Re-Cognising Dance | A Presentation by Mahalakshmi Prabhakar and Aranyani Bhargav | Project Showcase@IFA | May 29, 2023

India Foundation for the Arts (IFA)
invites you to
Re-Cognising Dance: Conversations around the Practice and Performance
of Indian Dance Forms

A Presentation by Mahalakshmi Prabhakar and Aranyani Bhargav

Monday, May 29, 2023 | 06:30 PM onwards | Zoom and Facebook Live 

How do two Bharatanatyam dancers look at their own practice and the history of the form they have been familiar with for so long? Is there space to explore the challenges in dance in a safe manner? What kind of discourse can such a space foster?

Join us to listen to Mahalakshmi Prabhakar and Aranyani Bhargav talk about a project implemented by IFA titled Re-Cognising Dance, an online space intended to have constructive dialogues around the complex history of Indian dance forms. 

Re-Cognising Dance envisions a space that critically engages with dance forms and dancers; and has unbiased dialogues. Founded in 2020 during the pandemic, they have had curated discussion sessions with scholars and practitioners across the world on various themes around Indian dance. With an audience across the world, Re-Cognising Dance has grown to be a well-known platform for learning, exchange of ideas, dialogues and debates and has received recognition from artists, scholars, institutions, and media for its contribution to conversations around the practice and performance of dance during the pandemic. 

Visit their work here: https://bit.ly/3MmxHJv

Mahalakshmi Prabhakar is a Bharatanatyam dancer trained under Lavanya Shankar, and also a teacher, dance history curator, and an independent researcher.

Aranyani Bhargav is a Bharatanatyam dancer trained by Leela Samson. She  performs, practices and teaches in Bangalore. She is the founder of an exploratory Bharatanatyam company Vyuti. 

Mahalakshmi Prabhakar and Aranyani Bhargav are Project Coordinators for this Foundation Project implemented by India Foundation for the Arts (IFA), under the Arts Practice programme, made possible with support from Sony Pictures Entertainment Fund.

Image from the session ‘Understanding the Madras Devadasis (Prevention of Dedication) Act 1947’; Top Row L to R: Mahalakshmi Prabhakar, Aranyani Bhargav; Bottom Row: Geeta Ramaseshan, Senior Advocate.

This session is organised as part of the Project Showcase @ IFA, a series of online presentations to showcase, discuss and engage audiences with the diverse projects we support and implement across programmes. 

Click here to register for the presentation on Zoom.

The session will also be streamed live on our Facebook page, for which no prior registration is required.