Akademi’s Bollywood dance symposium

Frame by Frame, the Bollywood dance Symposium took place at the historic Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London. Suman Buchar, a well known arts marketeer invited me to cover the event.

Akademi (formerly known as Academy of Indian Dance) is a pioneering organisation that works to encourage excellence in the practice of South Asian dance in Britain. Founded in 1979, Akademi aims to place South Asian dance as an important force within British art, society and education.

It’s director, Mira Kaushik OBE, is a well known figure, known for her directing of innovative dance spectacles and her devotion to propagating Asian arts in London. They have performed many brilliant collaborative projects, that juxtapose South Asian dance with mainstream dance in Britain. It was indeed an event filled with ladies like Mira, who I have always held in high esteem, as they are all inspirations for the next generation of creative Asians in Britain and have strived hard to find a place for Asian arts in England. With Bollywood cinema fusing with the mainstream in the UK and Akademi celebrating it’s 30th anniversary, this symposium was very well timed.

The importance of dance and the emergence of numerous Bollywood style dance classes in the UK means that a portion of the Classical dance from old movies remains in modern choreography and that the importance of dance in stage and theatre remains intact within musicals, especially those with Asian themes. From Bharathanatyam to Hip Hop and street dancing, Bollywood movie songs incorporate a variety of styles within a 6 minute song and dance number.

The Frame by Frame event was a joy to be present at. Featuring many eminent figures from the academic side of Asian arts, like Gurinder Chadha (OBE), Prof. Lord Desai, Prof. Rachel Dwyer, Nasreen Munni Kabir, Keith Khan, Nina Nannar, Dr. Sangita Shresthova, Parminder Vir (OBE) and peppered with some interesting live performances, the audience remained rapt throughout.

Personal highlights were the tête-à-tête between Parminder Vir and Gurinder Chadha, Nasreen Munni Kabir’s fantastic look into the uniqueness of music and dance within Bollywood films and Dr Rachel Dwyer’s panel discussion, featuring the likes of Keith Khan of Moti Roti. Dancers like Seema Payal, Payal Patel and Karan Pangali also showed their dance skills to the appreciative audience.

“Dancing in all its forms cannot be excluded from the curriculum of all noble education; dancing with the feet, with ideas, with words, and, need I add that one must also be able to dance with the pen?” Friedrich Nietzsche

Photographs: RJ Fernandez and Renata McDonnell

Ramchand Pakistani – a film to watch

RAMCHAND PAKISTANI

Catch this thought provoking independent film in cinemas across the UK from July 17th, 2009 – it is well worth watching on the silver-screen and the characters will jump out at one, making one feel deep empathy and remind oneself of the horrid injustices of life and how people cope with them on a daily basis.

Institute of Contemporary Arts: July 17th-30th

Watermans Cinema: July 17th- 23rd

Riverside Studios: July 30th

Ritzy Cinema Brixton: August 7th- 13th

Oxford Ultimate Picture Palace: July 21st-23rd

Leicester City Cinema: July 30th – August 6th

Ramchand is a young boy living with his low caste Hindu parents on the Thar Desert border between Pakistan and India. When he runs away from home he accidentally crosses the border into India and is arrested as a spy. A riveting and highly emotive drama based on a true story.

REVIEWS

“I was moved by the vision of the first time director, Mehreen Jabbar, who brought this real life story to a rustic looking film, with a great cast, particularly Nandita Das.”
Ashanti Omkar

“I loved the film. Beautifully made…Nandita is strong and moving.”
Mira Nair, director of The Namesake and Monsoon Wedding

“A moving story, realised with impressive maturity by first-time director Mehreen Jabbar.”
Time Out

“Gorgeous camerawork, elaborate art direction, soaring score.”
Variety

“Poignant”
The New York Times

“Beautiful film…Stunning photography, warm wit.”
The Village Voice, New York

“A compelling story… gentle, low key and very realistic.”
The Times of India

RIP Michael Jackson, legends never die

The above picture is from the first and only time I saw Michael Jackson live – in 2006, at the World Music Awards, which happened in London. He did a tiny set right at the end, way past the last train, if I remember rightly – I was with one of my ‘Asian Woman’ colleagues and Aworan was out there photographing – they wouldn’t allow many photographers to go near the pit for MJ. He went off key and had a children’s choir on stage. He sang a little ‘We are the world’ – a song I remember from my childhood, and was off the stage before we knew it. Beyonce proudly gave him an award and he spoke briefly. Chris Brown did a semi-decent tribute by performing Thriller. All in all, I knew that I missed him at his peak and didn’t buy tickets to see his final tour. Alas, that tour was not meant to be.

Carpe diem – a motto I follow to the best of my abilities day by day. Like all good things, in life, 2 things are certain, change and death. Just as I got home from a beautiful evening out in London, the sad passing of Farrah Fawcett to cancer was all over Twitter. Within a few minutes, TMZ, the LA based gossip website had announced the death of Michael Jackson! I refused to believe it till AP/PA/BBC/CNN confirmed and stayed glued to the news while Tweeting and discussing with my 4600 strong community on Facebook. The confirmation of his passing brought a tear to me eye and took me straight back to my childhood in Nigeria!

We didn’t have access to many TV channels and my first real MJ memory was of the Thriller video. It was scary yet watchable, in the eyes of a child. The dancing intrigued me and I had till then seen people like Sade and Patti Boulaye (who were plugged a lot for their Nigerian descent) and my Dad weaned me on The Beatles. So this was indeed something new to me, moreover, to see a young Black man making such waves. There I was, collecting lyrics (I would ask older kids who had transcribed from listening to his songs on cassette) and trying to understand the meaning behind Billie Jean, in all my innocence.

So memories of Wanna be starting something, Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough, Rock With You, The girl is mine, Beat it e.t.c would play at all the parties (we had many in our little corner of Nigeria, Borno state, Maiduguri). Upon moving to East London, in England at the age of 12, I was a fully fledged fan of Mr Jackson, Madonna, A ha and many more and was all set to buy my weekly Smash Hits magazine from the corner shop near Plashet secondary school. There I was, with posters of MJ adorning my wall, much to the disgust of my parents who couldn’t fathom my fascination with pop stars and footballers like Ian Rush and John Barnes.

So ‘Bad’ came out and it was one of the first albums I bought as a cassette, with a little help from Daddy dearest. We didn’t have a lot of money then, so it was a luxury and certainly a treat. As Dada, as I call him, was a Hi Fi enthusiast, he had brought down his equipment form Nigeria including a good radio tuner. This meant I could ‘record’ music from the radio, especially from the Top 40 on Sundays. So I was happily a fan of pop music in parallel to listening to Carnatic music, taking classes and going to concerts. I was also studying music in school and was part of the choir, so singing Whitney Housten’s Greatest Love of all (written by Michael Masser and Linda Creed, originally recorded by George Benson for the 1977 Muhammad Ali film The Greatest) was part of a daily practice session. I particularly enjoyed a term of music where we developed Michael Jackson’s Beat It, as we had steel pans and a young, fun music teacher.

This all culminated in my having an awe for MJ and his musical prowess – Liberian Girl was a particular favourite, with a whole load of celebrities – a fun video with some of top Black names in the business – people I’d loved watching on TV and directed by Spielberg and MJ behind the camera! I never got to see him live, as I wasn’t allowed to go to ‘Western’ pop concerts, only Carnatic ones with family. My other favourite was Black or White – a song whose lyrics of looking past racial boundaries resonated with me during 80s ‘Thatcherite’ England – the South Indian classical dance of Bharathanatyam in one scene made it that much more appealing as it was the first time I saw a mainstream HUGE video with an Asian in it, that too, with MJ doing his own version of those dance moves. The beauty of Iman in Remember the time, again crossed many boundaries, in my book, especially with the very funny Eddie Murphy in it and Teddy Riley’s New Jack Swing! And with this, I will end my never-ending reminiscence of how Michael Jackson’s music touched everybody, from M.I.A who told me that her few English words upon arriving in London, included his name to every single corner of the world. That is a legacy that will never really die.

MJ’s South Indian connections continue to the day of his sad passing, thanks to the SAJA team who informed us of the Doctor who performed his autopsy – Dr. Lakshmanan Sathyavagiswaran in LA. MJ performed in Mumbai and had the South Indian dance genius, Prabhu Deva open for him – he was an inspiration for Indian movie song videos, not to mention setting the bar very high for mainstream videos too.

My friend, AR Rahman is also a friend and fan of MJ’s and I mailed him a condolence message, as with his sound engineer H Sridhar who passed away at the age of 48, nearly 50, like MJ, they both came as a shock to the musical fraternity. AR Rahman (ARR) sent a sad sign back and wrote a very touching tribute to MJ. Here is the most poignant part:

“I remember, my late sound engineer Sridhar had brought me a video of the première of “Remember the Time” when I was recording “Kadal Rojave” for my first movie Roja. Seeing it inspired all of us that afternoon.

Now, there is no Sridhar and no Jackson anymore. I hope all of us value people’s existence more and respect them when they are alive.” AR Rahman on Michael Jackson

AR Rahman alongside Kanika and Bala of Bharatbala Productions did a track called Ekam Satyam – it takes me back to my very first meeting with AR Rahman in South Kensington. The fabulous Indian drummer A.Sivamani had cooked fish curry and rice with rasam for ARR and we drove down to see him, me nearly fainting at my first meeting with him and so on. ARR at the time was extremely thrilled as they were working on the MJ show in Germany, the Michael Jackson and Friends Concert (Shobhana and Prabhu Deva Sundaram choreographed the dance piece). MJ fell ill at that show, if I remember rightly, but ARR, Sivamani and team did their performance. An album was in the offing, but it never came into fruition and ARR said in his sad testimonial, that he met MJ recently, during the Oscars and that they may have done a peace album together as they shared that as a vision.

It is a sad loss to the music world, to say farewell to Michael Jackson, who God has called back to heaven. He suffered for his art and had a troubled life, having lost his childhood to work and trying desperately to get it back. I pray, alongside the world, that he will find peace and much deserved happiness in heaven. Below are some of my favourite song portions:

I’m starting with the man in the mirror
I’m asking him to change his ways
And no message could have been any clearer
If you wanna make the world a better place
Take a look at yourself, and then make a change
I’ve been a victim of a selfish kind of love
It’s time that I realize
That there are some with no home, not a nickel to loan
Could it be really me, pretending that they’re not alone?

What have we done to the world
Look what we’ve done
What about all the peace
That you pledge your only son…
What about flowering fields
Is there a time
What about all the dreams
That you said was yours and mine…
Did you ever stop to notice
All the children dead from war
Did you ever stop to notice
The crying Earth the weeping shores?

So pray for all the lost children
Let’s pray for all the lost children
Just think of all the lost children, wishing them well
This is for all the lost children
This one’s for all the lost children
Just think of all the lost children
Wishing them well, and wishing them home

We are the world,
We are the children,
We are the one to make a brighter day,
So let`s start givin`,
There`s a chance we`re takin`,
We`re takin all our lives,
It`s true we`re make it a brighter day just you and me.

Protection
For gangs, clubs,
And nations
Causing grief in
Human relations
It’s a turf war
On a global scale
I’d rather hear both sides
Of the tale
See, it’s not about races
Just places
Faces
Where your blood
Comes from
Is where your space is
I’ve seen the bright
Get duller
I’m not going to spend
My life being a color
I said if
You’re thinkin’ of
Being my brother
It don’t matter if you’re
Black or white

RIP Michael Jackson – you will forever live in our memories and many of us will allow our children to also see and hear the wonderful music and dancing you gave the world. You have been imitated by many, but you remain inimitable. May your soul dance and sing while you watch over the us all.

“Let us dream of tomorrow where we can truly love from the soul, and know love as the ultimate truth at the heart of all creation.” Michael Jackson RIP for taking Black music and crossing it over to the mainstream – your legacy and music will live on!!!

Indian strings & dances exhibition

I went to the launch event for this exhibition in Mayfair, London recently and was most impressed with the passion exuded by the organisers and curators, Lata Desai and Rolf Killius, not to mention the young team of musicians of the London sitar ensemble who performed and will do more such performances. An impressive bunch indeed and I was taken to it by a very good photographer friend, Rashmi Gill, who also plays the sitar and compered the event. Here is a bit more about it all:

‘Indian Strings & Dances’ Exhibition

A collaborative exhibition and season of events from the London Sitar Ensemble, the Museum of Croydon and Sutton Subrang.

Friday 10 April – Saturday 1 August 2009
Croydon Clocktower

Indian music and dance is one of the finest traditions in the world. This exhibition traces the story of these art forms, tracking the evolutionary changes, transformations and contributions of musicians and dancers.

Showcasing objects and instruments from local community groups and from the Horniman Museum, this colourful and vibrant exhibition looks at the significant influence of musicians and dancers from South Asia, in Britain.

Come and discover a variety of musical instruments, relating to different forms of Indian dance in Croydon Now (part of the Museum of Croydon). You can also watch oral history interviews and video performances with key figures in the Indian music and dance movement in Britain. Space C displays a stunning variety of Indian dance costumes, depicting all the classical styles of Indian dance. There will also be two photo exhibitions showing the origins and uses of the instruments and objects in their native India.

Accompanying the exhibition is a programme of events including family workshops, lectures and performances, exploring and celebrating Indian music and dance in Britain.

© AKIN AWORAN

Between the covers – Magazine Exhibition

Very chuffed to see this online on a beautiful website called Uplift Magazine, just like I was, to see my blown-up poster next to some very inspirational ladies at the amazing Between the covers exhibition:

One of the things I loved about the exhibition was the ‘Hall of Fame’ of female magazine editors from past and present. Katharine Whitehorn, Louise Chunn, Linda Kelsey, Claire Rayner, Ashanti Omkar and Sue O’Sullivan are all there, in all their hugely blown-up photographed glory. The photographs are accompanied by a set of audio interviews by Judith Palmer, which give visitors the opportunity to hear insiders’ views of magazine production. I’m not sure where else you might find such a wall of great women, and it was certainly refreshing to see these influential creatives being given the respect and admiration they deserve.

‘Between The Covers’ is free to enter and runs until the 29th of August 2009. The woman’s library is near Aldgate East station, London.

You can also catch me on a panel discussion called Black in fashion: Have we turned the page? on Wednesday 13 May, 7pm (90 mins)
£8 / £6 concessions

Traitor – A thought provoking film

I recently went to a press screening of the film Traitor, before it hit the UK screens (it had it’s US release in late 2008). I had been feeling quite ill that day and was considering leaving after the first 10 minutes, but the film was extremely gripping and I stayed the whole duration. It was indeed disturbing in it’s subject matter of terrorism, but provoked thought in it’s treatment and the prowess of the direction, the acting and the general idea of breaking stereotypes.

The music by South African composer Mark Kilian also worked well with the storyline. I was interested in many aspects of the film and had the opportunity to interview the young director, Jeffrey Nachmanoff. I’ll be posting a link to the piece when it’s in print, but in the meantime, I thought I would put up the questions I sent him (with some details added for the purposes of this blog):

- How did you get into movie making and Hollywood? Was it a childhood ambition?

- What was it like, working with Roland Emmerich on Day after tomorrow and did you expect it to turn out so realistic?

- How did you choose the subject matter for Traitor?

- Which directors inspired you, especially when you chose your directional debut to be Traitor?

- I hear that you’re a man of the world – one who has his ear to the ground, so to speak – was this one of the reasons for the subject matter in traitor? Also, I hear there was a Steve Martin connection on the story side?

- Did you feel worried about making a film that shows two sides of Islam?

- How did you cast for the film and having seen it, I think it was spot on…

- As a director, creating a movie that is not just gripping, but also showing authenticity is always the hardest part, that too, for a debutant like you – tell us your process. Also, you had to jump continents and several cities (17) in the making?

- The casting of Alyy Khan intrigued me, as he just seemed so composed and so good-looking to play the part, someone who the audience may overlook as the threat he actually was. How did the character come by and how did you cast him?

- You grew up in London – how did this shape the subject matter of Traitor? how do you feel the London/UK audiences will react to the film?

- Don Cheadle, Guy Pearce, Saïd Taghmaoui (Lost, Kite runner) and ‘that villain from Desperate housewives’ (Neal McDonough) were your male cast and you had Archie Punjabi (Mighty heart, East is East) as the sole, pivotal female – what was the whole acting team like, working together?

- Don was also producer – how was that dynamic, for you both?

- Interesting yet short perspective about the Black-Asian relationship between Samir and Chandra – this could be a spin-off in itself – any thoughts?

- What are your thoughts on Indian cinema? Any influences?

- Though it looked like a million bucks, it was actually a low budget film of sorts – how did you achieve the brilliance without the money being pumped in by Disney?

- What’s in the future for you, as a young, vibrant voice of Hollywood?

Love me, love my blog

Recently, I was asked by Ronke Adeyemi, a fellow blogger and excellent writer, to comment on a very interesting piece she was writing. Independent fashion bloggers was a new site to me and I immediately agreed, was so cool and a bit different from the regular stuff I get asked about.

The topic was to do with blogs and the partners of the bloggers and the support that they may or may not give, as blogging and online life is now a distinct part of many people’s worlds.

I used to blog on ‘Blogger‘, where I would put selected articles I had written, but moved to WordPress when I realised the features and searchability. With the advent of microblogging via Twitter, things are rapidly changing and I am enjoying them tremendously. I am trying my best to blog more – when one is a journalist, it can get tough to have the mindset of writing and not being paid for it via blogs, but I realise how the interaction aspect makes it all worthwhile.

Here is the piece she wrote.

Anglomania Magazine Piece

anglomania-piece

With all the success of Slumdog Millionaire, a lot has been written and talked about. I was asked to research and write a piece on the reality behind the film. The piece was published in the very beautiful Anglomania Magazine, which is out in Borders soon. The magazine is a mix of sports, beauty, fashion and issues and I’m certainly very proud to be a part of the April issue. Do check out the article on page 117-118 and enjoy the rest of the magazine too.

Quick comparison between ‘Heaven on Earth’ and ‘Provoked’

I wanted to share something I had commented on a Facebook status, about these 2 films, as comparisons are being made…

Provoked and Heaven on earth (VIDESH), though sharing the topic of domestic violence in Asian communities and having the bride who comes from India to a foreign country, UK in the former and Canada in the latter, follow entirely different scenarios.

Provoked is a true story of a battered woman who burnt her violent husband alive, while HoE was built out of 3 case studies of women in Canada and mixed with the mystical element of the play Naga Mandala (Girish Karnad) – to do with snakes… Deepa Mehta also spoke to me of other inspirations that led her to make it – the fact that domestic violence sees no colour or creed and it’s across all communities…

Both are very disturbing films on the plight of women and both have a strong message to the viewers. Even educated women are stuck in societies that approve of domestic violence and struggle to get away from violent men.

Heaven on Earth aka Videsh

The Indian music industry on AR Rahman

Interesting article on AR Rahman after his double Oscar and Golden Globe, BAFTA wins in 2009… Also check out Galatta Cinema Magazine in news-stands in Chennai and South India – in depth pieces on AR Rahman, including an Ashanti Omkar and Aworan special, featuring 3 upcoming musicians from London (T Pirashanna, S.Pavani) and Bangalore(Bindu Seetaa Subramaniam)!

http://www.outlookindia.com/full.asp?fodname=20090309&fname=Cover+Story&sid=1&pn=1

AR Rahman Galatta Cinema Cover