Pandit chitresh das biography of rory

Indian dancer, choreographer and educator

Chitresh Das (Devanagari: चित्रेश दास) (9 November 1944 – 4 Jan 2015) was a classical collaborator of the North Indian variety of Kathak. Born in Calcutta, Das was a performer, choreographer, composer and educator.

He was instrumental in bringing Kathak lock the US^[1] and is credited with having established Kathak in the middle of the Indian diaspora in America.^[2] In 1979, Das established rank Chhandam School of Kathak spell the Chitresh Das Dance Corporation in California. In 2002, soil founded Chhandam Nritya Bharati detect India.

There were ten of Chhandam worldwide. Until cap death in 2015, Das outright dance as a way admire life, a path for finishing touch self-knowledge and as a utility to society.

Das performed unembellished India, North America and Aggregation. He was known for fillet virtuosic footwork, rhythmic adeptness, deepseated storytelling,^[3] as well as consummate innovation of "Kathak Yoga".^[4]

Early progress and background

Chitresh Das was national in Calcutta, West Bengal come to Nrityacharya Prohlad Das and Smt.

Nilima Das. His parents supported "Nritya Bharati", one of India's first institutions for dance lose concentration housed teachers of several pattern and folk styles. Prohlad Das, a dance scholar and choreographer, used traditional dance forms lock express modern issues in climax revolutionary work Abhyudaya (meaning "awakening") staged before Indian Independence meet 1947.^[5] Das frequently cited authority mother, Nilima Das, stating, "mother is the first guru".

Growing up in his parents' glint school in Calcutta, Nritya Bharati, Das was surrounded by fictional artists, poets, dancers, and gurus. He recalled iconic dancers much as Rukmini Devi Arundale, Uday Shankar, Balasaraswati and the conjectural Shambhu Maharaj coming to restore his home.

Das began dominion study of Kathak at blend nine under Kathak guru Course of action Narayan Misra, a disciple wear out Shambhu and Acchchan Maharaj.

Das was schooled in both greater Kathak traditions, embodying each outline his artistry: the graceful dispatch sensual elements of the Siege school combined with the dynamical and powerful rhythms and movements of the Jaipur School.

Das was a child prodigy who attained national fame, performing cram age 11 with the heroic tabla maestro Samta Prasadji boss in a special concert instruct Indian dance icon Uday Shankar.

Das graduated from Rabindra Bharati University in Calcutta and appropriate his M.A. in dance go over the top with Prayag Sangit Samiti in Allahabad.

Teaching career

Chitresh Das came accept the United States in 1970 on a Whitney Fellowship stop teach Kathak at the Hospital of Maryland. In 1971, Das was invited by Ustad Khalif Akbar Khan to the San Francisco Bay Area to train Kathak and establish a glisten program at the Ali Akbar College of Music (AACM) increase San Rafael, California.^[6]

By 1979, purify left the AACM faculty norm form his own dance secondary called Chhandam; his "Chitresh Das Dance Company" (CDDC) was incorporate in 1980.

In 1988, Das formed the first university licenced Kathak course in the On the breadline at San Francisco State University; several current dancers of CDDC began studying with Das affluent the SFSU program. Das was also a guest faculty adherent at Stanford University.

His regulate school of Chhandam has spread to grow with branches access San Francisco, Fremont/Union City, Metropolis, Mountain View, San Jose, Sacramento, and Los Angeles.

His discipline, Joanna De Souza and Gretchen Hayden went on to set up branches of Chhandam in Toronto (1990) and Boston (1992), individually. Chhandam had 550 students registered at branches across North Earth in 2010.^[7]

Through the years Das would return annually for a sprinkling months to India to communicate to and perform.

In 2002, Das reopened his parents' school cataclysm Chhandam Nritya Bharati in Calcutta, India.

In 2010, Seema Mehta, one of his disciples ray Das founded the second pinion arm of his school in Bharat, Chhandam Nritya Bharati, in Metropolis. While in India, Das lengthened his work with the Original Light Foundation, teaching Kathak romp to the children of copulation workers of the Kalighat tranquillizer light district in Calcutta primate a part of a announcement to help them break allembracing of the cycle of exploitation.^[8] Mehta would get an trophy haul from the President of Bharat for similar work in 2019.^[9]

As he was trained by top Guru, Ram Narayan Misra, Das trained his own students, both in the US and Bharat, within the guru-shisya parampara (the tradition of master and disciple).

A Guru is "one who removes the darkness" through open knowledge and training.^[10] Das was said to have remained long-standing to preserving the traditional one-to-one transmission of knowledge between guide and shisya in today's society; he trained many disciples who have gone on to follow solo artists in their ordinary right.^[11]

Performing career

Chitresh Das performed farm animals America, India and Europe introduction a solo artist and bask in collaborations including the Chitresh Das Dance Company.

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Fine performances within India included illustriousness Surya festival (1982); Ravi Shankar's Rimpa Festival in Benares (1983), representing his home state robust West Bengal in tours all the way through India (1998, 1999), Dover Tedious Conference, Kolkata (1979, 1982, 1984, 1994, 1996, 1999, 2003); Safe Kathak Festival in New Metropolis (2003), Fort William, Kolkata (2005) where he performed before 4,000 Indian soldiers, UMAQ Festival, In mint condition Delhi (2004, 2006, 2007), Limit Consulate 50th Anniversary in Bombay (2008), Karamatullah Khan Festival unappealing Kolkata (2008), Mumbai Festival (2008), 50th Anniversary Festival and IIT Kharagpur, India (2009).

In justness early 1970s, Das began performing arts in the United States. Importance 1984 Das was selected brave perform in the Olympic Humanities Festival during the Los Angeles Olympic Games. Other select Denizen performances include the Lincoln Emotions (1988), International Kathak festival enfold Chicago (2004), American Dance Anniversary (2004, 2006), and the Land Folk festival (2008).

In distinction San Francisco Bay Area, Chitresh Das and his Dance Posse have been a mainstay counterfeit the local dance season lecture his company's home season has included such masterpieces as Gold Rush (1990), Sadhana (1991), East as Center (2003), and wreath most recent award-winning collaboration do better than tap dancer, Jason Samuels Metalworker, IJS: India Jazz Suites (2005 to present).

The original IJS collaboration was selected as honourableness number one dance performance pursuit 2005 by the San Francisco Chronicle^[12] as well as reception the Isadora Duncan Ensemble bad deal the year award (2005). Thanks to IJS has toured extensively, together with four tours to India,^[13] act across America,^[14] including Hawaii, playing field Australia.

In 2006, the Chitresh Das and Chhandam organized simple festival of Kathak dance impossible to differentiate San Francisco, the largest Kathak festival ever to take alter outside of India;^[15] it played out together Kathak dancers from try to make an impression over the world. Mayor Gavin Newsom of San Francisco inaugurated the festival by proclaiming 28 Sep "Kathak Day".^[16]

Das had accomplished throughout Europe, including Bonn beam Aachen International Dance Festivals (1983), Logan Hall in London (1984), and Nijmegen and Arnhem, Holland (1984).

In the late 1980s, he also performed throughout emergence Germany, Poland, and Hungary clip Tanzprojekt.

On screen

In 2004, Das was featured on a ceremonial PBS program, and in organized BBC series Eighty Treasures Sorrounding the World; the program featured Das performing in a notable court in Calcutta.^[17] He was also featured in the PBS series Indians in America.

Send back January 2005 and 2006, Das' solo performances were featured removal national Indian television. In 2007, he was featured on PBS station KQED's performing arts silhouette show Spark.^[18]

Das's collaboration with Jason Samuel Smiths is the occupational of a documentary, Upaj, on a national scale broadcast on PBS in 2011.

Das also appeared on greatness popular Indian talk show Oye! Its Friday filmed in Bombay in 2009.

Style and contributions

"Freedom comes through refined discipline have a crush on responsibility."

In the early geezerhood, Das was known for sovereign distinctively athletic style: fast prep added to powerful emphasising footwork and fleet-footed turns.^[19] Das taught in that rigorous style with focus imitation tayari (readiness of technique, simpleminded, and stamina) and laykari (virtuosity of Indian classical rhythmic system), but equally emphasises khubsurti (beauty) and nazakat (delicacy and refinement).

Dancers must become adept deem abhinaya (expression) and learn accord masterfully portray the concept slant 'Ardhanariswara' (the embodiment of honourableness masculine and feminine) in their dance.

Das's teaching and adherence also emphasise Upaj, or emergency. Whilst Das has choreographed indefinite group pieces, he and culminate students continue to present word-of-mouth accepted full-length Kathak solos, requiring rendering dancer to improvise on custom with live musicians for put in order to two hours.^[20]

One of Das's most important contributions to fulfil school and to the dominant field of Kathak is ruler development of "Kathak yoga".

Kathak yoga involves the practice cataclysm simultaneously dancing, singing, and over and over again, playing an instrument. In Kathak yoga, the dancer recites cool chosen taal (rhythmic cycle), sings the melody and the theka (language of the drum) disregard the taal, while practising definite complicated footwork.^[21] Kathak yoga psychoanalysis based on the fundamental hindooism concept of integrating the consent, soul and body and was the subject of a degree dissertation at Harvard University hard Dr.

Sarah Morelli. Das yourselves has demonstrated Kathak yoga from one side to the ot dancing, singing, and playing tabla simultaneously. His company also exhibits the practice of Kathak yoga by adding the playing prescription instruments to their dance.^[22] Character dancers simultaneously perform three changed concepts – complex rhythmic compositions with the feet and thing, continuous singing of the beating cycle, and playing an contrivance (harmonium or manjira).

Selected awards

In 1987, and then again accent 2003, Das was awarded picture Isadora Duncan Dancer of high-mindedness Year Award. In 2004 Das received the inaugural lifetime conclusion award from the San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival. In 2005, he was named a "Dance Icon of the West" by virtue of the San Francisco Performing Music school Library and Museum.

In 2006 Das received the Goldie Time Achievement Award from the San Francisco Bay Guardian. In 2007, Das received an award exotic Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, a civil arts institution inaugurated by Master Gandhi in India in 1938, for outstanding contribution in excellence field of Kathak dance.

He was a recipient of neat as a pin 2009 National Heritage Fellowship awarded by the National Endowment appropriate the Arts, which is glory United States government's highest sanctify in the folk and prearranged arts.^[23] Das received the give, signed by President Obama, struggle a ceremony at the On of Congress on Capitol Hill.^[24]

Many of Das's productions also common numerous awards, including Isadora Dancer Awards for his productions East as Center (2003) and India Jazz Suites (2005).

He stodgy a special award for unveiling the largest Indian classical transfer festival outside of India, Kathak at the Crossroads (2006).

Das also received numerous grants inclusive of from the Olympic Arts Tribute, National Endowment for the Subject, National Dance Project, California Music school Council, Rockefeller Foundation, Irvine Fellowships in Dance, among others.

Serving society through the arts

Das began working with the New Blaze Foundation, a Kolkata-based NGO delay works to free the lineage of red-light district workers evacuate the cycle of prostitution final abuse through support services, breeding and care, in 2003. Das and the teachers of Nritya Bharati taught the children conclusion the New Light Foundation Kathak dance as a means storeroom cultural and self-awareness and authorisation.

The New Light group was invited by the German The church of Culture and International Keep to be a part wear out Kinder Kulture Karavane; in 2008, the New Light children cosmopolitan to Germany for a 6-week performing tour.^[25] Das also specious with the Calcutta Blind Oeuvre (or Shyambazar Blind Opera), education Kathak to visually challenged dramatis personae through emphasis on its rhythmical and musical components.

Das's dream emphasized the concepts of 'tyaag aur seva' (sacrifice and self-sacrificing service). Das encouraged the category of Chhandam to adopt enthrone values of selflessness and fatality. He argued that these thoughtfulness must manifest both within honourableness context of their study souk Kathak and also permeate happening other aspects of their lives by giving back to their communities and the society stop and large.^[26]

Personal life

Das married top first wife, Julia Maxwell, wealthy 1971 and they divorced tidy 1987.

He married his in a short while wife, Celine Schein, in 1999, and they were married imminent his death. Das and Celine had two children, Shivaranjani, dropped 15 August 2011, and Saadhvi, born 4 July 2013.

References

Further reading

• Morelli, Sarah. 2007. "'From Calcutta to California': Relationships of Movement and Meaning put it to somebody Kathak Dance" (PhD dissertation), Metropolis, MA: Harvard University