Same Same but Different

Astad Deboo is a contemporary dancer and choreographer, who pioneered an innovative style of Indian dance that employs his training in Indian classical dance forms of Kathak as well as Kathakali to create a dance form that’s unique to him. He is also a pioneer of modern dance in India. He describes his style as “contemporary in vocabulary and traditional in restraints.” His stunning signature style is characterized by intense focus, concentration and technical virtuosity along with a distinctively Indian aesthetic of evoking rasa (emotion). Today contemporary Indian Dance has Astad’s unique stamp on it. His significant legacy offers innovative models for younger Indian artists and his collaboration with visual artists, musicians globally, puppeteers and dancers have been hailed by critics and audiences alike. Astad’s dynamic dance career spans over 50 years, with performances in over 70 countries, includes solo, group and collaborative choreography with performing artists. He has been working with the hearing impaired for 30 years. He has been awarded the Padma Shri and the Creative Dance Award from the Indian Government’s prestigious Sangeet Natak Akamedi, among other awards.

Noreum Machi was established in 1993 as a highly professional Korean traditional music ensemble and has received a great deal of attention in Korea and around the world. The group aims to communicate with audiences with immediacy and verve and avoid being bound by the past. Critics and audiences acknowledge Noreum Machi as a fascinating and future-oriented ensemble because of the way the artists connect with the audience, the obvious pleasure they take in performing, and the profound emotions they share as they move back and forth between past and present. In the world music scene, Noreum Machi has achieved its reputation as a ‘New Wave Korean Music Group’ after performing at world class festivals in 150 cities, across in 40 countries worldwide. Noreum Machi whose artistic achievements and social contributions have been widely recognized and appreciated, is supported by the city of Seoul as a seminal performing arts organisation.

BC Manjunath - A competent and dynamic young artist, BC Manjunath is a recipient of several acclaimed awards. He has a noteworthy track record having performed at several prestigious Platforms, both in India and overseas with world-renowned artistes of different genres. Manjunath is well versed with Indian Classical, World Music, Modern Jazz, Contemporary Dance, Contemporary classical music, Indie-fusion and many more styles. He is well-versed in reading, transcribing and playing from Western notation having worked with several international composers. Manjunath is also a trained teacher conducting workshops for students across the world and he has created several personalized CDs and cassettes. As a musician who is comfortable with cultural diversities, Manjunath is widely appreciated for his empathetic and intuitive ability to synchronise seamlessly with diverse musical styles.

Varijashree Venugopal- Singer and Flautist Varijashree was a child prodigy with the rare ability of being able to close recognise to 50 ragas before she was two years old and about 200 ragas by the age of four! She was initially trained by her father, Flute Vidwan H.S. Venugopal. Varijashree underwent formal training in Carnatic music under Vidhushi H. Geetha. She has also learnt a few rare compositions from Vidhushi Vasantha Srinivasan and Vidwan D.S. Srivatsa and later took advanced music lessons under the tutelage of Gaanakalanidhi Vidwan Salem P. Sundaresan. Varijashree first full-fledged Carnatic vocal performance at the tender age of 7, at the prestigious platform of Bangalore Gayana Samaj. Varijashree has performed all over India and at several prestigious events around the world, including the USA, UK, Australia and Kuwait, to name a few. She was invited to perform at Ramakrishna Mission and Sharada Ashram, Sri Lanka, Colombo, in 2000 and 2001 and at the World Hindu Conference, in 2003. Varijashree was invited by the ‘Kinkini’ association, Kuwait chapter, in the year 2005, November, to pay tribute to Late Smt. M.S. Subbulakshmi and in the year, 2006, to participate in Kinkini’s prestigious dance and music festival.

Praveen D. Rao- Percussionist, Music Director and Composer A versatile classical musician with an international reputation, Praveen Rao has worked as a Music director, composer, percussionist, stage Director and arranger for over 23 years. He trained under the renowned Guru Pt. R. V. Seshadri Gavai of Aravinda Sangeetha Vidyalaya and Guru Pt. Ravindra Yavagal. Praveen is currently the Principal of the Academy and Head of The Department of Classical Music at the COSMOS ATMA school of Music & Arts. Praveen is a composer, arranger and performer accomplished in a variety of Indian musical styles including classical, light, folk and fusion. He has composed music for theatre, dance, soap operas, movies and advertisement jingles. He is also a versatile multi-instrumentalist proficient in a range of percussion instruments, keyboards and electronic media.