THE PRESS ON EQUUS

RANAN'S EQUUS AT THE PRITHVI THEATRE FESTIVAL 2009

Ranan is delighted to announce that our production of Peter Shaffer's acclaimed play, 'Equus' forms part of the Prithvi Theatre Festival, Mumbai '09. We will present 4 shows as per the details below.

Wed 11 Nov 8 pm Karnataka Sangha, Matunga
Thu 12 Nov 8 pm Horniman Circle Garden, Fort
Sat 14 Nov 6 & 9:30 pm Prithvi Theatre, Juhu

Ticket sales are open
Tickets Rates:Prithvi - Rs 200/-
Karnataka Sangha - Rs 150/-
Horniman circle garden - Rs 150/-
There will be senior Citizen & Student Discount for all venues - Rs 100/-

Tickets available at
Prithvi Theatre, Juhu - 09220823837
Karnataka Sangha, Matunga (w) - 09220823831
INOX, Nariman Point - 09220823809
Home Delivery - 39895050
Online - http://www.bookmyshow.com/

For more details on this and other events at the festival, please visit http://www.prithvitheatre.org/

A suite of photographs of the premiere shows of the production in April 2009 are available to view on http://picasaweb.google.com/iyengar.vikram/EquusARananProductionSunday12April2009#
Photographs are by Tom Lai.

Ankur 2009 - Performers

PRIYANKI ROY (Kolkata) – Odissi

Priyanki Roy is a senior disciple of Smt. Sharmila Biswas and a repertory dancer in her institution, Odissi Vision And Movement Centre. She started her initial training in Odissi uncer Smt. Arundhuti Roy, receiving special training in Guru Deva Prasad Das’ style from Guru Durga Charan Ranbir and Guru Kelucharan Mahapatra’s style from Sri Lingaraj Swain.
She has received several awards for dance and is currently an awardee of the National Scholarship for Dance from the Government of India.
As a repertory member of OVM, Priyanki has regularly performed at major dance festivals in India and abroad, travelling to Dubai, Abu Dhabi and the Far East. Priyanki started her solo career in 2008 with performances in Kolkata and Bhubaneswar. She has already been noted as a promising new-comer in the field of Odissi.

SREELAKSHMY GOVARDHANAN (Thrissur) – Kuchipudi

Sreelakshmy was initiated into the art of classical dance at the age of four. She has been learning Kuchipudi under the tutelage of Guru Smt. Vyjayanthi Kashi since 2001. For a brief period she also trained under Smt. Manju Bargavee.
She has been practicing and performing across India and numerous countries abroad for several years, having traveled to Switzerland, Germany, the UK and the UAE. She has also traveled widely and performed with Guru Vyjayanthi Kashi for various national and regional festivals in India. She has also performed lead roles in her gurus dance drama productions.
The recipient of several accolades, Sreelakshmy is the Artistic Director of the Avanthika Space for Dance and also organized a National Classical Dance festival for youngsters in her hometown under this banner.

Ankur 2009

Ranan presents Ankur - annual platform showcasing upcoming talent in Indian Classical Dance. Ankur 2009 features an Odissi recital by Priyanki Roy (disciple of Smt. Sharmila Biswas) and a Kuchipudi recital by Sreelakshmy Govardhanan (disciple of Smt. Vyjayanthi Kashi)

Ankur is an annual event featuring emerging talent in the performing arts. We first presented this in September 2004 in response to a growing conviction that we – as young dancers who had experienced the many issues involved in making a successful debut – had a responsibility to making the path somewhat smoother for promising dancers today. Over the past four years, Ankur has presented young talents in classical vocal and instrumental music as well as classical dance, providing them with all infrastructural and organisational costs including a good audience and press coverage. Over the years, Ankur has grown from a small, local event with uncertain audiences to a regular fixture in the Calcutta cultural calendar with full houses over the past two years. It has developed into an organised event with a well-regulated and defined system of application, selection and presentation. Ankur has earned a reputation for excellent quality, and is looked forward to by dance gurus, students and the layperson with even a passing interest in dance.
The plans for Ankur begin every year with a call for applications in April. The selection process begins in mid-May and is completed by the middle of June. Successful candidates are informed by end of June or early July. The programme itself takes place in the second half of August. This year we have received over 20 applications from all over India covering six classical dance forms.

Ranan's Promotional Videos

We have begun uploading promotional videos of our productions on YouTube...do take a look and leave your comments. We shall soon be uploading promotional videos of some of our other productions too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ACx3aC2vzY (Shunya Se) 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmUdw2c5SiQ (Chitra) 

Remembering Habib Saab

In April 2004 both Habib Saab and his late wife Moneeka Misra Tanvir came down to Calcutta to see our workshop production of Crossings for which their daughter, Nageen, created the music. Their inputs and comments were invaluable in the future directions this production was to take. It is now one of Ranan's most successful and critically acclaimed presentations. Habib Saab joined us at an International Shakespeare Festival in Kerala in October 2005 (see accompanying photographs) and the first Mahindra Excellence in Theatre Awards in Delhi in January 2006, following the development of Crossings with as much passionate interest as he would follow one of his own productions. His appreciative remarks after watching the DVD of the final version of the piece created in December 2007 mean more to us than all other accolades put together.
Our association did not end with Crossings. Habib Saab happened to be in Calcutta for an extended period when we were conceiving and choreographing Rangeeniyan in 2005. Both Debashree and Vikram as choreographers spent several sessions with him where he painstakingly explained the lyrical poetry of Nazir Akbarabadi and Mirza Ghalib word by word, phrase by phrase, metaphor by metaphor. The ghazal by the former was originally set to music by Habib Saab himself for his landmark play, Agra Bazaar, and we were delighted that he permitted us to choreograph it as part of a separate production altogether. In fact, Rangeeniyan is christened by Habib Saab.
The memories go further. He returned to Calcutta once again to see a show of our new production Chitra in August 2007. We rehearsed at his home in Bhopal and had him among our audience when we were invited to perform at the Bharat Bhavan in September 2007. And always, always, always was he there to encourage us, question us, engage us and provoke us.
Habib Saab had once remarked:
"Ranan has done marvellous work breaking new ground constantly - changing, improving, discovering and reacting to audiences and their own impulses. No educational institutions to this day have really got a cultural aspect to them. Nobody is taught to really imagine and really explore - probing, finding new things. Ranan aspires to impart this not only to themselves, but leave a heritage to be explored further by upcoming generations."
Ranan turns six on 24 June 2009. Birthdays are a time for introspection, and this year we pledge to revisit the potential that Habib Saab saw in us and live up to it to the best of our ability.
Here's to you, Habib Saab - a friend, philosopher, guide and much more in the truest sense. We will miss you more than words or actions can ever express.

'Ankur 2009': Call for Applications

Committed to nurturing new talents in and new audiences for Indian performing arts, Ranan initiated 'Ankur', an annual event for emerging talent in the Indian performing arts, in 2004.
'Ankur 2009' is scheduled for August this year and will comprise two recitals of Indian classical dance. We invite applications from prospective participants between the ages of 18 and 30 as on 1 July 2009.

Applications will be screened by an expert committee and selected candidates informed by end-June. Established professional performers will not be considered.

Applications should include:

• A complete CV of the candidate with all contact details
• A VCD or DVD of not less than 20 and not more than 30 minutes duration. We are unable to accept video cassettes
• Two letters of recommendation, including one from the Guru / Institution
• Copy of any age proof document

Please mark applications 'Ankur 2009' and send to:
Debashree Bhattacharya 2C, East Road, Jadavpur Kolkata 700 032

The last date for receiving applications is 30 May 2009.

Please note:
* Ranan is unable to return any application material
* The decisions of the expert panel are final
* Live music accompaniment is mandatory for the performance

For further details, please contact: info@rananindia.com / rananindia@gmail.com