MASALA FESTIVAL
 
Of love and lament - Payal Ramchandani (Kuchipudi dance)

Date: Saturday 24^th July 2021
Time: 7pm
Tickets: FREE Event
Link: youtu.be/RZ1_JIXoFQg



Payal is a Kuchipudi dancer and choreographer with a global reputation, and now based in the North East of England.  She has built her unique vocabulary, evident in her creations. For GemArts Masala Festival, Payal will perform a newly choreographed recital 'Of love and lament...' which is based on a beautiful 11th Century Sanskrit love lyric written by poet ‘Bilhana’. 
 
The poem is based on Bilhana himself, who was appointed the tutor to the princess Yamini, but the inevitable love blossomed surreptitiously between the two, which was opposed by the king, and Bilhana was put in prison. Awaiting his sentence in prison, he wrote these verses, reminiscing and narrating their ill-fated love story. This piece (3 verses from the 50 verse poem) is a recollection of their time together and about Bilhana’s dreaded anticipation of what the future might hold for them.
 
Choreography: Payal Ramchandani
 
Payal is a Kuchipudi dancer with 27 years of experience including training and performances on the global stage. She is currently under the guidance of Gurus Jaikishore & Padmavani Mosalikanti and has previously trained under Gurus Raja Radha Reddy and Gurus Jayarama & Vanashree Rao. She has evolved her own unique vocabulary, evident in her innovative choreographies. She leverages her traditional repertoire to handle subjects that inflict today's world. Payal has recently been awarded the Arts Council grant for her production ‘Just enough madness’ that deals with the battles in the arena of mental health. She has also been commissioned by Dance City, Newcastle to create and present her production ‘The Forest Dream’ also funded by Arts Council, England to awaken audiences from environmental inertia. In the UK she works closely with Akademi, GemArts, Theatre Hullabaloo, Headway Arts, Dance City amongst others. Payal has also been listed as one of the 40 under 40 South Asian artists in the UK to watch out for, by Akademi.  With several awards and titles under her belt, Payal regularly works to promote the form at grass root level across countries.

In partnership with Dance City.

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