Chitresh Das
Encyclopedia
Chitresh Das also called Nagari , is an abugida alphabet of India and Nepal...
: ) (born November 9, 1944) is a classical dancer of the North Indian style of Kathak
Kathak
Kathak is one of the eight forms of Indian classical dances, originated from Uttar Pradesh, India. This dance form traces its origins to the nomadic bards of ancient northern India, known as Kathaks, or storytellers...
. Born in Calcutta, Das is a performer, choreographer, composer, and educator. He was instrumental in bringing Kathak to the U.S. and is credited with firmly establishing Kathak amongst American dancers and the Indian diaspora. In 1979, Das established the Chhandam School of Kathak and the Chitresh Das Dance Company in California. In 2002, he founded Chhandam Nritya Bharati in India. Today, with over ten branches of Chhandam worldwide, Das continues to teach dance as a way of life, a path for attaining self-knowledge and as a service to society.
Pandit Das continues to perform and teach to audiences across the globe, frequently touring through India, North America and Europe. He is well known for his virtuosic footwork, rhythmic adeptness, compelling storytelling, as well as his own innovation of “Kathak Yoga”.
Early life and background
Chitresh Das was born in Calcutta, West Bengal to parents Nrityacharya Prohlad Das and Smt. Nilima Das. His parents founded “Nritya Bharati,” one of India’s first institutions for dance that housed teachers of several classical and folk styles. Prohlad Das, himself a dance scholar and choreographer, used traditional dance forms to express modern issues, such as in his revolutionary work “Abhyudaya” (meaning “awakening”) staged before Indian Independence in 1947. Das frequently cites his mother, Nilima Das, on having a profound impact on his life as a dancer, often stating, “mother is the first guru”.Growing up in his parents' dance school in Calcutta, Nritya Bharati, Pandit Das was surrounded by great literary artists, poets, dancers, and gurus of the times. He has fond memories of iconic dancers such as Rukmini Devi Arundale
Rukmini Devi Arundale
Rukmini Devi Arundale was an Indian theosophist, dancer and choreographer of the Indian classical dance form of Bharatnatyam, and also an activist for animal rights and welfare....
, Uday Shankar
Uday Shankar
Uday Shankar , the pioneer of modern dance in India, and a world renowned Indian dancer and choreographer, was most known for adapting Western theatrical techniques to traditional Indian classical dance, imbued with elements of Indian classical, folk, and tribal dance, thus laying the roots of...
, Balasaraswati
Balasaraswati
Balasaraswati was a celebrated Indian dancer, and her rendering of Bharatanatyam, a classical dance style, made this style of dancing of south India well known in different parts of India, as also many parts of the world....
and the legendary Shambhu Maharaj
Shambhu Maharaj
Pandit Shambhu Maharaj was a celebrated Guru of the Lucknow Gharana of the Indian classical dance form, Kathak. -Early life and training:...
coming to visit his home.
With encouragement from his mother, Das began his study of Kathak at age 9 under Kathak guru, Pandit Ram Narayan Misra, a well-known disciple of Shambhu and Acchchan Maharaj. Das was schooled in both major Kathak traditions, embodying each in his artistry: the graceful and sensual elements of the Lucknow school combined with the dynamic and powerful rhythms and movements of the Jaipur School.
Das was a child prodigy in India who quickly attained national fame, performing at age 11 with the legendary tabla maestro Samta Prasadji and in a special concert for the great Indian dance icon Uday Shankar. Das graduated from Rabindra Bharati University
Rabindra Bharati University
Rabindra Bharati University is a university in Kolkata, India. It was founded on May 8, 1962, under the Rabindra Bharati Act of the Government of West Bengal in 1961, to mark the birth centenary of the poet Rabindranath Tagore...
in Calcutta and earned his M.A. in dance from Prayag Sangit Samiti in Allahabad.
Teaching career
Chitresh Das was brought to the United States in 1970 on a Whitney Fellowship to teach Kathak at the University of MarylandUniversity of Maryland
When the term "University of Maryland" is used without any qualification, it generally refers to the University of Maryland, College Park.University of Maryland may refer to the following:...
. In 1971, Pandit Das was invited by Ustad Ali Akbar Khan
Ali Akbar Khan
Ali Akbar Khan , often referred to as Khansahib or by the title Ustad , was a Hindustani classical musician of the Maihar gharana, known for his virtuosity in playing the sarod...
to the San Francisco Bay Area to teach Kathak and establish a dance program at the Ali Akbar College of Music (AACM) in San Rafael, California.
By 1979, he left the AACM faculty to form his own dance school called Chhandam; his “Chitresh Das Dance Company” (CDDC) was incorporated in 1980. In 1988, Das formed the first university accredited Kathak course in the U.S. at San Francisco State University
San Francisco State University
San Francisco State University is a public university located in San Francisco, California. As part of the 23-campus California State University system, the university offers over 100 areas of study from nine academic colleges...
; several current dancers of CDDC began studying with Das in the SFSU program. Das was also a guest faculty member at Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
.
His own school of Chhandam has continued to grow with branches in San Francisco, Fremont/Union City, Berkeley, Mountain View, San Jose, Sacramento, and Los Angeles. His disciples, Joanna De Souza and Gretchen Hayden went on to establish branches of Chhandam in Toronto (1990) and Boston (1992), respectively. Today, Chhandam currently has 550 students enrolled at branches across North America.
Through the years Das would return annually for several months to India in order to teach and perform. In 2002, Pandit Das reopened his parents’ school of Chhandam Nritya Bharati in Calcutta, India. In 2010, Pandit Das inaugurated the second branch of his school in India, Chhandam Nritya Bharati, in Mumbai. While in India, Pandit Das continues his work with the New Light Foundation teaching Kathak dance to the children of sex workers of the Kalighat red light district in Calcutta, as a part of a program to help them break free of the cycle of exploitation.
As he was trained by his Guru, Pandit Ram Narayan Misra, Das trains his own students, both in the US and India, within the guru-shisya parampara (the tradition of master and disciple). A Guru is “one who removes the darkness” through direct knowledge and training. Das remains committed to preserving the traditional one-to-one transmission of knowledge between guru and shisya in today’s society; he has trained many disciples who have gone on to become solo artists in their own right.
Performing career
Pandit Chitresh Das has performed extensively throughout America, India and Europe, touring both as a solo artist, in collaborative productions, as well as with the Chitresh Das Dance Company.Das consistently tours and performs throughout India. Select performances within India include the Surya festival (1982); Pandit Ravi Shankar’s Rimpa Festival in Benares (1983), representing his home state of West Bengal in tours throughout India (1998, 1999), Dover Lane Conference, Kolkata (1979, 1982, 1984, 1994, 1996, 1999, 2003); National Kathak Festival in New Delhi (2003), Fort William, Kolkata (2005) where he performed before 4,000 Indian soldiers, UMAQ Festival, New Delhi (2004, 2006, 2007), U.S. Consulate 50th Anniversary in Mumbai (2008), Karamatullah Khan Festival in Kolkata (2008), Mumbai Festival (2008), 50th Anniversary Festival, IIT Kharagpur, India (2009) amongst others.
Das has performed extensively though out the United States since the early 70s. In 1984 Das was selected to perform in the Olympic Arts Festival during the Los Angeles Olympic Games. Other select American performances include the Lincoln Center (1988), International Kathak festival in Chicago (2004), American Dance Festival (2004, 2006), and the American Folk festival (2008). In the San Francisco Bay Area, Chitresh Das and his Dance Company have been a mainstay of the local dance season and his company’s home season has included such masterpieces as “Gold Rush” (1990), “Sadhana” (1991), “East as Center” (2003), and his most recent award winning collaboration with tap dancer, Jason Samuel Smith, “IJS: India Jazz Suites” (2005 to present). The original IJS collaboration was selected as the number one dance performance of 2005 by the San Francisco Chronicle as well as receiving the Isadora Duncan Ensemble of the year award (2005). Since IJS has toured extensively, including four tours to India, performances across America, including Hawaii, and Australia.
In 2006, the Chitresh Das and Chhandam organized a festival of Kathak dance in San Francisco, the largest Kathak festival ever to take place outside of India; it brought together Kathak dancers from all over the world. Mayor Gavin Newsom
Gavin Newsom
Gavin Christopher Newsom is an American politician who is the 49th and current Lieutenant Governor of California. Previously, he was the 42nd Mayor of San Francisco, and was elected in 2003 to succeed Willie Brown, becoming San Francisco's youngest mayor in 100 years. Newsom was re-elected in 2007...
of San Francisco inaugurated the festival by proclaiming Sept 28th “Kathak Day”.
In earlier years, Das also performed throughout Europe, including Bonn and Aachen International Dance Festivals (1983), Logan Hall in London (1984), and Nijmegen and Arnhem, Holland (1984). In the late eighties, he also performed throughout in Germany, Poland, and Hungary with Tanzprojekt.
On Screen
In 2004, Pandit Das was featured on a national PBS program, and in a BBC series “Eighty Treasures Around the World”; the program featured Pandit Das performing in a historic court in Calcutta. He was also featured in the PBS series “Indians in America”. In January 2005 and 2006, Pandit Das’ solo performances were featured on national Indian television. In 2007, he was featured on PBS station KQED’s performing arts profile show Spark.Das’s collaboration with Jason Samuel Smiths is the subject of an upcoming national documentary, ‘Upaj’ to be nationally broadcast on PBS in 2011. Das also appeared on the popular Indian talk show “Oye! Its Friday” show filmed in Mumbai in 2009.
Style and Contributions
“Freedom comes through refined discipline with responsibility”.In the early years, Das was known for his distinctively athletic style: fast and powerful emphasizing footwork and swift turns. Today, Das teaches in this rigorous style with focus on tayari (readiness of technique, speed, and stamina) and laykari (virtuosity of Indian classical rhythmic system), but equally emphasizes khubsurti (beauty) and nazakat (delicacy and refinement). Dancers must become adept at abhinaya (expression) and learn to masterfully portray the concept of 'Ardhanariswara' (the embodiment of the masculine and feminine) in their dance.
Das’s teaching and performance also emphasize Upaj, or improvisation. Whilst Das has choreographed many group pieces, he and his students continue to present traditional full-length Kathak solos, requiring the dancer to improvise on stage with live musicians for up to two hours.
One of Das’s most important contributions to his school and to the larger field of Kathak is his development of “Kathak yoga”. Kathak yoga involves the practice of simultaneously dancing, singing, and often, playing an instrument. In Kathak yoga, the dancer recites a chosen taal (rhythmic cycle), sings the melody and the theka (language of the drum) of the taal, while practicing precise complicated footwork. Kathak yoga is based on the fundamental yogic concept of integrating the mind, soul and body and was the subject of a doctoral dissertation at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
by Dr. Sarah Morelli. Das himself has demonstrated Kathak yoga by dancing, singing, and playing tabla simultaneously. His company also exhibits the practice of Kathak yoga by adding the playing of instruments to their dance. The dancers simultaneously perform three contrasting concepts – complex rhythmic compositions with the feet and body, continuous singing of the rhythmic cycle, and playing an instrument (harmonium or manjira).
Selected Awards
In 1987, and then again in 2003, Das was awarded the Isadora Duncan Dancer of the Year Award. In 2004 Pandit Das received the inaugural lifetime achievement award from the San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival. In 2005, he was named a “Dance Icon of the West” by the San Francisco Performing Arts Library and Museum. In 2006 Pandit Das received the Goldie Lifetime Achievement Award from the San Francisco Bay Guardian. In 2007, Das received an award from Bharatiya Vidya BhavanBharatiya Vidya Bhavan
Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan is an Indian educational trust. It was founded on November 7, 1938 by Dr. K. M. Munshi, with the blessings of Mahatma Gandhi...
, a national arts institution inaugurated by Mahatma Gandhi in India in 1938, for outstanding contribution in the field of Kathak dance.
In 2009, Pandit Das was awarded the National Heritage Fellowship
National Heritage Fellowship
The National Heritage Fellowship is a lifetime honor presented to master folk and traditional artists by the National Endowment for the Arts. Similar to Japan's Living National Treasure award, the Fellowship is the United States' highest honor in the folk and traditional arts...
, the highest honor bestowed on a traditional artist by the U.S. Government. Das received the award, signed by President Obama, at a ceremony at the Library of Congress on Capitol Hill.
Many of Das’s productions have also received numerous awards, including Isadora Duncan Awards for his productions ‘East of Center’ (2003), India Jazz Suites (2005) as well as a special award for presenting the largest Indian classical dance festival outside of India, Kathak at the Crossroads (2006).
Pandit Das has also received numerous grants including from the Olympic Arts Festival, National Endowment for the Arts
National Endowment for the Arts
The National Endowment for the Arts is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created by an act of the U.S. Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government. Its current...
, National Dance Project, California Arts Council, Rockefeller Foundation, Irvine Fellowships in Dance, among others.
Serving Society through the Arts
Since 2003, Das has worked closely with the New Light Foundation, a Kolkata-based NGO that works to free the children of red-light district workers from the cycle of prostitution and abuse through support services, education and care. Das and the teachers of Nritya Bharati are teaching the children of the New Light Foundation Kathak dance as a means for cultural and self-awareness and empowerment. Recently, the New Light group was invited by the German Ministry of Culture and International Cooperation to be a part of Kinder Kulture Karavane; in 2008, the New Light children travelled to Germany for a 6-week performing tour. Das has also worked with the Calcutta Blind Opera (or Shyambazar Blind Opera), teaching Kathak to visually challenged performers through emphasis on its rhythmic and musical components.In Das’s teachings, he emphasizes the concepts of ‘tyaag aur seva’ (sacrifice and selfless service). Das himself, as well as the students of Chhandam, are encouraged to adopt the values of selflessness and sacrifice. These values must manifest both within the context of their study of Kathak and also permeate in other aspects of their lives by giving back to their communities and the society by and large.