Sangam (2022-23)
Sangam (2022-23)
Sangam was a year-long project that culminated in the telling of a string of fables through Bharatanatyam; Indian, Greek and Native American to freshly created music at the intersection of Indian classical music, percussion from around the world and Native American flute.
Sangam was made possible because of a Tier I Individual Artist Career Empowerment Grant of 2022 from Salt Lake City Arts Council to Jyothsna Sainath.
Sangam was undertaken collaboratively with Nitya Nritya Foundation. Details at: https://nityanritya.com/sangam/
Lead Me to Light (2021)
A short film in memory of the tragedy of September 11th. This is a collaboration with film-maker Sudipta Maity and was produced by Nitya Nritya Foundation toward the stream of the 5th Annual Nitya Nritya Festival in September 2021.
Chaya - Bateria: Contours and Sounds (2021)
Chaya - Bateria: Contours and Sounds (2021)
An ensemble screen dance project in collaboration with percussionist Wachira Waigwa-Stone and film-maker Parth Dudhiya, this was produced by the Nitya Nritya Foundation as part of its on-going series of short films, Arpana.
Perspectives (2018)
The “Rashomon Effect”, so named after the 1950 Kurosawa movie “Rashomon”, refers to the notion that an individual's perception is colored by what that individual is attuned to perceiving. In other words, we see what we want to see!
In a light hearted adaptation of this concept, students of Nitya Nritya Dance Company presented an everyday playground event from three different perspectives and then left the audience to choose their own!
Jyothsna Sainath collaborated with musicians local to the Salt Lake valley to create original music for the production.
Script and Choreography: Jyothsna Sainath
Music Composition and Arrangement: Samathmika Balaji and Shravanthi Manohar
Live Music Ensemble:
Voice: Samathmika Balaji and Shravanthi Manohar
Nattuvangam: Jyothsna Sainath
Mridangam: Jai Appaji
Violin: Maya Iyer
Voice-over: Vishal Jammulapati
Tala Bhedam - One Dance, Many Rhythms (2018)
An unusual ensemble repertoire in which each piece was characterized by rhythm and melodic shifts.
Concept and Choreography: Jyothsna Sainath
Live Music Ensemble:
Voice: Aditya Kanukurthy
Nattuvangam: Jyothsna Sainath
Mridangam: Jai Appaji
Violin: Maya Iyer
Panchatantra - Fables from India (2017)
“Panchatantra - Fables from India”
The Panchatantra is an ancient Sanskrit text of fables that teach principles of morality, friendship, statecraft and diplomacy through animal and other fables. Dated to be at least 2000 years old, this text is attributed to the scholar Vishnu Sharma who, as records suggest, employed story telling as a means to educating three young princes of the ancient city of Mahilaropya. Five stories from Panchatantra were presented as part of the production, carefully chosen to reflect universal values of co-existence, friendship, love and mutual acceptance. These were presented mostly by young students of the Nitya Nritya Dance Company in September 2017.
Jyothsna Sainath collaborated with musicians from within and outside the Salt Lake valley to score original music.
Credits:
Concept, Script and Choreography: Jyothsna Sainath
Melodic Compositions: Snigdha Venkataramani and Anabil Chaudhury
Rhythmic Compositions: Jyothsna Sainath and Debanjan Bhattacharya.
Live Musical Ensemble:
Voice: Shruti Aravindan
Nattuvangam: Jyothsna Sainath
Tabla: Debanjan Bhattacharya
Violin: Anabil Chaudhury
Voice-overs: Vishal Jammulapati
Mridangam: Jai Appaji
