Cultural Lecture Series

Music and Dance enthusiast? Here's your chance to know all about it from the best in the field.

Music

Kavita Seth

Kavita Seth is one of the foremost Sufi Rock singers in the country. Her inimitable style, unique voice and powerful stage presence make her performance unforgettable.

Her repertoire includes the following Hindi film songs: “Iktara” from the recent super hit, Wake Up Sid; "Mujhe Mat Roko" from the film Gangster; "Maula" from the film Vaada. She released the album, “Sufiana” under the Times Music banner after performing series of concerts under International Sufi Festival-2007, which was dedicated to Maulana Rumi. She has also conducted few Sufi music workshops and has participated in seminars on Sufism and its impact.

Kavita Seth will deliver a lecture cum demonstration at ICSR main auditorium on January 23 at 2 PM.

Dance

Prof. Oopali Operajita

One of India's virtuoso classical dancers, Prof. Oopali Operajita has been called “the best Odissi interpreter today” by India’s most respected dance critic, the late P V Subramanian, (Subbudu), of The Statesman. She has performed extensively in India and abraod. A choreographer of eminence, Prof. Operajita’s major contribution to the Odissi repertoire include the “Kewat Prasang” from Tulsidas’s Ramcharitmanas, (which became Kelucharan Mohapatra’s favourite performance piece), “Madanabhasma Prasang” from Kalidasa’s Kumarasambhavam, which was the first solo piece from Kalidasa’s works in the Odissi style, and many other short pieces.

Prof. Operajita was appointed Distinguished Faculty Fellow at Carnegie Mellon University in 1990 by its legendary founder-president, President Richard Cyert

Her several international awards include a Canada Council Arts Award, a Senior Performing Arts Fellowship from the Shastri Indo-Canadian Institute and nominations for an Outstanding Established Artist Award from the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust and a Harry Schwalb Award for Excellence in the Arts from Pittsburgh magazine.

Prof. Oopali Operajita will deliver a lecture at ICSR auditorium on January 22 at 12 PM.

Padma Bhushan Dr. Padma Subrahmanyam:

Dr. Padma Subrahmanyam, the legendary Bharatnatyam  dancer is a rare  combination of a dancer, research scholar, choreographer, music composer & musician, teacher, author and indologist. She is now the director of 'Nrithyodaya'- the dance school founded in 1942. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Music, Master’s in Ethno Musicology and Ph.D in dance on her thesis on 'Karanas in Indian dance and sculpture'. She has  many awards and honours to her credit including 'Padma Bhushan', 'Padmashri', 'Sangeet Natak Akademi Award', 'Kalaimamani Award' from Govt. of Tamilnadu, 'Kalidas Samman' from Govt. of Madhya Pradesh, 'Nada Brahmam' from Narada Gana Sabha in Chennai, 'Bharata Sastra Rakshamani' and so on. She has also received the prestigious 'Fukuoka Asian Cultural Prize' from Japan for her contribution to development and harmony in Asia. She has served as a non-official member of the Indo-Sub-commission for education and culture.

Dr Padma Subrahmanyam will deliver a lecture at ICSR main auditorium on January 25 at 2 PM.

Dr.Neena Prasad

Dr Neena Prasad is trained in Bharatnatyam, Kuchipudi, Mohiniyattam and Kathakali.She is famous among the dance circles as a Mohiniyattam exponent.She was awarded PhD from Rabindra Bharati University, Calcutta on her thesis :"The concepts of Lasya and Tandava in the classical dances of South India- A detailed Study". Thus she became the first South Indian to receive a PhD in dance. A postdoctoral fellowship was  also conferred to her for Cross Cultural Music and Dance Performance, University of Surrey,England on the theme: Post Colonial Identity Construction.

Dr. Neena Prasad will deliver a lecture at ICSR auditorium on January 25 at 2 PM.