Padma Menon will move to Canberra, Australia from January 2008. She will start Mudra Centre for Dance in Canberra, where she had been based until 1999.

While Mudra in Kochi will close, the teaching of Dhuman technique will continue in Kochi by Susheela Umesh. There will be a Dhuman working group of dance professionals who have been training with Padma. This group will continue the development and practice of new dance in Indian classical styles.

Padma will continue her teaching, mentoring and performing work in Canberra. There are plans to develop Dance-Centric, an international centre for new dance and dance exchanges, in collaboration with Korzo Theater (Netherlands) in Canberra.

Contact: Canberra (Australia) +61 (0)447643646 or tpadmamenon@gmail.com
Contact for Koch (India)i classes: Susheela Umesh +91 9447793763

Upcoming events:

Mudra Centre for Dance
in association with The Street Theatre
presents
utsav 2008
dance . women . culture
June 2-8 2008

Utsav links dance to the universe of women. Dance is presented as stories about women’s lives, as embodiments of feminine physicality and as ways of challenging the dichotomy between male and female energies. The forums and workshops also focus on new relationships between dance and the woman’s world.

International Partners
Ustav in partnership with The Street Theatre, Korzo Theater in The Hague and Mudra Centre for Dance brings to Canberra artists of international calibre from Europe, India and Australia. These include dancer Gunvor Karlsen, Dutch producer and artistic director Leo Spreksel, Indian dancers Sulini Nair and Dheepu Baburaj and Padma Menon.

Gunvor Karlsen is an extraordinary dancer who has worked all over Europe with renowned choreographers like Bruno Listopad. She collaborated with Padma Menon to create Rudra in 2001 which has since been performed in many venues all over Europe and she will perform in Canberra.

Leo Spreksel is artistic director of the Korzo Theater will come to Canberra. He has been credited with shaping the Dutch dance scene by mentoring and producing many leading choreographers and dancers like Emio Greco, Andre Gingras and Dylan Newcombe.

Sulini Nair is a renowned classical and modern Indian dancer who trained with Padma Menon at Mudra in India. She has won many awards for her work in India and is a celebrated dancer and choreographer and she will perform in Canberra.

Dheepu Baburaj trained in choreography with Padma Menon at Mudra in India. He is a senior dancer and teacher and runs Kalagramam Centre for Arts in Kochi, India, and Canberra audiences will be privileged to see him perform.

Events 2-8 June 2008

Many events during this week are still being organised. Please check this site for updates. Below are some of the current highlights:

Thursday 5 June Forum
10am -12 noon Humanities Research Centre, Australian National University
Women’s Stories: What is Dance?
with international guests Leo Spreksel, Sulini Nair, Padma Menon and other participants from Australia.

Friday 6 and Saturday 7 June performances
7.30 pm, Street Theatre, Canberra
Bookings: 62471223

Fire and Ice
1. Fireborn - solo by Padma Menon inspired by the life and times of India’s Bandit Queen Phoolan Devi. Premiered to a sold-out season at the Cadance Festival 2002,The Hague.

2. Rudra - Gunvor Karlsen dances Padma Menon’s choreography of the fiery androgynous Indian deity. Premiered in the Four Steps Festival in The Hague, this work has toured the Netherlands, Germany and India. Accompanied on stage by Indian percussionist.

3. Draupadi - a powerful modern evocation of the story the heroine of the epic Mahabharatha by renowned Indian dancer Sulini Nair

4. Moksha/Freedom - a journey in dance about nuances of liberation by Dheepu Baburaj.

5. Krishna Sabdam - classical Kuchipudi dance by Padma Menon

6. Thillana - classical Bharathanatyam piece by Sulini and Dheepu

Sunday 8 June Lecture/demonstration
12.40 pm The National Gallery of Australia

The Divine Feminine: Sculpture and Dance of the Goddess
Lecture/demonstration by Padma Menon relating the idea of the divine feminine in Indian philosophy as embodied in sculpture and dance.  The event looks at the sculptures of Sita, Durga and Lakshmi and situates them within traditional and modern thinking about the feminine through dance, lecture and projections.  Padma together with acclaimed professional dancers from India, Sulini Nair and Dheepu Baburaj, will present classical dance interpretations of the feminine in three different classical dance styles of India. This will be followed by a short tour through the South Asian gallery with Padma.  A unique perspective on the sacred dimensions of dance and sculpture in India.