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Part of Eve A. Ma's series about world music and dance, "Of Beauty & Deities" explores the music and dance of southern India, especially the classical "bhatatanatyam." The hour-long documentary includes professional level performance, interviews, and a host's narrative. Working through the group "Kalanjali: Dances of India," we are treated to solo as well as group dance performances, a purely musical number, plus explanations of the musical instruments, the meaning of the dances, and more. Filmed in a studio in California (Contra Costa Television, as supported by AC5 - Arts & Culture Commission of Contra Costa County), the solo dancer and the musicians were brought over from India. The dancers in the group are mostly people of Indian heritage, part of the Indian diaspora. The performers - both those from India and those from California - come from a group called "Kalanjali: Dances of India" which teaches in both southern India and northern California. Its artistic directors when we created this documentary were K.P. Kunhiraman and his wife, Katherine Kunhiraman. K.P. Kunhiraman, a master of kathakali as well as bharatanatyam, has since passed away. Bharatanatyam, the focus of the documentary, comes out of the Hindu tradition although in modern times, it has opened itself up to anyone, no matter what their religious tradition (or lack of same). The dances are hymns to and stories about the Hindu gods. Dance movements are a form of sign language (and we have "translated" these movements in one of the dances). It is a rigorous dance form that takes years to learn. The musicians, from singer Sasidaran to the flutist, the percussionist and the violinist (a bow to modern music) are all highly trained and well-known in their native India. The documentary contains one purely musical number so that viewers may enjoy this classical southern Indian, Karnatan, music. And the documentary contains one folk dance, this one from the central Indian state of Orissa. As artistic director Katherine Kunhiraman explains, the Kalakshetra Institute (where she was trained and where K.P. Kunhiraman taught for many years) emphasized that all Indians are one. The country of India contains people of hundreds of different cultures and languages, but the Kalakshetra Institute's founder and director, Rukmini Davey, urged them to view themselves as one people, part of one nation, and taught regional folk dances to the students as a means of communicating this message. Besides, the folk dances were a pleasure to learn after spending hours each day working on the classical dances.In sum, this is a documentary which touches on Indians in California as well as on Indian culture in a broad sense, delivered through one of its most ancient and revered classical art forms. Fittingly enough, the film has aired over individual PBS stations from the East to the West coast.
Dance to mother earth -- Tillana -- Kirtanam dance honoring Lord Krishna -- Musical Kirtanam -- Folk dance from Orissa.
producer, Eve A. Ma ; director, Eve A. Ma ; Palomino Productions.
Title from resource description page (viewed April 25, 2019).
Host & treatment, Eve A. Ma ; performers, Kalanjali: Dances of India.
Languages of sound & movement (Television program)