Kalpana Raghuraman, born and raised in the Netherlands and
also deeply rooted in Indian culture, sees herself as a bridge builder between
cultures, traditions, and people. In the course of many years, she was
initiated in the secrets of the South Indian temple dance form Bharatanatyam.
In order to expand and intensify her training, Kalpana
travelled to India to continue her dance studies and to do research for her
studies in Cultural Anthropology into the changing dynamic in knowledge
transferal concerning the Bharatanatyam. On this study trip she studied with
prominent grand masters and gained much knowledge and experience. After the
completion of her Cultural Anthropology studies, she directed her attentions to
furthering her knowledge of the nuances of Bharatanatyam. She also gave many
performances with traditional Indian music groups in the Netherlands and
abroad. Countries where she has performed include England, Scotland, Poland,
the Ukraine, Portugal, Mali, Curacao, Bonaire, the United States, Canada, and
Italy.
Kalpana distinguishes herself in the rich field of dance in
the Netherlands because of her very personal dance style based on the
traditional Indian Bharatanatyam. With great knowledge and integrity, she dares
to pry loose this classic dance form from its conventions and to make
connections with modern dance. With this she places this dance form, which is
steeped in centuries-old traditions, in the present, and allows it to have
significance for a young and future generation.
At the 2008 CaDance festival
Kalpana presented the piece In Between Skin. At the 2011 CaDance festival, she
appears in the full-length program Beyond. She appeared as a dancer in the
piece Toxic Tears by the modern choreographer Pedro Goucha Gomes, and her
choreography Kiss of Life will be shown with modern dancer Sabina Perry.
Producties:
Padme is the sequel to the hit production Door de ogen van mijn stad with twenty Hindustani dancers from The Hague. Indian choreographer Kalpana Raghuraman again combines the forces of a group of young talented dancers. In the ancient language of Sanskrit, ‘padma’ means lotus flower, a familiar symbol in Hindu and Buddhist faiths. The lotus grows with its roots in the mud through a long stem from the water into the light. A better metaphor for human development is hardly imaginable, the growth being a symbol of spiritual awareness and enlightenment.
India Dans Festival
This season once again The Hague breathes the atmosphere of India; for one week Korzo will be transformed into the Indian dance center. From Bharatanatyam to Bollywood and from Urban Indian dance to modern dance, Korzo is the venue for big established and up-and-coming talents in contemporary Indian dance.
As a special guest this year we welcome dancer Aakash Odedra from London, who has performed solos especially created for him by choreographers like Akram Khan, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, and Russell Maliphant. An Indian Dance Battle opens the festival week. The program further includes performances by the Odissi dancer Monalisa Ghosh, music guru Subhankar Chatterjee, the young dancer Revanta Sarabhai, and The Hague-Indian choreographer Kalpana Raghuraman. A selection of fine Indian dance documentaries was made in partnership with the Indian Film Festival The Hague; these will be shown prior to the performances in Club Korzo.
Click here for the entire program of the Indian Dance Festival.
Superheroes are usually
represented as strong, courageous personalities with infinithe powers.
Characters from Indian mythology that are serious superhero material such as
Arjuna, Durga, Shiva, Hanuman or Kannagi show us that there is more to them
than just testosterone. They also represent qualities such as loyality, honesty
and perseverence. Instead of representing these characters narratively, the
dancers in She Ra are inspired by their energies and qualities.
concept
& choreography Kalpana Raghuraman | music composition Simone Giacomini | light
design Shivarajah Natarajan & Kalpana Raghuraman | costumes
design Guna & Kalpana Raghuraman | dancers
Rathimalar, Divya Nair, Tan Mei Mei, Harenthiran, Geethika Sree, Nalini Nair,
Sivagamavalli Jyotsnaa | production
Sutra Foundation and Korzo producties (The Netherlands)
The buzz that The Hague is dancing is not new. Throughout the year, The Hague is a breeding ground for fresh dance talent, the melting pot for local and international dance professionals, and the place to be for important premières. With the dance event Here We Live and Now, Korzo celebrates the wealth of choreographic talent in this city.
For the 2012 edition, four dance makers from The Hague have been invited to make a short piece in a short period of time and to present it as part of a full-length program.
DansClick 13 takes you to the contemporary dance from the rich culture of India.
Click here for the entire program of the Indian Dance Festival.
workshop for advanced amateur dancers and (semi)professionals
Kalpana Raghuraman’s style is characterized by sharp movements, use of hand gestures, eye movement and complex rhythms. In this masterclass Indian-modern contemporary for advanced dancers you will learn the movements from the work of this choreographer.
workshop for beginners and intermediate
If you always have been fascinated by Indian dance with the elegant handmovements, dynamic footwork and graceful movements of the eyes? Then this is your chance to learn more in the workshop taught by Kalpana Raghuraman. In this workshop you acquainted with step by step the Indian dance style Bharatanatyam: classical movements with the emphasis on the use of hands and indian rythms. You will learn the movements from the work of this choreographer.
New Talents
Holland Dance Festival presents big names from the international dance world. But there is also a wealth of choreographic talent in the Netherlands. Leo Spreksel, artistic director of the Korzo theatre, has invited three of today’s talented choreographers to make a new work especially for the festival. They are inspired by urban dance, classical Indian dance and modern Western dance, respectively.
Kalpana Raghuraman, who was initiated by her mother into the secrets of the classic Indian temple dance Bharatanatyam, offers with Kiss of Life, an alternative to the role models that the contemporary Indian woman is confronted with: the pious, introverted woman, or the Indian version of Barbie. The ‘Black Goddess’ Kali inspires this alternative. She is wild and tempestuous, as well as gentle and tender. Free of traditional conventions, Raghuraman works through Bharatanatyam to provide a relevant example for today's women.
choreography Kalpana Raghuraman | performance Sabina Perry | light design Albert Tulling | music Peter Lemmens | dramaturgic advice Klaus Jürgens | costume Kalpana Raghuraman | stage design Kalpana Raghuraman | Kiss of Life is a Korzo production and is financially supported by the Ministry of OCW, Gemeente Den Haag and Fonds Podiumkunsten.
Hindustani dancers, who practice different styles, are stripped loose from their traditional structures, narratives, and music. Kalpana Raghuraman from The Hague brings these dancers together and joins forces with them for the project Door de ogen van mijn stad (Through the eyes of my city). Moved by the political developments in the Netherlands, she explores matters concerning identity and the breakdown of society into smaller groups; they also examine their own relationship with the city.
Toxic Tears
Holy rivers in India are honoured as well as polluted. Through this paradox, the ritual purification that washes clean the souls of the inhabitants, also at the same time damages their bodies with chemicals.
Toxic Tears choreography Pedro Goucha Gomes | performance Kalpana Raghuraman | light design Albert Tulling | Kiss of Life choreography Kalpana Raghuraman | performance Sabina Perry | light design Albert Tulling | Beyond is an Korzo production and is financially supported by the Ministry of OCW, Gemeente Den Haag and Fonds Podiumkunsten.
