Darpana Academy of Performing Arts Darpana Academy of Performing Arts is one of the Dance Academies of West India. Indian Dance Academy started its plight as a small dance academy which was founded six decades ago in Ahmedabad, Gujarat by Mrinalini Sarabhai and Vikram Sarabhai in 1949. Darpana Academy of Performing Arts today is a massive workshop for the arts: where traditional beliefs meet technology to break the boundaries between art and life. Performers from world-over work together in Darpana Academy of Performing Arts to open mindscapes through the arts. After the original founders of this institution, the training and supervision has been directed by their daughter Mallika Sarabhai for the last three decades. The vision is a contemporary amalgamation of affirming the role of creativity in culture, researching into the basic origins of life and reaching out to the unsaid or unthought-of of themes in a language that is universal. Darpana Academy of Performing Arts today is a promising centre for artists dedicated to excellence, innovation and the excitement of using the variant art styles for a change. The departments of Darpana Academy of Performing Arts range from performance and teaching of the arts, to the use of presentation and arts as development communication, through direct impact and software aid. ![]() India International Institute of Kathak Dance and Music, also known as IIIKDM is the famous institute of performing arts which is founded and directed by young Kathak exponent, performer and educator Shweta Garg. India International Institute of Kathak Dance and Music is probably the largest Kathak Institute that deals with Jaipur Gharana Style of Kathak Dance. Within few years of history, India International Institute of Kathak Dance and Music has earned a huge status and name to its credit. IIIKDM has been successfully preserving and promoting ancient north Indian classical form of dance with highest possible efforts, keeping the original dance forms intact within India and abroad as well. At present, the institute has only one branch that is located at Mansarovar in Jaipur. The institution works under the supervision of Dr.Ashok Gupta former Rotary District Governor and director of the India International institutes network which includes many noteworthy houses and organisations in Jaipur, Rajasthan. India International Institute of Kathak Dance and Music offers different courses for Kathak dance. In the degree course, the enrolled students are aspirants of learning Kathak dance only through out the year. The complete course is divided in eight years syllabus from prathama (first year) to nipuna (Master). Eight years complete course is further sub divided in four major parts namely Prathama (Preliminary), Madhyama (Middle), Visharad (Bachelor) and Nipuna (Masters). In the Prathama stage, tatkar (basic steps) are taught that include basic hand movements, Salami, chakkar, amada, gat nikas, trital, that, Jhap Tal and practice of padant. In the stage of Madhyama, Trital (tatkar, parans, thata, amads, gat nikas and bhav), Jhap tal (Thata, tukdas and Paran) and Dhamar (tatkar, salami, amads and chakkar dar Paran) are taught to the students. The next stage of the dancer comes to be Visharad, where trital (primlu, tatkar in tigun and chougun layas, parans, gats), Dhamar (Amad, paran, tukdas, tihais), Chautal (tatkar in fast layas Salami, chakkardar Paran, amads, tukdas, and padant) are extensively taught. Nipuna is the final stage of learning, where Trital (advance amads, parans, tukdas, Kavitts or Chhands, primlu) Tatkar up to Solahguna Kramalaya along with jati and layabant, complete knowledge of Tals, perfection of bhav chals, able to deliver boles in live performance with perfection, are instilled within the students. After Nipuna it is assumed that student is ready to perform on stage and prepared to take up teaching assignments as well. Thus a complete course in India International Institute of Kathak Dance and Music is quite a comprehensive one, including every aspect required to be a proficient Kathak performer. Short courses are also provided in India International Institute of Kathak Dance and Music. These courses are scheduled depending on the requirement of the student. For a new student only the basics of Kathak dance are taught and the syllabus depends on the duration for which the admission has been given. Provisions for foreign students are also available in India International Institute of Kathak Dance and Music. In this special course, the institute offers continuous classes to the students for the entire period of his/her stay in IIIKDM. Besides, dance lessons, the student is also imparted knowledge on historical back ground of the particular dance style. Folk Dances are being taught regularly only to degree course students and also those who specifically want to learn folk dance. Little Ballet Troupe Little Ballet Troupe was the dream destination and exploration point of Shanti Bardhan and his able student and life partner Gul Bardhan. The credit for having preserved this gem of choreography for almost 60 years rests with the late Gul Bardhan, who took on the arduous task of continuing her husband's dream since his untimely death in 1954. Gul Di, as she was addressed by all her close associates, led the group till her death on November 28, 2010 at the age of eighty two as the moving spirit and lead dancer, performing well into her eighties. Honoured with a Padma Shri Award amidst several other awards, Gul Bardhan had fought many odds down the decades for maintaining the LBT. Born in a Gujarati family, she at first became Shanti Bardhan's disciple, and later, life partner and continued the work left incomplete by Shanti Bardhan after his death. With the help of dynamic personalities like the gifted choreographer Prabhath Ganguly and Appunni Tharakan, she carried on the legacy with missionary zeal. In many interviews, she had remembered the staunch support that came from Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi. She had also edited 'Rhythm Incarnate, ' a volume on the life and works of Shanti Bardhan. |