Performing Arts

I have completed a minor from the Department of Performing Arts

Minor Courses

  • Performing Arts History (Spring 2020)

Justin McCarthy, Hannah de Bruin, Navtej Singh Johar, Uma Katju

This course covered the central histories and discourses of theatre, dance and music in modern South Asia. It also had some practical forms that were associated with the theoretical material of course

  • Performing Arts Aesthetics (Monsoon 2020)

Justin McCarthy, Maya Krishna Rao

This course works with performance of classical Sanskrit texts through the aesthetics of Rasa. The traditional system of Indian aesthetics based on the theory of rasa is the main base for study and work in this course. Honing the body as an instrument of expressive communication through text and movement, the course is both practical and discursive.

  • Taming the Sensory Body (Monsoon 2020)

Navtej Singh Johar

This course engages with the historical, philosophical, and political redefinitions of Indian embodied practices, particularly yoga and dance, over the last century and a half. The advent of rationalism, realism, and capitalism in the subcontinent resulted in a new way of seeing the body. This led to the emergence of a new morality, a revised spirituality, and the obliteration of lived-histories of traditional practitioners (hatha yogis, devadasis, tawaifs, etc.) in favour of text and propriety. Aiming to offer an informed view of these shifts and their impact on not only the practice and pedagogy of Indian dance and yoga but also the image and idea of India, the course includes a large theoretical discourse and some somatic practice.

  • Developing Perfoming Skills (Spring 2021)

Justin McCarthy, Maya Krishna Rao

This course is an introductory studio-based course to develop and prepare the body for the various Indian performance traditions. I worked through basic acting exercises to develop a physical narrative style.

Co-Curricular

  • Colours of Indian Music (Spring 2018)

Achintiya Prahlad

This course covered various facets of Indian Music, both in classical and folk forms. We were taught to apreciate and sing different Indian musics. My assignmnet for this course was a presentation on Rabindra Sangeet in Storytelling. You can find my presenatation here. The course ended with a musical performance during the co-cirricular showcase.

  • Resistance as Performance (Spring 2021)

  • Ranjana Dave

This course worked on developing several different styles of using our body as a means of resistance and site for protest.