Ranan overview

Overview
April 2010 to March 2011
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Plllaaannnsss Ranan aa 17, sector 1 salt lake calcutta 700 064 india rananindia@gmail.com www.rananindia.com Overview
April 2010 to March 2011
The year 2010‐2011 saw several landmarks in Ranan’s life, the most significant being the official launch of the Ranan Repertory in May 2010. This brought together a group of dancers and actors committed to working, playing and evolving together as performers. The nature of Ranan’s activity underwent a marked change in terms of structure, regularity of creative work and content. Ranan already has an increasingly busy life as a professional performance company: the launch of the Repertory added a programme of focussed training and process specific events, and our own space gave us the opportunity to host several informal events open to all. Repertory Performances
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Four Ranan productions – Equus, Bahudha (a dance film), Vaichitra, Crossings – were presented across eight Indian centres – Uttarpara, Hyderabad, Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Chennai, Jodhpur, Calcutta. Of these, Crossings (first created in 2004) was revived after a two‐year hiatus with a new cast at specific invitations from the National Centre for the Performing Arts, Mumbai (January 2011) and the Hamara Shakespeare Festival, Chennai (February 2011). Left, Top and Bottom: The Crossings team at the Flame School of Performing Arts, Pune (Photo: Anubha Fatehpuria) and Kalakshetra, Chennai (Photo: Siddhartha Bhattacharyya) From L to R: Crossings at Kalakshetra, Chennai (Photo: Mani) and Gyan Manch, Calcutta (Photos: Sapratibha Mandal) Overview
April 2010 to March 2011
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Crossings and Equus made up the first two day festival of Ranan work that we presented in March 2011 supported by the Rahul Group of Companies. Equus at Gyan Manch, Calcutta (Photos: Sapratibha Mandal) •
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A unique opening event was choreographed by Vikram Iyengar for the Golf Green Utsav, Calcutta (January 2011). In collaboration with Neelanjana Ghose (costumes), Tanmoy Bose (music) and Katy Lai Roy (design) the extravaganza brought together dance, music and fashion. Funded by the British Council’s ‘Connections through Culture’ programme, our year long performance collaboration project with Transport Theatre, UK was launched in February 2011 with a series of Skype interactions including rehearsal and performance sharings between Douglas Rintoul and Vicky Long of Transport and Vikram Iyengar and Amlan Chaudhuri of Ranan. The project will see both companies visit and workshop with each other over the next year. •
Rehearsals for Ranan’s double bill of performance work – Return and Dreamed – began in December 2010 [images above] The Ranan Repertory is supported by the Ministry of Culture, Government of India. Overview
April 2010 to March 2011
Seminars / Presentations •
Vikram Iyengar participated in a Director’s Forum organised by the Centre for Performance Research, Aberystwyth, Wales (April 2010). The ten‐day event gave him the opportunity to work closely with diverse directors from Denmark, Israel, the UK and Vikram Iyengar at the Director’s elsewhere. His visit was supported by Forum. Aberystwyth, Wales the British Council, Calcutta. • As an invited delegate to the first Ignite Festival of Contemporary Indian Dance (November 2010) organised by the Gati Dance Forum, Delhi, Vikram Iyengar served as a co‐moderator in a conversation with renowned UK‐based choreographer Shobana Jeyasingh, and spoke at a related Dance Network seminar. Brindar – Ranan’s Kathak Training Wing •
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Under the directorship of Debashree Bhattacharya, Brindar now has about 30 students spread over three groups. Some senior dancers have been inducted into the Ranan Repertory. In September 2010, Brindar presented a two‐day annual programme. The first day featured Tridhara – performed by Brindar students. Ankur 2011 – our annual platform for young solo dancers – was presented on the second day with performances by Somdatta Banerjee (Kathak, Calcutta) and Prateeksha Kashi (Kuchipudi, Bangalore). Their recitals were preceded by a brief Kathak solo by senior Brindar student, Debosmita Roychowdhury. Brindar is supported by a grant from the Sangeet Natak Akademi, Delhi. The annual programme was supported by Open Doors Event Management, Calcutta and Uma Baleshwar Charitable Trust, Patna. Overview
April 2010 to March 2011
Events in Ranan
Rebecca Gould’s workshop in Ranan, May 2010 (Photo: Anubha Fatehpuria) •
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We hosted our first open workshop in May 2010 – ‘Exploring Shakespeare On Your Feet’ conducted by Rebecca Gould, theatre director and producer from the UK. Subsequent repertory‐only workshops were by Vandana Alase Hazra (Motion and Emotion) and Sameera Iyengar (The Actor and the Text). The Adda at Ranan series – informal interactions with a range of personalities around a theme of their choosing and expertise – was launched in June 2010 with a conversation between poets Sampurna Chattarji and Anjum Katyal. We have since hosted Dastangos Mehmood Farooqui, Anusha Rizvi and Danish Hussain; performance scholar Sadanand Menon, dance critic Sunil Kothari and Polish dancer/choreographer Jacek Luminski; Janet Smith, Artistic Director of Scottish Dance Theatre; Delhi‐
based puppeteer Anurupa Roy; vocalist and music researcher, Nageen Tanvir. Other events include regular screenings of international landmark films, hosting the Thespo Orientation programme in Calcutta, and a visit by a three‐member dance delegation from the UK. Right, from Top: Anusha Rizvi, Vandana Alase Hazra and Janet Smith at Ranan. Audience at the adda with Anjum Katyal and Sampurna Chattarji (Photos: Indudipa Sinha) Overview
April 2010 to March 2011
The Ranan Workspace
Under the supervision of Anubha Fatehpuria – Ranan core‐group member and architect – April‐
May 2010 saw a revamping of the Ranan workspace with fresh coats of paint, the addition of a storage cabinet, a folding work‐table and other small but necessary features including innovatively and inexpensively designed curtains and soft boards. The painted Ranan pillar now serves as a message board for all the guests who visit us. Messages on the Ranan pillar (Photo: Indudipa Sinha) The next planned additions to the workspace include expansion of storage space, a ‘home‐made’ light grid, black curtains, multipurpose dividing screens, air‐conditioning and sound‐proofing and installing a high quality sound system. Left: Rebecca Gould writing the first message on the pillar Right: Sampurna Chattarji ‐ in red – after having left her mark (Photos: Indudipa Sinha) All events we programme at Ranan and the development of the workspace is funded purely from the contributions that come to us via the ‘Friends of Ranan’ programme every year. Many thanks to all our Friends from across the world! Overview
April 2010 to March 2011
Plans for 2011‐2012 In addition to our performance schedule and repertory activity, the following are some highlights for the next year • The Transport Theatre, UK and Ranan, Calcutta collaboration to be officially announced at the Alchemy Festival, South Bank, London in April 2011. Vikram and Amlan visit the UK in August‐September 2011 and Douglas and Vicky visit Calcutta in December 2011. • Ranan’s double bill of new performance work – Return and Dreamed – supported by the Ministry of Culture, Government of India, premieres in May 2011 • Brindar’s annual programme and Ankur 2011 are scheduled for September 2011 • Ranan will participate in the ‘Spaces of Theatre / Spaces for Theatre’ seminar organised by the India Theatre Forum in Ninasam, Karnataka in March 2012. The Ranan Core Group Artistic Director Vikram Iyengar Kathak Training Wing (Brindar) Debashree Bhattacharya Design and Ranan Workspace Anubha Fatehpuria Production Coordinator Amlan Chaudhuri Administration Jayati Chakroborty PR and Publicity Ruchira Das The Ranan Board Chairperson Mr. Madan Mohanka Secretary Ms. Jayati Chakraborty Treasurer Ms. Debashree Bhattacharya Members Ms. Anjum Katyal, Ms. Oindrilla Dutt, Ms. Paromita Chakravarti, Ms. Vandana Alase Hazra, Ms. Shibani Iyengar, Mr. A. V. Iyengar The Ranan Repertory (as of 31 March 2011) Amlan Chaudhuri, Anubha Fatehpuria, Dana Roy, Debashree Bhattacharya, Debosmita Roychowdhury, Indudipa Sinha, Jayati Chakraborty, Lav Kanoi, Rhea Das, Ruchira Das, Sohini Debnath, Vikram Iyengar Overview
April 2010 to March 2011
FRIENDS OF RANAN We thank you for your support for the arts through your support to Ranan Carole Paul, Delhi Faaeza Jasdanwala, Aberystwyth / Mumbai Joyee Deb and Piyush Jain, New York / Mumbai Peter George, Thiruvananthapuram Prarthana Mitra, London Priya and Ravi Sandhu, Gurgaon Sameera Iyengar, Mumbai Sanjay and Smitha Roy, Bangalore Shefali and Sumeet Salwan, Singapore Suleena Sapra, Delhi Sumit Jamuar, London Vishwarupe Narain, Mumbai Clockwise from Right: Jacek Luminski at a Ranan Adda (September 2010), Publicity material for Equus, Hyderabad (August 2010), the Vaichitra team in Jodhpur (February 2011), Rebecca Gould’s workshop (May 2010)