Till then, here's something for a few laughs XD
Friday, August 31, 2012
SIFAS Music and Dance Festival 2013!
Till then, here's something for a few laughs XD
Friday, August 24, 2012
Thursday, August 23, 2012
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
The Singapore Culturists in Hat Yai
They say art transcends language and this
trip showed us exactly that. We were an odd group of young adults, each
talented in our respective fields, coming together to put on a show on the
world’s stage at the “Cultural Festival of the Southern Region”, in Songkhla
Province.
Apart from Singapore, artists from the
Philippines, Indonesia, Myanmar, South Korea and of course, Thailand were
present for the event.
One could see the brilliant mix of culture during the parade
and it was nothing short of a grand event with the representatives of each
country playing their instruments, dancing along the street, holding huge props
all while dressed in the splendour of their cultural identities. The cultural
procession took us to the festival venue, the General Prem Tinsulanonda
Historical Park where we were to perform for the next three nights. It was
fascinating watching the various countries performances which reflected a piece
of their history, tradition and culture.
On that same note, I am glad to say
that our troupe put on a good show and impressed the audience as well as the
dancers of the various countries.
Overall, our itinerary wasn’t as hectic as
we expected it to be and between our sound check rehearsals and travelling to
the different tourist destinations in Songkhla Province, we spent most of our
time bonding. Stories from ranging from normal to the most bizarre were
exchanged, art and famous artists were discussed and people were teased. It
astounds me how strangers could bond so strongly over a short period of 5 days.
We got from barely knowing each other to feeling like we’ve known each other
for years. During our exchanges, one thing that stuck with me was the richness
of the sharing between the different disciplines.
The dancers were enthusiastic about
learning a few steps of a different dance genre be it the Malay dancers’ Joget,
Kathak or Bharathanatyam.
The vocalist sang for the Bharathanatyam dancers as
they practiced, the miruthangist put complicated thaalams for the vocalist and
challenged the dancers to dance to the sollukattus he uttered. The Chinese Di Zi
player and our Indian flutist exchanged notes on their wind instruments and these
were but a few of the many cross discipline sharing that occurred.
Not only did we learn from each other but
also from the artists of the other countries. The very last night of our stay
in Thailand is probably one of the highlights of the trip. Our vocalist had
found an Indonesian dancer with good vocal range and started singing duets
together. Hearing that, our Chinese flutist came out of his room and started
playing his Di Zi. People slowly started to stream out of their rooms to join
in the fun and a crowd began to form. A few Philippine dancers started dancing
to the sound of the flute and soon the South Koreans joined us, amongst them a
famous wind instrument player who we were fortunate enough to hear play.
That
night, I thought to myself that that truly was the cultural exchange we had
come looking for, where a group of people from vastly different backgrounds
came together, revelled in and appreciated each other’s talent, culture and
art.
I and a few others who went on the trip
still reminisce about the moments we shared in Thailand and I am truly grateful
to SIFAS for having given me this opportunity. I also would like to thank Maha
akka on behalf of the team for having taken care of us while we were there.
To
those who get this opportunity to go in the future, I highly recommend grabbing
it for it was honestly a memorable and enriching experience.
Dhashayani Vallatharasu
Sunday, August 12, 2012
Moving Forward
FORMATION OF SIFAS ALUMNI MUSIC WING
When the SIFAS Alumni was first formed more than 3 yrs ago, there was never a music wing. I was not involved in the previous SIFAS Alumni committees. Despite being an ex-SIFAS student myself, I was not very involved in SIFAS programs after my guru left SIFAS. For the past 10 years, I have been a member of the People’s Association Singapore Indian Orchestra and Choir.
At the beginning of last year (2011), I met our current President, Ms Gomathi who urged me to join the SIFAS Alumni. After our chat, I decided to join the Alumni and signed up. My decision to join was also motivated by the fact that my musical path in SIOC was heading in a direction which was very different to what I expected for myself. I also wanted to do something for the younger generation and promote Indian classical music.
The younger generation learns about classical music but does not stay beyond a certain time or after graduation. The reason they cite for their early retirement is their studies and hectic lifestyle of Singapore. I wanted to change all of this. Together with me, Sai Akilesh and Sai Vignesh both joined the SIFAS Alumni.
During last year's SIFAS Alumni committee elections, I ran for the post of Music IC. Once elected, I brought in Akilesh and Vignesh to help build my sub-committee.
Our task was to form a SIFAS Alumni Orchestra. Our Senior Alumni, Rajandra became our Orchestra conductor. We also consulted Mr Radha Vijayan for advice during this process. Our main obstacle was to in recruiting members. Most of the older Alumni did not want to join or were not interested to come back to SIFAS. We went around asking most people but to no avail. There were only about 5 musicians able to commit to the orchestra. During one of the meetings, another Senior Alumni, Mrs Nirmala told us to start of with we have instead of waiting. By seeing us start, others would join us. That really pushed us forward.
We started practices with our small number of musicians. Our group was small but we had fun in the process. Slowly a few others joined us. We had our first performance during the 2011 SIFAS Academy day. It went very well and people became keen to know more about this small group of us. From there we slow had graduating SIFAS students to join us. Numbers eventually did grow. We continued with our weekly Sunday practices. A proper structure was starting to fall into place.
Our latest performance was held during the SIFAS Music and Dance Festival 2012. We had very good reviews about the orchestra. As I was confident that we were capable of performing on a bigger platform, I decided together with my team that we should commence with efforts toward our first major production. We currently have about 20 members and we are hopeful that the strength will be increased to 30 members by the end of 2012. This will give us some performance strength for our production. It makes me very happy to see the Alumni music wing reach to this standard within a year. My team and I will strive to materialise this dream of a major production and create an awareness of classical music to the younger generation. This is my passion and dream.
Moving Forward…..
By: Thulasidas (Music In Charge of SIFAS ALUMNI)
Saturday, August 11, 2012
Bye, Akil!
Filmed by Viknash :)
SIFAS Alumni Publicity Initiatives
Dear Fellow Alumni,
It has been a great journey for Singapore Indian Fine Arts Alumni so far. In line with our ongoing efforts to popularise our SIFAS Alumni events and carve us a spot in the local arts scene, I seek your active and valuable contribution to our social and print media platforms.
Firstly, let me introduce our SIFAS Alumni publicity team:
Publicity IC:
Viknash
Percussion IC on Music Sub-Committee
Editor:
Poorna Menon
Editorial and Blog Posts
Editorial and Blog Posts:
Dharini
Vice President, Alumni Committee
Music Associate on Music Sub-Committee
Blog Posts and Event Contents:
Nandhitha
Recruitment IC on Music Sub-Committee
 |
| Nandhitha (left) |
How you can contribute/participate:-
- Let us know of any upcoming concerts where there is Alumni participation of any sort or if you think it may be of interest to our Alumni members and well-wishers.
We are eager to know if you are performing or have attended any interesting workshops or performances recently.
Please feel free to drop an email to the relevant Publicity Committee member with the edited text and relevant pictures. You could also request to be added to the SIFAS Alumni Facebook page.
You may also wish to become a SIFAS Alumni member. For membership criteria please contact us at sifasalumni@gmail.com .
We hope to have your articles on board to better support our alumni and bring the arts scene closer to you.
Thank You.
Viknash Balakirshnan
Saturday, August 4, 2012
Poetry in Motion
A note from the
organisers at SIFAS
Hi All,
As you must be aware, we are organising a unique show on August 10- a film screening on Alarmél Valli followed by a solo recital by the artiste herself accompanied by a live orchestra. The film examines how a dancer can be a writer, poet, painter, sculptor, actor and singer even as she dances. In some ways, Lasya Kavya is also a film about the pathway to greatness. Alarmél Valli’s story is an illustration of the fact that greatness comes only to those who relentlessly polish the gift of an inborn talent. It will be an inspiring film for our dance students- the film is a lyrical journey wherein she tries to share her joy of dancing with the viewers. And watching her dance will be inspiring too- a Padma Bhushan awardee, Valli has been performing for over four decades and is an effervescent dancer who brings out the joy of this art form.
We bring these programs to Singapore so that audiences in Singapore can also share in the latest happenings in the world of Fine Arts. While SIFAS is predominantly a teaching institution, these programs serve as part of the learning process for each and every student- watching great masters perform can inspire students to work harder to hone their craft. I would request your support in disseminating information about this show to members of the SIFAS family and also urge you all to buy tickets for the show-
Regards,
Renuka
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Sai Akileshwar's Farewell Concert 4 Aug 2012
Our dear friend, Akilesh will be pursuing his further studies in Chennai soon. He has been an instrumental member of the Alumni and while we are sad to see him go, we share in his excitement and encourage him to develop his musical interests further.
For those of you who do not know Akilesh personally, you may recall his interview (see from learning to teaching and back). We look forward to seeing you at his farewell concert this coming Saturday.
warmest regards,
SIFAS ALUMNI Committee 2011
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