Explore SRI activities
Decoding Indian Classical Dance
16 March 2021
The programme aimed to build new audiences for Indian classical dance by explaining and celebrating its nuances. It was presented by Shantha Ratii, founder of SRI, under the aegis of AWA (American Women’s Association) Singapore.
Purnam
Explores the explosive power embodied in Nataraja or Lord of the Dance, Shiva, as he performs his cosmic dance. Western scientists have viewed it as the expression of subatomic particles’ constant movement in the universe.
Natya Shastra
SRI founder, Shantha Ratii based the Natya Shastra as a dramaturgical text for students at LaSalle College of the arts. It was an opportunity to expand their artistic horizons and deepen understanding.
Creating New Audience for Dance - Online Forum by SRI Singapore
28 Feb 2021
SRI gathered leading lights of dance from around the world in a succinct and lively discussion, for insights on how they tackle present-day challenges. The YouTube ‘live’ forum garnered views.
The international panel comprised:
- Farooq Chaudhury OBE, Producer & Co-Founder, Akram Khan Company, London
- Usha RK, Arts Consultant, Director, Jawaharlal Nehru Cultural Centre, Moscow
- Datuk Ramli Ibrahim, Chairman, Sutra Foundation, Kuala Lumpur
- Shantha Ratii Artistic Director, Shantha Ratii Initiatives, Singapore
It was moderated by Actor/Voice Over Artist, Chacko George Vadaketh, who operates between Kuala Lumpur and Los Angeles.
World Music Conference
11 & 12 Dec 2020
SRI founder, Shantha Ratii, shared the immeasurable mental and physical benefits of dance; how it infuses body and mind, transforming one from the inside out, especially through the music that stimulates the brain’s reward centres. She even proposed that Yoga could be the original Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) exploring how to achieve psycho-physiological balance and emotional resilience.
“Concept and Creation” for Natya Darshan Chennai
24 Dec 2017
SRI founder, Shantha Ratii, expresses an artist’s fundamental need to create and communicate, and discusses how choreographers/dancers explore different perspectives, while being relevant to a modern audience.
Screening of film “Dance of Joy”
11 Oct 2018
SRI partnered Tagore Society and the South Asian International Film Festival (SG.SAIFF) to screen “Dance of Joy”, a documentary by Aparajita Ghosh. It explores a dance form created by Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore, the eponymous ‘Rabindra-Nritya’. He had undertaken the mammoth task primarily because Bengal had no dance-form of its own. Aparajita documented the essence of Rabindrik dance styles, making it relevant to younger generations with a parallel narrative.
Following the screening, SRI founder, Shantha Ratii, moderated a discussion with distinguished panelists:
- Prof PK Basu, senior economist and President of Tagore Society
- Samit Ghoshal, Rabindra Sangeet exponent
- Aparajita Ghosh, Film Director
Yoga
Yoga is essentially a discipline which focuses on bringing harmony between mind and body. It is a type of exercise in which you move your body into various positions in order to become fit and flexible and to improve breathing and to strengthen muscles and relieve stress and improve concentration.
Kalaripayattu
Kalaripayattu is the fountainhead of all martial art forms. It is a unique blend of mental prowess, physical discipline and the indigenous medical science. It deals with “Mei Tari” – body control exercises that help in flexibility, balance and coordination paving the way for body and mind conditioning.
