A Young SNA awardee for overall contribution in the field of Bharatanatyam (2019), Arupa Lahiry is a senior disciple of Smt. Chitra Visweswaran of Chennai and is empanelled with the Indian Council of Cultural Relations (ICCR) as well as Doordarshan, Delhi, and the Ministry of Culture, Government of India. She has toured all over the world in the capacity of a performer, teacher, choreographer and an artistic director. An MPhil in English Literature, Lahiry has been awarded fellowships by the TATA Group (2013-14) and the Ministry of Culture (2017-19: Junior Fellowship) to work on various aspects of Bharatanatyam, and is currently serving as the Regional Director of the Vadodara centre of IGNCA.

Abstract of the lecture:

Stepping Stone: A Rudimentary Study of Two Select Regional Traditions of India

Classical, folk and tribal are labels that have often compartmentalised the numerous performative traditions in India. The lecture “Stepping Stone: A Rudimentary Study of Two Select Regional Traditions of India” attempts to look at certain fundamental aspects of two of the regional performative traditions. Storytelling or Katha Vachan is an intrinsic part of Indian art and culture and is a tradition that can be considered to be rooted in Sanskrit. From grammar to content, how much of these regional practices are derived from the Sanskrit treatise and texts? Being performative in nature, which ‘labels’ do these traditions fit into? Do they still adhere to the specific rules and regulations of the language, or have the regional nuances moulded them differently? Accompanied by footage from real performances, the lecture will be a focus study of two forms of storytelling, one from Kerala and the other from Assam.