Mysuru: Ganabharathi is presenting a special experiment in Bharatanatyam ‘Vande Mataram – This Land, Our Home’ on July 27 (Saturday) at 6 pm at its premises in Kuvempunagar. Its Concept and Choreography is by Ramya S. Kapadia. Dance is by Ramya Kapadia and Seema Viswanath. Rajiv Sundaresan has composed music and designed sound. “Dheem” is featured by Embar Kannan and “Ghar” by Aditya Sharma.

The production was commissioned by the Durham Independent Dance Artists (DIDA) as part of their fourth season, in North Carolina. Now it is performed in India for the first time.

‘Vande Mataram – This Land, Our Home’ seeks to drive home the idea that home truly is where the heart is. It raises many questions in the present troubled times. Now it is becoming increasingly important to look within ourselves and question our values, ideals and outlook towards life in general. It asks us, if we are ready to face our true natures. Are we ready to truly accept ideas and notions and ultimately people who are different from us? In the light of the recent wars and attacks on so many countries, it stresses the need to reach out to each and every human being in a gesture of solidarity and compassion. We are all children of the earth first and must therefore pledge to love one another and blur the lines drawn by race, gender, colour, language or geography.

Ramya S. Kapadia received initial training in Bharatanatyam from Santha Gopinath of Kalakshetra and later from Kripa Baskaran, Brookfield, WI. Her vocal training began under her mother Gayathri Sundaresan, advanced by late Guru V. Vamanan, Mumbai. Ramya has toured all over the United States and other places abroad to present solo and group works. She regularly provides vocal accompaniment to dancers around the world and composes music for their productions.  

She runs the Natyarpana School of Dance & Music in Durham, NC, through which she shares the rich traditions of Karnatak music and Bharatanatyam with the youth of the Triangle Area. She is also the Assistant Director of Maryland-based Prakriti Dance. 

She received the Ella Pratt Emerging Artist Award from the Durham Arts Council in 2010 and the Choreography Fellowship from the North Carolina Dance Alliance in 2016. Currently she is on the Advisory Committee of the “Dance at the Van Dyke” series at Greensboro Dance Project.

Seema Viswanath is a Bharatanatyam and Kathak dancer from Mysuru. She is the disciple of Guru  Nandini Eshwar and late Guru Dr. Maya Rao, two of the most prominent teachers of Indian classical dance. Seema has been an active practitioner of dance and theatre for over two decades. She has received Vidwat degree and Master’s degree in Bharatanatyam and Computer Applications respectively and is a rank holder in the Kathak exams held in India. She is an “A” graded Doordarshan artiste and has travelled all over India,  Sri Lanka and the United State to perform at prestigious festivals.