They have had a classical live performance in a yoga studio, curated a performing arts quiz, and used Instagram to have interaction with artistes through the pandemic. Aalaap, Chennai-based boutique arts administration and consultancy, turns 13 with Sthira, a competition of performances and conversations
When Akila Krishnamurthy began Aalaap, she was guided by her curiosity within the classical performing arts. “I am neither a dancer or a musician, nor do I come from a family of artistes. I wanted to elevate the content and communication of the Indian classical performing arts to a diverse audience that would engage in ways that were not intimidating,” she says.
“In a city that Aalaap calls home, I wanted to curate a festival with artistes I have closely worked with, and have performances and conversations in spaces with intent — spaces that are a bit more informal and experimentative,” she provides.
Sthira, which started on October 6, noticed the Kuchipudi Art Academy host Atittalam, an adavu session with Bharatanatyam and kalaripayattu artiste Okay Sarveshan, and Aalaap In Movement, a efficiency curated and carried out by Bharatanatyam artiste Rama Vaidyanathan at The Folly, Amethyst.
Carnatic singer S Adhithyanarayanan throughout ‘Aalaap in Movement‘ at The Folly, Amethyst
| Photo Credit:
Santosh Janardhanan
“From designer boutiques to smaller art studios and coffee shops, we have put together a host of interesting spaces. We also played around with time. Our ability to sit through performances for two to three hours at a stretch has changed and we are a very different audience today when it comes to attention,” she says. For occasion, dancers Priya Murle, Roja Kannan, Srekala Bharath, Urmila Sathyanarayanan and Vidhya Subramanian offered a collective of brief performances for a night at Prego, Mandaveli.
Carnatic musician Rithvik Raja, who’s scheduled to current Raga as Weave, Tala as Thread says that Tvam Art & Design Studio in RA Puram because the venue for his session was an fascinating alternative. “Lakshmi Srinath, founder of Tvam has been designing my kurtas for the stage for a while now. I have always told her that the space would lend itself to such experiences and it is exciting to see this come together,” he says.
Carnatic musician Rithvik Raja
| Photo Credit:
Amar Ramesh
Rithvik provides, “When we travel across the country, we see people eager to have these newer experiences. I have friends who might not necessarily step into a sabha to see me sing, but might be excited by the prospect of stepping into an art studio or another different space which seems fun and even intriguing.”
On until October 18, Sthira has 15 occasions unfold throughout 13 days. The programming contains a session on The Dancer as an Athlete which is able to see health coach Adarsh Gopalakrishnan in dialog with dancers Dr Srinidhi Chidambaram and Shweta Prachande at Gobbelin, Adyar on October 9; Fugue, with famend musician and educator Anil Srinivasan and Naveen Napier at Off Beat Studios, RA Puram on October 10; and an open home Time Traveller: Staying the Course with Narthaki, with Anita Ratnam at The Brew Room, RK Salai on October 14. On October 18, Vinyl and Brew will host a listening session, Inside a Musical Mind, with musician TM Krishna and Sangeetha Sivakumar.
Follow @aalaap_concepts on Instagram for the schedule. For tickets log onto
