The Inaugural Calgary Tabla Workshop

While in Calgary to accompany kathak dancer Sudeshna Maulik, I was also fortunate to present a small tabla workshop, organized by my percussionist friends Malcolm and Kyle. During the first half of the workshop, I gave a hands-on introduction to the tabla and basic techniques. For the second part, the focus was on North Indian rhythmic concepts, which we explored using clapping and bol recitation.

I ended the workshop with a short tabla solo. The participants all did a great job of keeping taal! I had a wonderful time, and I think that all the participants had great fun too. I'm always very happy to share my love for tabla and Indian classical music, and the time just flew by! Many thanks to Malcolm for organizing, and to Kyle for being such a gracious host.

Even the fish seemed to want to know more. :)

Keeping taal during the solo.

The whole gang!

As always, thanks to Caroline Tabah for the photos!

Kathak and Tabla in Calgary

This past March 1, I had the great pleasure of accompanying kathak dancer extraordinaire, Sudeshna Maulik, for a performance at the University Theatre in Calgary. We have performed together many times in the Montreal area, but this was the first time that we'd travelled so far to perform. Our performance was presented by the Calgary Raga Mala, who gave us a really warm welcome.

Sudeshna opened the evening with an invocation piece dedicated to Lord Shiva. Afterwards, sarodiya Raja Bhattacharya (who also travelled with us from Montreal) opened with a short alap in Madhukauns, which was coupled with recitation of Sanskrit poetry by local poet, Prabir Chandra. I then performed a short introductory solo in vilambit Dhammar taal, using a tabla tuned one-octave below the usual C tabla, to give a pakhawaj-like flavour. Sudeshna then joined us, and we performed a full segment of Dhammar taal compositions and improvisations.

After a short break, we resumed with Raja's Kirwani solo in Vilambit Teentaal. Sudeshna then returned to the stage, and we continued with the kathak recital through Madhya and Drut Teentaal. It was a full evening of kathak, punctuated by musical interludes and poetic verses.

More photos are available in my Facebook album.

Thank you to Caroline Tabah for the photos!

Spring kathak dance performances

It has been a great spring season, filled with numerous kathak dance performances. The more I work with dance, the more I love it.

On February 17, kathak dancer Sudeshna Maulik and I presented a lecture-performance at the Moving Dialogues conference, hosted by Concordia University in Montreal. The title of our presentation was Talking Hands, Talking Feet - The Unified Interpretation of Bol in the North Indian Tabla and Kathak Dance Traditions. Our presentation was very well received! I think that we were one of the only presenters at the conference representing a non-Western music and dance tradition. In observing others' presentations, it was interesting to note how dance and music are often considered as two completely separate entities in the Western setting, in contrast to Indian music and dance which are entirely inseparable!

On April 2, sarodiya Raja Bhattacharya and I accompanied Sudeshna at the Maison de la culture Parc-Extension in Montreal. We performed a short instrumental piece to open, followed by a full kathak performance in Teentaal. The audience was very responsive, and the performance was followed by a Q&A session.

In Canada, the month of May is Asian Heritage Month. This year, Sudeshna and I were fortunate to have been invited to perform as part of the festivities organised by the Festival Accès Asie. The first performance was on May 7, as part of a demonstration of Indian cuisine and culture at the Buffet Maharaja.

Next up on May 14, I accompanied Sudeshna's talented young student Rijha Bhattacharjee in her debut solo performance. In addition to performing for a live audience at Ex-Centris in Montreal, this performance was part of a nationwide broadcast and was simultaneously shown to live audiences in Toronto, Calgary, and Vancouver. We also responded to comments and questions from audience members in the four cities.

The event was made up of performances from music and dance artists from all four cities, representing a wide variety of Asian cultures, in addition to lectures and discourses. It was quite an eye-opening experience, and a great way to showcase Asian talent from across the country. Congratulations to Rijha on a very successful debut performance and to the Accès Asie team for their excellent organisational skills!

Thanks to Caroline Tabah for the April 2 and May 14 photos.