Festival, The Place, London Celebrating its thirty years of existence, the Resolution new choreography series at the Place Theatre offered a study in contrasts, opening with the duet In all Blackness, Nothingness began to Spin. The intense exchange is a series of challenges between Aurora Casatori and Seirian Griffiths (who also composed the score), heightened by a voiceover drawn from dystopian sci-fi film dialogue that evokes authoritarian power. Shifting power relationships manifest physically as the chaser becomes the chased, degrees of trust transfer in and out of [&hellip;]
- [Reflection: Lives of Clay](https://pulseconnects.com/reflection-lives-of-clay/): At Pulse we have been discussing the role of the reviewer: is it to judge, comment, provide feedback and improvements, or to help audiences interpret and to spark their interest? In fact, it can be any or all of the above. Whilst ‘Reviewer’ suggests that to some degree the writer is ‘free of biases’ through expert knowledge, our reviewers are mostly fellow artists rather than professional ‘critics’. Thus we are naming some of these pieces ‘Reflections’, which better describes the responses of fellow artists to a performance. We were interested in how the show impacted them. Did the performance raise [&hellip;]
- [Reflection: Aunusthan – A celebration of neo-classical Indian dance and Music](https://pulseconnects.com/reflection-aunusthan-a-celebration-of-neo-classical-indian-dance-and-music/): Aunusthan – A celebration of neo-classical Indian dance and Music Pagrav Dance Company 10th January 2024 The Lowry, Salford Aunusthan began with the sounds of the sarangi played by Satwinder Pal Singh, followed by the alaap (vocal stretch of musical notes) by Kaviraj Singh; then all seven dancers march onto the stage to sit downstage, a couple facing the back and the rest facing forward. The seated choreography of hand and torso sways and movements was alluring, the dancers’ almost backless blouses modestly covered by&nbsp; criss-crossed lace. The sharp 180 degrees turns swiftly engineered whilst seated were perfectly executed and [&hellip;]
- [Prabha Atre – In Memoriam](https://pulseconnects.com/prabha-atre-in-memoriam/): Prabha Atre (13 September 1932 – 13 January 2024) My introduction to Prabha Atre was online. I had not heard her or indeed heard of her for the first forty years of my life, but YouTube® changed all that. My musical ties were tethered at an early age to Hindustani classical, but my exposure to the different gharanas was limited. Memorably, at 8.15 am on one day each week (I think Tuesdays), a classical music programme on Vividh Bharathi (‘Diverse Voices’) on All India Radio would be featured; here I first heard Bharat Ratna Pt. Bhimsen Joshi of Kirana Gharana [&hellip;]
- [Music & Light: A Concert of Indian Classical Music,](https://pulseconnects.com/music-light-a-concert-of-indian-classical-music/): Music &amp; Light: A Concert of Indian Classical Music, Featuring Ustd Dharambir Singh (Sitar) Roopa Panesar (Sitar) Shahbaz Hussain (Tabla) Leicester Guildhall, 4 November 2023 &nbsp; Reviewed by Richard Wrigley A concert in which Dharambir Singh plays together with Roopa Panesar and Shahbaz Hussein is always a special occasion. On a rainy evening in Leicester, presented as part of&nbsp; celebrations of Diwali, in the historic setting of the Guildhall, the occasion took on not one but several extra layers of cultural meaning.&nbsp; As explained by Atul Patel, Treasurer of the Sitar Music Society (amongst many other things), in his generous [&hellip;]
- [Kalki](https://pulseconnects.com/kalki/): Kalki Pushpalata Dance and the Centre for Classical Indian Dance (CICD), Leicester, Saturday 11 November 2023, Vishwa Hindu Kendra, Southall &nbsp; Reviewed by Bina Patel Photos: Gordon Chen The collaborative piece between Pushpalata Dance and the Centre for Classical Indian Dance (CICD), led by artistic directors Priya Pawar and Nilima Devi, culminated in the production titled Kalki. Blending the ancient narrative of Kalki from Hindu mythology with the urgent queries echoing in today&#8217;s tumultuous world, the performance stood as a poignant testament to the enduring relevance of myth and symbolism in contemporary times. This final performance of their autumn tour [&hellip;]
- [Rachel Perris- exponent of Gaudiya Nritya](https://pulseconnects.com/rachel-perris-exponent-of-gaudiya-nritya/): ‘When dancing, I feel connected to the Supreme power-the stage is my mandir’ ‘I am a Christian, living in a Muslim country, performing a Hindu dance’. This neatly sums up the reality for Rachel Perris, Gaudiya Nritya artist. Rachel is in the UK to perform for the Hemantika Festival produced by Sujata Banerjee Dance Company, so I’m able to  meet her and to find out more about this dance form and how she became its primary exponent in Bangladesh. Rachel Perris was born in Dhaka and loved to dance. From the age of three she began to learn  a variety [&hellip;]
- [Making Space for South Asian Music](https://pulseconnects.com/making-space-for-south-asian-music/): South Asian artists to take part in tribute concert honouring&nbsp;British folk music legend Bert Jansch. &nbsp; It may seem that British folk music and Indian music make for unlikely bedfellows. However, a one of a kind of music event honouring the 80th birthday anniversary of iconic British folk guitarist and vocalist, Bert Jansch at the Royal Festival Hall on Saturday November 4th provides an opportunity to draw on these two music traditions within the context of the late singer’s body of work. Indian vocalist, and performer, Ranjana Ghatak will join forces with her collaborators, Scottish folk musician/singer James Yorkston and [&hellip;]
- [PETT KATA SHAW – interview with director Nuhash Humayun](https://pulseconnects.com/pett-kata-shaw-interview-with-director-nuhash-humayun/): The Raindance Festival this year sees the UK Premiere of Bangladeshi filmmaker Nuhash Humayun&#8216;s feature debut PETT KATA SHAW, a modern revival of Bangladeshi folk tales. This haunting film comprises four shorts that have been skilfully woven into an anthology film – and with characters including nefarious jinns and petnee – fish-hungry wenches, it is ideal viewing for Halloween! Simone Sultana asked Nuhash about about the film. Simone: Admittedly, I don’t like horrors. I don’t like being in that suspended stomach-churning space. So I did not embrace watching Moshari, the film with which you burst onto the international scene, but it was a prerequisite to interviewing the maker of [&hellip;]
- [Can This Place Be A Temple? – Akshay Sharma](https://pulseconnects.com/can-this-place-be-a-temple-akshay-sharma/): Can This Place Be A Temple? Akshay Sharma Tuesday 3&nbsp;&nbsp;October The Place, London &nbsp; Reviewed by Maryam Shakiba &nbsp; &nbsp; A mist hung in the air, gently illuminated with warm light against the bare backdrop of the black stage.&nbsp; Akshay Sharma emerged into the space, his stature strong and solid, and spoke to us of mythical tales; a goddess holding both zero and infinity in her palms. His words, sensitively weighted in their delivery, invited us into this liminal space of his creation.&nbsp; Textures of gold. Sharma’s beige silk shirt, a metallic foil sheet he stretched across the floor, glowing [&hellip;]
- [Forbidden- Aditi Mangaldas](https://pulseconnects.com/forbidden-aditi-mangaldas/): Sadlers Wells,&nbsp; 13 October 2023 Review by Pranav Yajnik “I have been dancing since I was four,” said Aditi Mangaldas. “The maturity of the late works does not resemble the kind one finds in fruit. &nbsp;They are for the most part, not round, but furrowed, even ravaged… they do not surrender themselves to mere delectation.” (Theodor Adorno, “Spätsstil Beethovens” (tr. Susan Gillespie) 1937). The subject matter of Forbidden is the control and suppression of female sexual desire. &nbsp;It is a piece &nbsp;roughly split into three: innocence to awareness, knowledge to cunning, calamity to redemption. &nbsp; Mangaldas begins by sketching in [&hellip;]
- [Exposing the Darker Side- Cartoon_Natyam](https://pulseconnects.com/exposing-the-darker-side-cartoon_natyam/): Veena Basavarajaiah&nbsp;is a movement artist: a performer, creator, producer and activist based in Bengaluru. Her dance training ranges &nbsp;from bharatanatyam to kalaripayattu to contemporary. She has a Masters in Dance from Roehampton University in the UK. Her commitment to the dance field has made her look more closely and critically into the social and political dimensions of the dance ecology. With this lens she exposes the shortcomings/underbelly of the dance world. You are now known for your satirical cartoons published under your handle @cartoon_natyam. &nbsp;How and why did you develop that strand of your work? I have always been interested [&hellip;]
- [Dancing to a new tune- Arushi Mudgal in Kamala](https://pulseconnects.com/dancing-to-a-new-tune-arushi-mudgal-in-kamala/): This Mini-Series examines the connection between new musical compositions and how these elicit new ways of moving, which may or may not be outside the strict classical form. Over 2023 in my normal course of attending performances and keeping abreast of developments in South Asian dance, I came across the works of three dancers which stood out for their freshness and originality. A large part of the appeal was the musical score to the dance which in turn influenced the choreography.&nbsp; The first article focused on bharatanatyam artist Divya Ravi. In this second article I would like to throw light [&hellip;]
- ["Dancing with the Lens" Digital Dance Exhibition](https://pulseconnects.com/dancing-with-the-lens-digital-dance-exhibition/): Image: Screenshot from trailer for Romeo and Juliet Dancing with the Lens is a distinctive digital dance exhibition, meticulously curated with the primary objective of fostering awareness among younger generations about the diverse Indian classical dance forms and, notably, the Chhau Dance from Purulia. The exhibition, which has been in the planning and organizing stages for several months, incorporates a range of elements, including in-person interviews and the utilisation of ethnographic techniques. The field studies were carried out in five different states (Assam, Haryana, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Kerala) and Puruliya (a remote town of Bengal) in India. The [&hellip;]
- [In conversation: Jonathan Mayer](https://pulseconnects.com/in-conversation-jonathan-mayer/): Jonathan Mayer in Conversation Sitar player and composer Jonathan Mayer has a long family connection with India. His father John Mayer, also a composer, who played western classical violin, was born in Kolkata. Jonathan has traced his paternal family’s presence in India almost from the founding of the East India Company. He is a direct descendant of Christopher Mayer, a Persian to Bengali language translator in the 1780s; so one could say that Jonathan’s ancestors represent the exchange that has taken place over the last three hundred years between India and the UK. I could read music before I could [&hellip;]
- [Once upon a River: Folksongs and Poetry beyond Punjab’s Borders](https://pulseconnects.com/once-upon-a-river-folksongs-and-poetry-beyond-punjabs-borders/): Once upon a River Folksongs and Poetry beyond Punjab’s Borders 4th February 2023 Harry M. Weinrebe Learning Centre, British Library, Euston Road, London Reviewed by Ken Hunt Photo: Hernoor Grewal and Parkash Pal | credit Ken Hunt Once upon a River was an event organised as part of the British Library’s National Life Stories, a programme established to record and preserve the oral history “of as wide a cross-section of present-day society as possible”. Introduced by the programme’s Chandan Mahal, this free two-hour event took the form of a double-hander lecture–performance. Radha Kapuria supplied the words. Hernoor Grewal supplied the music [&hellip;]
- [Bijayini Satpathy – Odissi Master in her Prime](https://pulseconnects.com/bijayini-satpathy-odissi-master-in-her-prime/): Bijayani Satpathy has the reputation of being the most revered odissi dancer in the world. She is held in high esteem by the New York dance establishment (the home of modern dance), with plaudits from such major figures as contemporary choreographer Mark Morris and ballet star Mikhail Baryshnikov. Her 2021 evening-length solo work ABHIPSAA – a Seeking – achieved critical success when it premièred in December 2021 at Duke Performances.  Her dramatic exploration and reshaping of an ancient tradition has propelled the artist to the forefront of the art. We begin this profile with a look at some of the films that have [&hellip;]

## Pages

- [Book_Moving Stillness: South Asian dance through the lens of Simon Richardson](https://pulseconnects.com/book-moving-stillness-south-asian-dance-through-the-lens-of-simon-richardson/): Moving Stillness: South Asian dance through the lens of Simon Richardson Photo Credit : Vipul Sangoi Moving Stillness is a dance art book that conveys the depth of classical Indian dance through Simon Richardson’s stunning images. The photos have been taken over a period of three decades and are a lively testimonial to the spread and popularity of these dance forms in the UK. Simon has had a long career in photography, with a particular focus on, and passion for, South Asian classical dance. His images have recast these dance forms in a modern contemporary light. Moving Stillness is a [&hellip;]
- [The Rose and the Bulbul](https://pulseconnects.com/the-rose-and-the-bulbul-2/): The Rose and the Bulbul A promenade performance for gardens 2017. Image credits: Simon Richardson, Melissa Lane Porter  
- [Banyan Tree – The Tree](https://pulseconnects.com/banyan-tree-the-tree/): Odissi Ensemble On the Banyan Tree you will find performers, teachers, gurus, academics and organisation heads, who together allow the dance to flourish. Left to right from top:   Suhani Danki, Katie Ryan, Mira Kaushik, Arunima Kumar, Pushkala Gopal, Chitraleka Bolar, BSDC’s Synchronised, Chitra Sundaram, Gauri Sharma Tripathi, —— Subash Viman, Rama Vaidyanathan, Anaya Bolar, Stella Uppal Subbiah, Kalamandalam Vijayakumar, Seeta Patel, Rite of Spring, Chamu Kuppuswamy, Payal Ramchandani, Bisakha Sarker, Andrée Grau, Tiyasha Dutta Paul, Rani Natalie Raut, Shreya Vadnerkar, Smita Vadnerkar, Kiran Ratna, Showmi Das, Shivani Sethia, Vena Ramphal, Hiten Mistry, Seeta Patel, Katrina Rute, Malavika Sarukkai, Sonia [&hellip;]
- [Sushmita Ghosh Image Gallery](https://pulseconnects.com/sushmita-ghosh-image-gallery/): Sushmita Ghosh Image Gallery
- [Khavita Kaur](https://pulseconnects.com/khavita-kaur/): Khavita Kaur Khavita and the River Ouse. Photos: Simon Richardson  
- [The Rose and the Bulbul](https://pulseconnects.com/the-rose-and-the-bulbul/): The Rose and the Bulbul A promenade performance for gardens 2017. Image credits: Simon Richardson, Melissa Lane Porter.
- [Odissi Ensemble](https://pulseconnects.com/odissi-ensemble/): Odissi Ensemble The Odissi Ensemble is a quartet of dancers who have formed the first professional Odissi Dance Company in the UK.  
- [Illuminating India- Talvin Singh, Yorkston/Thorne/Khan| Images Anjali Khanna](https://pulseconnects.com/illuminating-india-talvin-singh-yorkston-thorne-khan-images-anjali-khanna/): Illuminating India- Talvin Singh, Yorkston/Thorne/Khan| Images Anjali Khanna Illuminating India at the Science Museum; Talvin Singh responds to the Photographic Exhibition, accompanied on sarangi by Yusuf Suhail Khan. First half Yorkston/Thorne Khan
- [Privacy Policy](https://pulseconnects.com/privacy-policy/):   Privacy and Data Protection Your privacy online is important to us and we will use the information only for the purpose if was obtained for such as sending the Newsletter. It will not be shared with any third party.   Recent Posts Echoes of the Ordinary – An Interview in New York City with Dr. Manu S Pillai Ganga Chamber Opera- Jataneel Banerjee Srishti Squared Between the Lines – Re-thinking Tagore for the 21st Century In Conversation with Sushmita Pati Most Popular Echoes of the Ordinary – An Interview in&hellip; West Meets East: A Legacy Revisited Ganga Chamber Opera- [&hellip;]
- [Looking Ahead](https://pulseconnects.com/looking-ahead/): Looking Ahead A Rising Tide Lifts All Boats Intersections Conference 2025: Traditions and Innovations in Indian Classical Dance • September 2, 2025 Co-hosted by MITHAS and the Lakshmi Mittal and Family South Asia Institute at Harvard University, this one-and-a-half-day gathering is a meeting ground … Looking Ahead Ganga Chamber Opera- Jataneel Banerjee • June 15, 2023 Q.Jataneel you are known in the South Asian circles as a composer and vocalist. You trained in India as an Electrical &amp; … Looking Ahead Sway of the Verses at Tate Lates • May 25, 2023 Sway of the Verses we normally think of [&hellip;]
- [Terms &amp; Conditions](https://pulseconnects.com/terms-conditions/): Pulse is published by Kadam Asian Dance and Music, herein referred to as ‘The Publisher’. Kadam is part of SADAA the South Asian Dance Alliance, Use of Website and Copyright You may access, view and print copies of material contained in the website as long as you comply with these Terms and Conditions:  you agree to use this site only for lawful purposes and in a manner which does not infringe the rights or restrict or inhibit the use and enjoyment of the site by any third party; you use the material for information purposes and for your non-commercial, personal [&hellip;]
- [Donor Dashboard](https://pulseconnects.com/donor-dashboard/)
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- [Donation Confirmation](https://pulseconnects.com/donation-confirmation/)
- [Blogs](https://pulseconnects.com/blogs/): We, Caliban – Watching dance, thinking theatre • October 9, 2025 • Blogs As my train made its journey from London to Southampton, … Clay, cues and cardboard houses: A day in the double life of a Performer-director • August 28, 2025 • Blogs &nbsp; HOLY DIRT premiered at the Ensemble festival, London over … Choreographing Displacement: On What Moves and What Doesn’t • June 16, 2025 • Blogs In India, dance is not merely performed; it is lived. … On Metrics and the State of Being in Classical Dance • May 21, 2025 • Articles, Blogs &nbsp; Over the past [&hellip;]
- [Advertise](https://pulseconnects.com/advertise/): Advertise with us Welcome to the hub of South Asian dance and music in the UK, with an international outlook.   Target Audience Raise your profile and reach your target audiences. We are a key port of call for those with a commitment to South Asian arts. These include students, teachers, performing artists, agencies and audiences. 360 degree exposure with Pulse Advertise on our website and we will also spread the word via our free weekly e-newsletter and our social media platforms: Face Book, Twitter and Instagram. Taken together we reach 2000 committed arts lovers weekly. Fast and flexible Just [&hellip;]
- [About Us](https://pulseconnects.com/about-us/): Pulse Connects Welcome to the hub of South Asian dance in the UK. We are Kadam, an arts charity based in Luton, and the publishers of Pulse. Pulse aims to take a snapshot of South Asian dance in the UK at any given time – profile the artists, discuss, critique and contextualise their work, thereby keeping the sector informed, connected and energized. We are equally keen to represent South Asian music, an exciting and evolving art form. Publisher and the Board The publisher of Pulse, Kadam Asian Dance and Music was formed in 1995 and is directed by Sanjeevini Dutta, [&hellip;]
- [Support Us](https://pulseconnects.com/support-us/): Support Us to support you Pulse is an independent on-line publishing platform, a charity, that spotlights South Asian arts in the UK and worldwide. Our mission is to position South Asian arts as an integral part of mainstream society and be a supportive and critical friend to the sector. Our quality, impartial journalism, well-researched articles, evocative images and relevant topics over the last twenty years have made Pulse the go-to publication for the thinking artist and discerning audiences. In 2017, we revolutionalised our approach. From a print magazine we rebranded as an online publication. Our thoughtful content, free weekly newsletter and social [&hellip;]
- [Gallery](https://pulseconnects.com/gallery/): Banyan Tree – The Tree Illuminating India- Talvin Singh, Yorkston/Thorne/Khan| Images Anjali Khanna Odissi Ensemble The Rose and the Bulbul Khavita Kaur Sushmita Ghosh Image Gallery Banyan Tree – The Tree Odissi Ensemble Odissi Ensemble The Rose and the Bulbul Khavita Kaur Sushmita Ghosh Image Gallery
- [Reviews](https://pulseconnects.com/reviews/): Reviews Rising Voices: Women, Myth, and Movement at Aalokam’s We R Dancing Festival Day Two • October 25, 2025 Across time and myth, women have been forces of power, courage, and transformation. Goddesses and mortals, rebels and nurturers, they find themselves … Reviews Saints, Sinners, and Goddesses: Aalokam’s We R Dancing Festival Day One • October 25, 2025 They call them saints, sinners, goddesses: women who bore the weight of love and consequence. Andal, who dared to desire the divine, … Reviews Caste Away: From Devotion to Heresy Prathiba Batley • September 27, 2025 The title is deep and its [&hellip;]
- [Articles](https://pulseconnects.com/articles/): Articles Jiva Parthipan- Celebration of a Life • October 28, 2025 A different show, a different stage. A dancer waltzes around a stage bearing aloft a China teapot. The dancer is mischievously yet … Articles Recent Posts Echoes of the Ordinary – An Interview in New York City with Dr. Manu S Pillai • October 11, 2025 The sound came from the fields. A woman’s name, called out loudly and without reverence. Kalyani paused. It was her own name … Articles Brooklyn Baithak at Jalopy Theatre • September 5, 2025 On August 9th, Brooklyn Baithak hosted its annual showcase at [&hellip;]
- [Pulsehome](https://pulseconnects.com/): LATEST POST Clothesline / ಒಂದು ಸೀರೆಯ ಕಥೆ &#8211; Jeevika Bhat • November 23, 2025 • Reviews, Uncategorized 3-In Close Company • November 23, 2025 • Reviews Lessons from My Mothers • November 18, 2025 • Articles, Blogs, Reviews Supriya Nagarajan – singer, composer, synesthete. • November 16, 2025 • Articles Echoes of the Ordinary – An Interview in New York City with Dr. Manu S Pillai • November 10, 2025 • Articles Pulse Connects Dedicated to Asian dance and music. Keeping the arts communities informed, connected and energised. Highlighting hot spots of creativity and cutting-edge practise, making these ancient art [&hellip;]


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