At the time of disaster, darkness and sorrow in the Era of Mahabharata, Shri Krishna brought light to Mankind. Cherishing this ever since annually Deepavali, the festival of lights, is celebrated as folk festival in India.
Following this tradition, we will ones again celebrate on Saturday, 2nd of November 2024, Deepavali offering a versatile program with top Artists from Switzerland and India as highlight of the year:
Bharata Natyam Performance ‘Madhuram’ & Tala-Vadya Concert (Percussion Concert with multiple percussion Instruments and Vocal accompaniment.
The Event will conclude with a festive dinner.
@ Nateschwara Theatre, on Sat 02.Nov.2024, 17:00 h
Tickets: please click here
About the Tala Vadya, a concert with rhythmic instruments (Mridangam, Ghatam, Kanjira, Tabla, Violin, Konnakol, Vocal):
A tala vadya concert is a special kind of jam session. Nowhere in the world, but only in India exists a notation for percussion that can be written down, read and recited in the manner of a musical score. The rhythmic recitation of rhythm syllables is called Konnakol. The Indian Mridangam student learns various rhythm scores by heart in order to get a feel for the different Tala structures and then varies them on stage in an improvisational manner.
This tala vadya concert is a percussion concert based largely on improvisation, in which rhythm structures (tala) are played in intricate metric patterns or time calculations are played in a unique way and often also recited as Konnakol. One percussionist plays the lead function by playing a demanding rhythm sequence, which the next percussionist then takes up and varies further, for example by weaving a sub-beat (Nadai) into the overlying Tala, thus challenging the next percussionist to play a further variation of the beat in complex rhythm structures, culminating in a so-called Jugalbandi, a musical conversation between the various musicians.
The concert also includes string instruments and vocal that rhythmically reproduce tala sequences and thus provide a fascinating musical backdrop and uplift to the rhythmic competition.
मधुराष्टकम्
The Madhurāṣṭakam (an eightfold veneration in Sanskrit) is a devotional song in praise of lord Krishna, composed by the Hindu Bhakti saint Vallabha. Vallabha was a Telugu Brahmin who propagated Pushtimarga, which emphasizes on the unconditional bhakti (devotion) and seva (serving) of Krishna. According to legend, when Krishna himself appeared in front of Vallabha, on the midnight of Shravana Shukla Ekadashi, the philosopher composed the Madhurashtakam in praise of the deity.
The devotional hymn “Madhurāṣṭakam” of Vallabha was created to lead the devotee in Pustimarga, the Path of Grace, which involves a constant love-filled devotion to Krishna by various acts of homage, such as singing (kirtana), remembering (smarana), conceptualising and beholding (darshana) a beatific image of the deity and offering of services (seva). According to this philosophy, these acts enable the devotee to enter into the divine presence of Krishna and to experience the deity’s real essence (svarupa) which are in fact, succinctly laid down by the Madhurāṣṭakam. Madhurāṣṭakam is regarded play an instrumental role in the realisation of the deity.
Vijaya Rao
Vijaya Rao is a great lover of Sanskrit language in poetry and lyrics. She has choreographed this unique composition, a creation of Saint Vallabha describing the sweet pleasantness of Shri Krishna in all the stages of his life, and presents it in the form of an exquisite expressional dance in Cheyyur Bharata Natyam style.
What is remarkable about Vijaya Rao is her ability of spontaneous improvisation on the spot. Her Ragam-Tanam-Pallavi dance performance in 2022 (actually an instrumental music improvisation), was a novum in the field of Bharata Natyam and has baffled many.
On second of November, she performs the Madhurashtakam in Ragamalika and Talamalika, accompanied by the virtuoso Singer Shri N. Sivaprasad (Vocal & Nattuvangam), Shri Pratheev Kanakalingam (Violin) , Jeysri Balaji (Violin) and Shri Yashwant Hampiholi on Mridangam.
The Dancers
Vidya Theyoor hails from Bengaluru, India, and lives with her Family in Zurich She completed her Rangapravesha in 2013 under renowned Guru Dr. Soundarya Srivathsa in Bengaluru. Vidya has performed in solo, duet and group formats extensively on many prestigious platforms in India and was formally teaching Bharatanatyam to young children in Bengaluru for a few years. As a working professional, Vidya is Program Manager in Basel. Wishing to pursue her learning journey here in Switzerland Vidya started a Cheyyur Bharata Natyam Master Course under Guru Vidushi Smt. Vijaya Rao in 2024.
Sarvishta Mehta is an outstanding young dancer with a striking stage presence and dance dynamism. She was born and raised in Switzerland to Indian parents. At the age of 7 she began to learn Bharata Natyam under Smt. Vijaya Rao. After almost 12 years of regular course attendance, she completed the basic training under Vijaya Rao with the Ranga Pravesha in 2022. Since then, she has performed several times at dance events together with members of the Nateschwara Dancers and also with Vijaya Rao and took part in a Post-Graduation Course under Vijaya Rao.
Minisha Vasumithran is a highly talented dancer with an exceptional perfection in her performance. She was born in Kerala, India and brought up in Muscat, Oman. In September 2021, after moving to Switzerland, she started intensive training in Bharatanatyam in Nateschwara Academy under Smt. Vijaya Rao. After her stage debut and graduation performance on 26 October 2024, she will perform for the first time together with the members of the Nateschwara Dancers and her Guru Vijaya Rao.
The Musicians
N. N. Shivaprasad is one of the well-known singers for Bharata Natyam today. He comes from a South Indian family of musicians and has made a name for himself in Mumbai as an accomplished accompanist for classical Indian dance performances of renowned artists.
In 2002 he accompanied Vijaya Rao and Sharmila Rao for the first time as the leader of the music ensemble in the successful tour ‘Savitri’ (performances in Switzerland, Germany, France and Italy) and thrilled the audience with his brilliant and sensitive voice. Since then, he has participated as singer in numerous important dance events organized by Vijaya Rao’s Nateschwara Academy.
Shri Balakrishna began his musical journey at young age. In 2011 he found his future musical home in Europe, where he began to work together with various Indian-Carnatic musicians. Shri Balakrishna holds a Ph.D. in physics and now lives in Germany. In Europe he has, among others, accompanied renowned artists such as the violin maestro Lalgudi GJR Krishna, the flutist B.V. Balasai, and the violinist Neiveli Radhakrishnan on his Mridangam.
Chidambaram Narayanan began his music career in Mumbai. He is a gifted Mridangam player based in the Zurich region, where he lives with his family. He has been playing in concerts for over 30 years and has accompanied many famous musicians, including TN Krishnan, Smt R. Vedavalli, Panchapakesa Iyer, Smt TR Balamani, Smt T Rukmini, Chitravina Ravikiran and Sikkil Gurucharan. Chidambaram is also known as an excellent accompanist for Bharatanatyam dance and has been accompanying Vijaya Rao many times since over 20 years. He also collaborated with jazz artist Ben Schachter from Philadelphia. Chidambaram has been teaching Mridangam in Zurich for over ten years.
Yashwant Hampiholi is an outstanding Mridangist who comes from a renowned Bharatanatyam Artist family in Nagpur. He is a graduate Bachelor in Electronics and Communication from Shri. Ramdeobaba College of Engineering and Management, Nagpur. At the age of 10 Yashwant gave his first Solo Mridangam Performance at the Prestigious ‘Bal Mahotsav’ 2008. Since past 8 years he is taking training from Mridangam Maestro Dr. Shri Patri Satish Kumar, Chennai. Since his first engagement at the Nateschwara Academy Baden in 2022, Yashwant is a highly demanded Mridangam Artist in India and abroad.
Jeysri Balaji studied for over 15 years under the famous violinist Smt. Lalgudi Vijayalakshmi and currently lives in Germany. She has performed numerous concerts in India, Germany and Switzerland and also on various online platforms hosted in different countries across the globe. Jeysri is a representative of Hinduism at the Department of Social & Inter-religious Engagement in Ludwigsburg, Germany. Besides being a Carnatic vocalist and violinist, she is a grade 6 Western violinist and grade 4 Keyboard player from the Trinity College of London. Jeysri is currently living in Germany.
Lavan Rasiah is a young, talented musician from Zurich. In addition to studying the violin for eight years, he has also studied western classical music for several years. He is currently being trained on the violin by Nirujan Sehasothy. He has also been learning mridangam from renowned musicians for several years and is trying to perfect his skills on both the instruments.
