Dr Maya Rao Kathak & Choreography Conference 2022

The fourth edition of the Dr Maya Rao Kathak and Choreography Conference this year examines rejuvenescence in the arts. As the world still tries to make sense of being catapulted into a pandemic two years ago and waits for Covid to completely fade away, we collectively long for rejuvenescence. On one hand, we need to rejuvenate from illness and loss. On the other hand, we rethink our modes of living and wonder whether the pandemic pause helped in some way. Was there an opportunity for the earth to recover? Did the interregnum allow our minds a reset?

Dance was Maya ji’s life and choreography, her “Sanchari”. She was a scholar, researcher, writer, curator, Guru to thousands but considered herself an eternal student. As someone very aptly put it, “Maya ji was a passionate explorer, a relentless adventurer and a keen cultural excavator”. Maya ji founded the Natya Institute of Kathak and Choreography, which now hosts the conference every year.  The institute has been setting new standards in dance education and the art of performance and is dedicated to nurturing the legacy of India’s culture. This eponymous conference series resonates with Maya ji’s ethos and actively engages with the current scenarios.

This year’s theme touches upon resilience, adaptation, introspection, community and inner strength. We analyse rejuvenescence in three parts: reimagine, regenerate and reactivate. What is it to reimagine creation, practice and performance? How do we regenerate innovation and expand the artistic vocabulary? Why is it more important now to reactivate communities and networks that allow art to flourish? We will ask where rejuvenescence lies, whether it is found in motion or stillness, whether in music or in the silence at the end of sound, whether only in the pause between inhaling and exhaling.

Over five hours, the conference packs in conversations, panel discussions, lecture demonstrations and performances par excellence, in a uniquely engaging format.

Conference participants:

• Conference chair: Shoba Narayan — journalist and author
• Keynote speaker: Malavika Sarukkai — bharatanatyam exponent, thinker
• Dr Anita Ratnam — vice-chairperson of NIKC, performer, producer, scholar
• Madhu Nataraj — director of Natya STEM, artpreneur, mentor, choreographer
• Rakesh Raghunathan — historian, raconteur
• Dr Anupama Kylash — dance academic, performer, scholar
• MD Pallavi — musician, theatre person, filmmaker
• Smriti Rajgharia — director of Serendipity Arts Foundation & Festival
• Manasi Prasad — museum director of Indian Music Experience, carnatic vocalist
• Jayachandran Palazhy —  artistic director at Attakkalari Centre for Movement Arts
• Swapnokolpa Dasgupta — programme curator at NCPA, odissi dancer
• Sandhya Mendonca — publisher, writer, curator
• Dr Prabha Chandra — professor of psychiatry at NIMHANS
• Kalyan Akkipedi — founder of Proto Village
• Natya & STEM Dance Kampni Repertory

Sutradhaar- Sita Nandakumar