SchoolConnect - 10 January 2013

33 Students from Mahadevi Birla World Academy attended the first of the 2 day SchoolConnect programme. After a fun game of moving house, the session began with students giving an adjective for a House - responses ranged from crazy to haunted to Chocolate !

This was followed by a short discussion, led by Vikram - on adjectives for Home versus House and which of those could be applied to dance.


Then came the fun part of building houses !
The girls soon transformed into pillars and swings and clocks - and some shoes turned into a rangoli ! Other students were invited to visit these houses.



Before the students watched excerpts from Dialoge 09-Neues Museum, Vikram gave them a short introduction to Sasha Waltz - especially her international Dialoge projects.







All these students were witness to an exclusive show of Dialoge 2013 - Kolkata followed by a question-answer session with Sasha Waltz herself on 11.Jan .

Once in a lifetime encounter for school students.

Happy New Year!  We are truly delighted to begin the year with a tremendously exciting SchoolConnect opportunity. Sasha Waltz one of the most sought after choreographers in the world today, will be in Calcutta to create a unique site specific performance piece as part of her international Dialoge projects. The Dialoge projects have become her trademark “they demonstrate the boldness and pioneering spirit of a choreographer who has given dance new meaning and popularity.” It is her first Dialoge piece in India created specifically in and with an architectural Calcutta location, so it will not be seen again anywhere else in the world. It is also her first collaboration with Padmini Chettur, one of the foremost contemporary choreographers in India. Sasha Waltz has repeatedly conquered new spaces for dance – and repeatedly reinvented herself as a choreographer. From the start, her creations evolved in confrontation with other art forms and were mainly characterised by the influence of architecture and the visual arts. Ranan is pleased to present an opportunity for school students to be part of this once in a life-time experience. The SchoolConnect programme will be on two days – 10th & 11th January 2013 Please contact ranan.artsengage@gmail.com or  9831256730 for any queries or confirmations. For full address of venue and details on the public shows from 12th to 14th please click here

Ranan SchoolConnect 10th January:  1pm: registration and payment 1:30 to 3 pm: An introduction to contemporary dance, and the work of Sasha Waltz. Venue: Max Mueller Bhavan auditorium 11th January: (evening) Exclusive show for students the day before the official premiere of the show, followed by a question-answer session with Sasha Waltz herself and her company. Venue: Jorasanko Rajbati on Chitpur Road Large numbers are welcome, but kindly confirm numbers to reserve slots, and avoid disappointment. Charges are Rs 200 per child for the 2 day programme. Accompanying teachers are free. Accompanying parents are welcome on the 11th with advance booking

Ranan SchoolConnect Week Day 3: Rhythm Workhshop with Ranan

The third day of the Ranan SchoolConnect Week with students of La Martiniere for Boys and Akshar saw a Rhythm Workshop by Debashree Bhattacharya and Vikram Iyengar of Ranan. Playing with numbers, beats and beats within beats, tried to develop a sense of how dance forms like Kathak use rhythm, and also how playing with rhythm can be the base for a range of performance.

Continue reading for video excerpts and students' comments:

SchoolConnect Week Day 1: lecture demonstration by Scottish Dance Theatre

The first Ranan SchoolConnect Week kicked off on 1 November 2012 with a lecture demonstration by Scottish Dance Theatre at La Martiniere for Boys, Calcutta. Students from LMB and Akshar attended. SDT was represented by Artistic Director James MacGillivray, and dancers Natalie, Em, Matthew and Lewis. Beginning with a fun 'shaking out the body' session involving all the students, SDT took us through insights into their work - talking a little about Contemporary Dance followed by excerpts from their performance tomorrow, and examples of their improvisatory creative process. Throughout, the students were asked for responses to pieces - what did they read, feel, respond to. No proper stage or facilities, no technical support, no proper costumes ... and yet SDT made us all feel the magic, joy and power of dance every step of the way.

Continue reading for video excerpts and comments from the students:

Ranan SchoolConnect Week

In November 2011, we invited a group of educationists - teachers, headmistresses,vice principals and others - to the Ranan Workspace for an adda. The adda was to talk about the position and perception of arts in schools. The suggestions, feedback and valuable inputs and ideas from this adda have now evolved and led to the creation of the Ranan SchoolConnect programme. The programme aims to build value and appreciation for the arts in the youth of today.

Our first endeavour is the Ranan SchoolConnect Week:
7 days between 1 and 9 NOvember 2012, full of rich, exciting opportunities for students and teachers to delve into the world of performing arts and artistic expression.

Schools who have signed up for this programme are La Martiniere for Boys and Akshar. Students of both will be taking an exciting and varied journey with three companies:
Scottish Dance Theatre from Dundee, Scotland
Jana Natya Manch from Delhi
Ranan from Calcutta

Details of the schedule are given below
[please note: the programmes (except for the public performances by SDT and Janam) are open to a group of students from the aforementioned schools only. For more details on future SchoolConnect programmes, please email ranan.artsengage@gmail.com]

Thursday, 1 November: 
at La Martiniere for Boys
2pm to 3:30pm : Lecture Demonstration with Scottish Dance Theatre

Friday, 2 November: 
at Kala Mandir
2pm to 3pm : Technical Rehearsal with Scottish Dance Theatre for LMB students
4pm to 5pm : Technical Rehearsal with Scottish Dance Theatre for Akshar students
6.15pm (reporting time) to 8.30pm : Performance by Scottish Dance Theatre

Saturday, 3 November: 
at La Martiniere for Boys
10:30am to 12 noon : Workshop with Ranan on Rhythm and Movement

Monday, 5 November: 
at La Martiniere for Boys
2pm to 3.30pm  :Workshop with Ranan on Performing Text

Tuesday, 6 November: 
at Indian Council for Cultural Relations
6.15pm (reporting time) to 8.30pm : Performance of Jana Natya Manch’s Char Rang

Wednesday, 7 November: 
at Akshar
1.30pm to 2.45pm : Short play and discussion with Jana Natya Manch

Thursday, 8 November: 
venue to be confirmed
2pm to 3.30pm : Wrap up session with Ranan

Extras with the School Connect All Access Pass!
2 to 9 November - discounted tickets to all Rabindra Utsav shows
3 November – an adda with Scottish Dance Theatre at the Ranan Workspace
9 November – Ujle Safed Kabootar, a dramatized reading of poems for Palestine by Jana Natya Manch at the Ranan Workspace
till 31 March 2013 - free / discounted entry to Ranan programmes

For further details contact Dana Roy at 98314 37314 or send us an email at ranan.artsengage@gmail.com