Schedule

Thursday 29th November 2012


Time : 7-9pm

Chandni Venkataraman Live (Acoustic Music)

Chandni Venkataraman, Singer and Songwriter, has been trained classically from the of 8. She has since branched out into various western genres and as she wraps her voice around her audible emotions. With credits including background scores for various short films/feature films, and collaborations with up and coming Bangalore musicians, she is truly most loved for her own songs that stir feeling in audiences young and old.

https://www.facebook.com/ChandniVenkataraman
http://soundcloud.com/chandni-venkataraman


Reconnaissance (Participatory Performance Installation)
Artist - Raheema Begum


The installation, is in five parts, each part signifying each individual level of the paradigm that quintessentially is the project; held together by a progression of five processes, ‘Identify Yourself’, ‘The Grid’, ‘The Zone of Pure Choice’,‘Trafficking labels’ and ‘Puncturing labels’. The labels process involves an introspective look at one’s identity, from identification to emotional gauging, to a reflection on one’s choices, to declaration and coming out, to opening it out to other influences. These processes are meant to bring about a catharsis for people who have pain related to their identities.

Raheema Begum is an artist, writer, poetess and performer who works between Mumbai and Bangalore in India. Her work on labels, an art and entrepreneurial project has looked at the notion of identity with a specific focus on religious identities in the Indian subcontinent.


Space Behind The Yellow Room (Amplified Jams)

Space Behind The Yellow Room- is a Post Rock/Space band, which likes to break out of the structure of things. Mostly instrumental, using minimal vocals, this band is about patterns. The Space Behind The Yellow Room writes about people and how they are and how their minds work. They believe that their music should make people feel like jumping and other times, calm them down.
http://soundcloud.com/spacebehindtheyellowroom

http://www.reverbnation.com/spacebehindtheyellowroom
http://www.facebook.com/spacebehindtheyellowroom?fref=ts


Friday 30th NOVEMBER 2012

TIME :  9-10:30am

Kuchupudi: Balagopala Tarangam (DANCE)
Artist - H. N. Meera  
Written by - Narayana Theerthao 

Ms. Meera has learnt kuchupudi style of Dance from Ramalakshmi Shyam Sundar of Andra Karnood.She has 12 years of experience and has performed on many reputed stages like Udupi, Bangalore Yuvanika, Hassel, Chitradurga and ADA Ranga Mandira.


Solo playback theatre show
Artists - Chindu

Playback Theatre creates a ritual space where any personal story might be told, and immediately made into theatre. Solo Playback Theatre is a form created by adapting and using the Playback forms in solo performance.


TIME: 11am-12:30pm 
Workshop - "in the begining..."
Artists - Chindu

The purpose of the workshop is to creatively engage the participants with their body and mind to explore “…in the beginning” through their own imagination. The participants will be facilitated to use creative tools like dance, poetry, song, drawing, etc towards the purpose of the workshop. The event ends by showcasing and celebrating the creations of “….in the beginning”.
Then through theatre techniques, participants will explore issues of social status and power. Come dress comfortably and be prepared to move. 

Chindu is a Dalit Cultural Resource Centre in Hyderabad engaged in strengthening Dalits and other marginalized people’s rights movements with Dalit Cultural and Theatrical perspectives and practices. It is a nonprofit and professional organization specialized in conceptualization, communication and campaign of Dalit culture and values with new meanings. It came into existence as a fledgeling Dalit cultural resource centre at the start of a new millennium in 2000 in Andhra Pradesh. Chindu assimilates traditional as well as modern theatre techniques and art forms to infuse Dalit cultural symbols with new meaning for social transformation. It uses the medium of film as a platform in building a positive image of Dalit life. The Chindu team is professionally trained in Playback Theatre, Theatre of the Oppressed, Contemporary Dance and Dalit Theatre. www.chindu.org 


TIME: 2:00 – 3:30PM

Workshop - Legislative Theatre & Community Intervention through Forum Theatre
Artist - Joana Cruz, Portugal 

Theatre of the oppressed (TO) can be a powerful methodology to increase reflection, creation and
 participation. It was invented in Brazil by Augusto Boal who assumed that everyone is capable of acting (Performing), since theatre is the human language most used by individuals in their daily life. Its goal is to empower communities by building a space of debate, reflection and experimenting through theatre, encouraging people to assume control of their actions and the creation of their life. It intends to take theatre to the street, to the public arena, to real life. It facilitates discussion of experiences, oppressive situations, that are not only individual  but also collective, therefore bringing about social change. 

Joana Cruz has completed her Masters in Psychology at the University of Porto. Her master thesis related to Critical Psychology and Community Intervention, over viewing a critical analyses of the use of TO in context of institutional support networks for homeless people. She has been leading TO workshops in poor neighborhoods, schools, universities and social centers; has taken part in the first Legislative Project in Portugal and in a forum theatre project with homeless people in Porto. She has been involved in the organization of international exchanges using arts to intervene and transform reality. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5P3_foN64c



TIME: 4:00 – 5:30PM

Workshop - Shadow Liberation: Mythology as a Mirror
Artist - Evan Hastings and Shadow Liberation Crew

The shadows of oppression dance against the fabric of society. Shadow Liberation invites you to step into the Ramayana as if it were happening today. Through this interactive hybrid shadow theatre workshop participants will connect with mythology while playing with various shadow puppetry techniques.




The brighter the light the darker the shadow. Shadow Liberation uses creatively crafted visual stories to captivate the imagination and invite audiences to interrupt the injustice of gender violence.   In the tradition of Augusto Boal's Forum Theatre, audience members are invited on stage to offer improvisational interventions into scenes depicting oppression. This artistic dialogue offers no quick fix solutions but rather places faith in the emerging ethics of the community to creatively address the problem. We invite you to face the shadows through this remarkable work of participatory shadow theatre.

Artistic Director: Evan Hastings
Shadow Liberation is a project of the Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology



EVENING PERFORMANCES
DISBELIEVE 

Studio for Movement Arts and Therapies- SMART
Concept & Choreography: Brinda Jacob-Janvrin
Created with: Priyanka Pai and Nidhi Mariam Jacob
Directed by: Anitha Santhanam
Set Design: Meenal Singh
Sound: Abhijeet Tambe
Documentation: Clemence Barret

Through authentic movement, text and image Disbelieve embodies our deeply conflicted outer and inner worlds, the violence and chaos as well as yearning and desire.


UNIVERSAL SELF
Artist -Kilusan Bautista,USA

Universal Self (formerly known as Universal Filipino) is a nationally toured solo theater production that is written and performed by Kilusan Bautista. It premiered on June 18th & 20th, 2010 at the Rebel Diaz Arts Collective, Bronx, NY. This play offers a creative and cutting edge presentation of the contemporary struggles for working class, Filipino Americans in the diaspora and the interconnectedness of Hip Hop culture with indigenous, tribal Filipino cultural expressions. Universal Self fuses theater, spoken word poetry, martial arts, hip hop and music into a coming of age story that takes audiences into the threshold of multicultural American identity in a globalized world.

Artist, Humanitarian, Entrepreneur, Kilusan Bautista is a Brooklyn, New York based performing artist, originally from San Francisco, California. He has appeared on Showtime as the opening act for Top Rank Boxing Light Weight Champion Nonito Donaire (2008). Kilusan was published in the Philippine News after winning the Grand prize for a State-Wide letter writing contest sponsored by the California Council for the Humanities (2005). He was awarded the Congressional Community Service Award -
Kabataan  Komemorative - in 2006 by CA Senator Tom Lantos. Kilusan Bautista's current work, Universal Self, has toured throughout the United States of North America with the purpose of building cross cultural unity and personal healing through the performing arts.


SATURDAY, 1ST DECEMBER, 2012

TIME: 9-10:30am

Workshop - Drama for Autism
Artists: Dr. Paarasuram Ramamoorthi

Dr. Paarasuram Ramamoorthi is an internationally known Drama for Autism specialist and one of the Pioneers in the field.Former Professor of Theatre Arts at Madurai Kamaraj University, Madurai , he is a receipient of several awards including the Bosnian Grozdanin Kikot Award and the Leverhulme Award.A poet and playwright listed in Who's Who in Contemporary World Theatre( Routledge : London.2000).Dr. Ramamoorthi is the Chairman of Velvi an organisation that works for art and culture and Autism. http://www.velvi.org 


TIME: 11:00am-12:30pm

Workshop - Action and Interaction: Psychodrama
Artist - Gary Smith, UK

Psychodrama is a creative action group therapy that can help individuals and groups explore the complexity of thoughts and emotions present within any life situation. Central to the psychodrama approach is creativity, spontaneity of action and the participation and input of the group. By exploring actively and embodying roles and aspects of ourselves, psychodrama can help us to get a clearer sense of what these roles/aspects might mean for us and how they influence our actions. 
Gary Smith is a therapist and group facilitator from Edinburgh in Scotland, UK, with over 30 years experience of personal development work with both individuals and groups. Gary has trained in Gestalt Psychotherapy, Community Theatre, Theatre of The Oppressed and Psychodrama.  Gary is also a member of a Playback Theatre group in the UK. Gary is a practitioner member of The British Psychodrama Association (www.psychodrama.org.uk). Gary will also draw on his experience of Playback Theatre and Theatre of The Oppressed in this workshop to further facilitate participation. 
Link - www.psychodrama.org.uk


TIME: 2:00-3:30pm

Workshop - Individual Drama Therapy

Artist - Maitri Gopalakrishna

Consider this- You walk into your first counseling or psychotherapy session. You expect a small, cosy room with two chairs. Instead, you see a large open room. Mats with some cushions seem to have replaced the chairs. You see cupboards along one wall. The one on the end is open, revealing wigs, swords, scarves, capes, hats, boots, aprons and dresses. You curiously wonder the next 50 minutes hold…

Through a combination of conversation and demonstration, we will explore various possibilities for using theatre mechanisms and tools within the context of a psychotherapeutic or counseling journey with an individual.

BIO
Maitri Gopalakrishna has an MA in Counseling Psychology with a concentration in drama therapy from the California Institute of Integral Studies, San Francisco, USA. Maitri has worked in both inpatient & outpatient psychiatric/ counseling facilities. She works with both individuals and groups. Maitri’s entry into Drama Therapy came through mainstream theatre. She has acted, directed and designed lights for over 12 years.  Her Drama Therapy work, therefore, is very strongly rooted in theatre where being true to the art is essential to the therapeutic value of the work.


TIME: 4:00-5:30pm

Workshop - Conversing with the Self
Artist – LOK

The workshop will attempt to rescue the free and open spirit we have left behind, strengthening our ability to access our creativity and creative vision. Using techniques of Drama Therapy, Psychodrama, Developmental Transformations and Theatre of the Oppressed the group will work through ensemble exercises and warm-ups based on running and walking activities, creative usage of space, levels and textures of movement, breath, vision and levels of focus, meditation, chanting, working as a speaking and moving chorus, rhythm, partnering, somatic work, awakening the five senses, devising and creating as an ensemble.
The goal is to develop a wide view of the self, in acceptance of complex, layered, and fractured personal histories, and in communion with the shared struggles of those around us.

LOK is a youth-based  professional creative arts company. “AUR EK KHOJ” ( FIRST TRAVELOGUE THEATRE IN INDIA) is a bold mixed-media theatrical musical fusing theatre, mime, clowning, dance performances, video projections , recorded urban ambient sound scapes, poems, quirky original and folk songs set to live electronic-violin- percussions (drums & dholak) enriched music.


6 -10pm Sahabhaga College Fest


Sunday 2nd December 2012

TIME: 9:00am-12:30pm 
Theatre of the Oppressed Workshop, part 1 & 2
Presenter - Radha Ramaswamy

The Centre for Community Dialogue and Change (CCDC), established in February 2011, has been using Theatre of the Oppressed to work with communities for the purpose of encouraging self-exploration, community building, as well as critical thinking for problem solving. the Forum performances, addresses issues ranging from problems in education to elder abuse, and tried to open up spaces for dialogue, enhancing individual and group awareness. In unexpected and magical ways, epiphanic moments of truth are often illumined, for both actors and spect-actors.

Radha Ramaswamy has been an English teacher, theatre researcher, and educational consultant and is now a full time practitioner and trainer in Theatre of the Oppressed (TO).Radha trained in TO with Marc Weinblatt of the Mandala Center for Change in Port Townsend, Seattle, Washington. She founded the Centre for Community Dialogue and Change (CCDC ) in February 2011, an organization committed to the promotion of TO in India, especially in education. 
Radha has worked with diverse communities: students, teachers, teacher-trainers, senior citizens, and medical students and faculty. She has pioneered the application of TO techniques in Medical Humanities, an emerging field in medical education in India. Her six-day facilitator training program in June 2012 had participants from Bangalore, Mumbai, Calicut and Egypt.

TIME: 2-3:30pm

Workshop- Theatre of the Oppressed: Cop-in-the-Head
Presenter - Tamara Lynne, USA

Through games, stories, and images, theatre can illuminate and transform a moment of internalized oppression, an incident of paralysis where one wants to take action, but for some reason doesn’t. the workshop will use  images, sound, and movement to begin to develop a deeper understanding of the social circumstances that lead to this inaction and help to identify the ‘cops’ in our own heads that have stopped us from taking action in our lives. Through a lively theatrical brainstorm, new and creative ways  will be shared to help to ‘de-activate’ the cops that prevent us from taking positive action towards a more just world. Techniques in this workshop are based on the work of Augusto Boal, founder of Theatre of the Oppressed.

Tamara Lynne, Creative Director of Living Stages
Tamara is founder and Creative Director of Living Stages, a company based in Portland, Oregon committed to Theatre of the Oppressed (TO) as a process for community dialogue, empowerment and action. She has practiced TO since 2000, training with Augusto Boal and other recognized TO practitioners, Marc Weinblatt and Jeannie La France. Her work has included work in Brazil's rural Central West with members of the MST, Brazil's Landless Workers' Movement. Over the past thirteen years, she’s created theatre with homeless youth, day laborers, farm workers, individuals with mental health issues, members of the houseless community, educators, and students.


TIME: 4:00-5:30pm 


A Musical Ballet on Dalit woman
Artists: Chindu

Dalit women constitute the bottom rung of the social ladder, be it from a gender, class or caste perspective in India. Dalit women bear the brunt of gender discrimination, family violence, alcoholic husbands, and indebtedness as well as the problems of single-hood and single motherhood. This performance is a portrait of a collage of emotions without words, an abstract theatrical expression of the triple oppression (class, caste, gender) of Dalit woman.  


Forum Theatre Performance: Centre for Community Dialogue and Change
Artists: Radha Ramaswamy and Centre for Community Dialogue and Change


The Centre for Community Dialogue and Change (CCDC), established in February 2011, has been using Theatre of the Oppressed to work with communities for the purpose of encouraging self-exploration, community building, as well as critical thinking for problem solving. the Forum performances, addresses issues ranging from problems in education to elder abuse, and tried to open up spaces for dialogue, enhancing individual and group awareness. In unexpected and magical ways, epiphanic moments of truth are often illumined, for both actors and spect-actors.

Radha Ramaswamy has been an English teacher, theatre researcher, and educational consultant and is now a full time practitioner and trainer in Theatre of the Oppressed (TO).Radha trained in TO with Marc Weinblatt of the Mandala Center for Change in Port Townsend, Seattle, Washington. She founded the Centre for Community Dialogue and Change (CCDC ) in February 2011, an organization committed to the promotion of TO in India, especially in education. 
Radha has worked with diverse communities: students, teachers, teacher-trainers, senior citizens, and medical students and faculty. She has pioneered the application of TO techniques in Medical Humanities, an emerging field in medical education in India. Her six-day facilitator training program in June 2012 had participants from Bangalore, Mumbai, Calicut and Egypt.

TIME: 7:00pm 


Playback Theatre
Artists: Yours Truly Theatre
http://www.yourstruly-theatre.com

Playback Theatre is created through a unique collaboration between performers and audience. Here the audience shares a feel, moment, or a story from their life, and then these are enacted the the actors on the spot, the audience get to watch their story is immediately recreated and given artistic shape and coherence.
There are 3 main section under playback: Fluids, stories, and conflicts. There are newer sections introduced in playback theatre such as echo, encounter and chorus.
Rhythm of a performance
It starts with ice breakers to make audience feel comfortable. Then few warm up questions are asked to audience which actors then act spontaneously, after which the audience is asked to share a incident from their lives which is then acted out spontaneously by the actors.

There is no script, but there is a rhythm and sequence to a Playback Theatre performance. The Conductor is the host and facilitator of the process. After a period of introductions and warming up, someone will volunteer to tell a story. It could be a short moment, or about a longer event. They may be past, present or future stories. They could be about a very special time or about something that happens everyday. In the course of a performance 3, 4 or 5, maybe more, people will come forward to tell a story in this way. Towards the end of a performance, the conductor may invite reflections on the process, and the team will create some sort of closure appropriate for the event.
This form of theatre is very entertaining and interactive. Audience feel very important as the play is from their lives. They can connect to it so it becomes a very enjoyable experience which they cherish for the rest of their lives.




Aur Ek Khoj
LOK


"AUR EK KHOJ" ( FIRST TRAVELOGUE THEATRE IN INDIA) is a bold mixed-media theatrical musical fusing theatre ,mime, clowning,dance performances, video projections , recorded urban ambient soundscapes,poems ,quirky original and folk songs set to live electronica-violin- percussions (drums & dholak) enriched music.

It is a journey through parallel narratives that deal with various issues like drugs, relationships,sex ,politics etc to express the discontentment and disillusionment among the youth of 3 Indian metro cities (Kolkata,Delhi and Mumbai). Whether it is the sex worker or the formless,shapeless Bengali middle-class bureaucrat in Kolkata or the student activist and the runaway bride in Delhi or the four struggling actors in Mumbai - all the characters are in profound search for their identities.The clowns mock the idiosyncrasies of the metro cities and raise pertinent questions.

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