Onwards and Upwards

The New Year begins with a packed calendar at the National Centre for the Performing Arts, India, and a promise of outstanding performances all through the year.
Compiled by Aishwarya Bodke

As the centre bid farewell to an eventful year; new learnings, old traditions and hope lead them to a new chapter. 2023 at the National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA) in India comes with a promise of bringing the finest in the performing arts to audiences.

“The NCPA was founded by a group of enlightened individuals, who felt that it was time to create a meaningful space for the performing arts. This raison d’être has been fulfilled in the face of several challenges, the pandemic being the most recent one. The second half of last year saw our seasons and other productions resume in full swing and the momentum gained is what will propel us into 2023 with performances that impart to our audiences not a routine message or interpretation of a great work but a modern approach to what has been left to us by classical, revolutionary and modern writers and their thinking,” says Mr. Suntook, Chairman, NCPA. He played an instrumental role in differentiating the genres of music, dance, theatre and photography at the NCPA, so each department could flourish under experts.

This has borne fruit in many areas, the most recent being a welcome announcement from the Government of India. “It is a matter of pride for me to share the news that Mrs. Swapnokalpa Dasgupta, our Head of Dance Programming, recently received the prestigious Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar in Odissi Dance from the Sangeet Natak Akademi, India. This is a heartening development and testament to the work she has done as an artiste and as head of department at the NCPA,” Mr. Suntook adds. 

American conductor John Axelrod (Photo credit: Marco Biancardi)

The year begins with a packed calendar and the first quarter will usher in the Symphony Orchestra of India (SOI)’s Spring 2023 season. Close on the heels of a successful autumn season last year, the new season follows suit by bringing illustrious international artists to the city and positioning India on the global map. American conductor John Axelrod and acclaimed pianist Alim Beisembayev will be performing with the SOI. The line-up also includes the India premiere of Karl Jenkins’s Requiem and works by Beethoven, Rachmaninoff, Tchaikovsky and more. Founded in 2006 by Mr Suntook and violin virtuoso Marat Bisengaliev, the SOI is among the youngest such ensembles in the world. It ranks with any fine orchestral group and is an achievement for the NCPA.

There is much to look forward to in Indian Music. The year begins on a jubilant note with the Citi-NCPA Aadi Anant Festival. Stalwarts of Indian music will enthral audiences across four concerts, two of which will be presented in January. Noted vocalist and musician Bombay Jayashri Ramnath will be joined by her son Amrit Ramnath, trained in both violin and vocal music. In the concluding concert, renowned vocalist Shankar Mahadevan will perform with his sons Siddharth and Shivam Mahadevan. The festival celebrates the guru-shishya parampara as testimony to the perpetuation of tradition.

Shankar Mahadevan with his sons Siddharth and Shivam

The next quarter promises to be a memorable one for dance enthusiasts. The NCPA Mumbai Dance Season will have its opening ceremony in January, curated by Latasana Devi and Ranjana Phadke. A festival unique to Mumbai and its spirit, the objective is to bring the dance community across the city under one roof. The season will run for three weeks culminating in a grand finale in February curated by senior dance artists Tushar Guha and Debi Basu. The first week of February will feature the Pandit Durgalal Festival of Samved in collaboration with the NCPA. Established by Kathak exponent Uma Dogra in 1990, the festival has been showcasing eminent artistes distilling years of work onstage. The 2023 edition will feature Bharatanatyam dancer Meenakshi Srinivasan and Kathak artist Gauri Diwakar.

Gauri Diwakar

Among the organisation’s educational and outreach initiatives, NCPA Nrityaparichay, a programme devoted to imparting classical dance training to underprivileged children across schools in Mumbai, is now expanding its scale. The annual programme takes the form of a three-year diploma course from this year onwards. It strives to commit to the growth of students from the grassroots journeying to the auditorium.

The six-month-long youth theatre programme, Connections India, in association with National Theatre, London, will culminate in a grand showcase of eight plays staged by the participating schools at the Jamshed Bhabha Theatre in January. The international collaboration aims to engage young adults in theatre early on, in a sustained manner.

Come February, music will take over. Harmonies in Time, a collaboration between the percussion master Trilok Gurtu and Castle in Time Orchestra, will herald the month with a concert featuring Indian composition for the tabla translated to Western orchestral instruments and complex polyrhythms from Africa in addition to a stormy fugue from the classical repertoire. The NCPA Soulful Blues will debut in March 2023. The first edition of the festival will feature international artists, including MOBO Awards – (Music of Black Origin) nominated artistes Natalie Williams & the Soul Family and Beatrice Kahl “b.groovy” with Joan Faulkner and David Tobin.

Natalie Williams & the Soul Family

The musical saga continues with a unique Percussion Symphony concert by L. Subramaniam & Group, where lauded musicians in the field of Indo-Jazz fusion will collaborate to create a unique experience while staying rooted in Carnatic music. Sama’a: The Mystic Ecstasy is a festival of Sufi music. It enters its 13^th edition with works of Amir Khusrau, Baba Bulle Shah, Meera Bai, Guru Nanak, Shahbaz Qalandar, Rumi and more featuring in concerts, presentations and a multimedia musical puppet theatre performance.

Theatre enthusiasts can rejoice as March will bring many shades of regional theatre to the NCPA. Vasant Gujarati Natya Utsav is a celebration of the Gujarati theatre tradition that has made a huge contribution to the cultural landscape of Mumbai.

With an ever-expanding list of performances, educational projects, exhibitions and more, the NCPA continues to build on its reputation as one of the leading arts centres in Asia.