Special school shows of Andhar Nogori Choupot Raja: July 2015

There is a special thrill one gets in an auditorium filled with one's friends

Ranan presents a school trip to the theatre!

Special school shows of    Andhar Nogori Choupot Raja

A play in Bengali and English based on the Hindi play by Bhartendu Harishchandra and A. K. Ramanujan’s translation of a folk tale.

“Once upon a time in the Kingdom of Foolishnessthe king and the minister were both idiots”

Provocation: Responses to Violence Against Women

Provocation: Responses to Violence Against Women View this email in your browser This two day journey explores social consciousness through the arts. This programme is designed to engage with senior students to address some of our responses to the violence against women. Every time an atrocity like December 16 or Badaun takes place, we respond with outrage and anger. As we should. We join marches and demonstrations. As we should. We sign petitions. As we should. We lobby for better laws and better enforcement. As we should. But what about art and artistic interventions? Join us for an artistic response to the increasingly ever more brutal attacks on women. Day 1, December 8, 2014: A response through poetry: Performers from Ranan along with actor/poet Baisali Chatterjee Dutt will read, perform and facilitate students responses to news about acts of violence. Day 2, December 9 / 10, 2014: A response though theatre: Actors from Jana Natya Manch, Delhi will do a series of improvisations around the theme of the violence against women. These improvisations, it is hoped, will act as 'provocations' for us to talk, share, think through, and articulate our responses. Venue: School premises Requirements for play: General lights. A hall or large room. Seven stools or chairs or four benches or three durries. Duration: 90 minutes each day. This journey is meant for students of Classes 11 and 12 only. Please note that the improvisations are done without a script and around a difficult theme. Please book the slot your school would like. The time given is inclusive of set up. One school may book multiple slots for different batches. 8:30 am – 10:30 am 11:00 am – 1:00 pm 1:30 pm – 3:30 pm (please note: slot timings may change slightly depending on bookings made in mutual agreement with the school) Each slot is meant for 100 students in the audience. It is advisable that the same students attend both days We hope to provoke discussion, debate, dialogue around these issues and therefore we hope to provoke change. For more details contact: 9831437314 rananartsengage@gmail.com “In a world of lies and liars, an honest work of art is always an act of social responsibility.”

Ranan's Scottish Connection

Ranan was delighted to have Scottish Dance Theatre back with us again for many engagements between 10 - 20 October, 2014

Here is Dawn, Chris and Nerea of Scottish Dance Theatre conducting two Ranan SchoolConnect integrated workshops with Akshar and Mahadevi Birla World Academy on 10 October, 2014 

Some responses from the students:

I was pretty nervous before coming here, but all of it went away the moment Dawn Ma'am started talking to us. All the warmth and cheer and liveliness and joy in her made me feel super comfortable. It was awesome and amazing. Now I came to know that contemporary dance isn't about learning up steps but expressing your feelings and emotions through movements. Thank you so much. It was amazing. Best of luck for your show tomorrow! 

- Anmol Bharuka, MBWA

It was very unique. It can make a non-dancer enjoy dancing. The music was really melodious. It was really a wonderful time dancing with a different twist  - Malavika, Akshar

My second time with SDT and as amazing as the first (if not even more!) The terrible dancer in me feels a lot more free after today's " Forces of Nature" workshop - I'm glad to have sneaked in and am grateful to Ranan for bringing them back to us again  -Ahon Gooptu, LMB

Saloni Happy - Saloni, Akshar

Really liked it  The group dance was fun. I likes the Chris - Nerea parter dance. It was pretty cool  and the Melting Dance. Awesome stuff:-D - Prakriti Pachisia, Akshar.

This workshop made me realise that you should dance like you are floaring in the air, you stretch to connect and bond and you emote for your companion in dance to understand, and you feel what you show!!  DANCE to be yourself!. This workshop was a really wonderful experience. Thank you!!  - Sneha Malakar, MBWA

'Andhar Nogori Choupot Raja' - stories in the foyer

Click here to view more photos of the foyer activity

At the premiere shows of Andhar Nogori Choupot Raja on 12 and 13 March 2014, the Gyan Manch foyer was transformed into a world where children and adults could encounter, imagine and play with stories. Reading stories, writing stories, drawing stories, telling stories.... all culminating into watching stories come alive on stage.

One activity invited children to write their own stories, triggered by an opening line provided at the top of a sheet of paper. Just a few unedited examples of what can be dreamt up when faced with a cat with a cricket back, the sun and moon as rivals in love, or an ocean in a box!

ENJOY!

TELLING STORIES, SINGING SONGS: Ranan SchoolConnect programme - March 2014

telling stories ~ singing songs A two day journey opening the imagination and exploring the joys of storytelling People did not wait until there was writingbefore they told stories and sang songs. Albert Bates Lord “Once upon a time in the Kingdom of Foolishness the king and the minister  were both idiots” Click here for details

Looking back at the 3-Day programme of August 2013

Roopkatha Banerjee of Mahadevi Birla World Academy was one of the students on Ranan's 3-day

Day 1 workshop at MBWA

SchoolConnect journey 'Music-Movement-Madness', which explored music, sound and the lack of it through a workshop, an interaction and a performance.

Here is a poem she sent us on the Ranan SchoolConnect Hangout on Facebook after the performance on the third day...

The Sombre Silence.

26 August 2013 at 18:50

Today, I am no longer whole.
I have been wounded,

And thrust in this cage for all eternity;

They have taken away my music.

They have stripped me of my soul,

They have torn apart my limbs,

Piece by piece. Yet; I am ashamed to face them.

"Speak a little louder, for I am deaf."

Despair and denial sets in,

Like a noose around my neck.

I am choking; I cannot breathe

....do I truly deserve this?

The robin's happy chirp,

The beat of their tiny wings;

Absorbed. Like blotting paper.

This thundering quiet; is all I have left.

And this is truly, the worst fate,

He has an embittered sense of humour.

The last strains of those faint notes,

I can still taste on my lips; it is like nicotine to me.

I pray fervently, for a miracle.

I desperately hold on, in search of redemption.

Suddenly, I realized why he looked that way;

He had retreated into his own noiseless world.

I writhe in mortal agony,

But there is no pain

It is only;

Silence.

My own self fights back,

It claws at me from within.

Self-acceptance; the one thing

That I dread more than life itself.

I am ready.

Ready to face death, head on.

But; I am not ready.

I must first express all, that is within.

Those furious scribbles on the worn out parchment,

The faded grooves on the old record,

These, are what I live for.

Yet; these are what I die for..

Here are some glimpses of the 3 days, which ultimately inspired Roopkatha to write.

Thank you to all the students and staff of Mahadevi Birla World Academy, La Martiniere for Girls and Ballygunge Shiksha Sadan for being part of this amazing journey.

Beethoven, music and deafness: Ranan SchoolConnect programme in August

Music 

Movement 

Madness

How do you hear?

A 3 day journey that explores music,sound and the lack of it.

How do you listen to music with your whole body?