The elegance of Kathak Born out of the aural story-telling tradition that flourished in the temples of ancient north India, Kathak as a dance form developed in temple courtyards, being elevated to royal courts much later. The word kathak originally meant storyteller; one who would recount mythological tales while dancing in a state of devotional ecstasy. Though its religious associations were initially more pronounced, Kathak was gradually enhanced by elements of sophistication in style and presentation. Today, this classical form depicts life and is based on the philosophy of the Trinity ? creation (Brahma), preservation (Vishnu) and destruction (Maheshwar). This evening?s Kathak recital by Ashimbandhu Bhattacharjee, whose dance is a configuration of the Jaipur and Lucknow gharanas, presents a harmonious amalgamation of grace, splendour and vigour. The dancer will be accompanied by Utpal Ghosal (tabla), Debashish Sarkar (vocal), Chandrachur Bhattacharjee (sitar) and Naresh Mukherjee (pakhawaj). Event: Kathak recital by Ashimbandhu Bhattacharjee When: Today at 6 pm Where: Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture, Vivekananda Hall

Art

May 18 - June 3 at Gallery Kanishka?s, 2/1 Hindustan Road; 11 am - 8 pm: Faces & Verses, an exhibition of sketches and poetry by Arthur Brendon Cardozo. Till May 21 at Metropolitan Art Salon, Suite 18, 7 Jawaharlal Nehru Road; 3 pm - 8 pm: Paintings and sculptures by Arvind Anupam, Anup Kumar Srivastava, Chhabi Kisku, Hemanta Kumar Sahu, Mihir Chatterjee, Sanjay Majumder, Santosh Show and Sunil Thapa. Till May 21 at Proscenium?s Art Centre, 46 AJC Bose Road; 4 pm - 8 pm: Paintings by a group of young artists. Till May 23 at Academy of Fine Arts, North Gallery; 3 pm - 8 pm: Paintings by Parimal Bhowmick, Debasis Dhar, Nirupam Ghosh and Subrata Saha. Till May 31 (Sundays by appointment only) at Gallery Katayun, 4A Auckland Square, Flat 21; 3 pm - 7 pm: Paintings by 39 artists of the sub-continent.

drama

May 18 at Sisir Mancha; 6.30 pm: Gobardanga Naksha presents Atmaja and Mahanagar. Design and direction: Ashis Das. Till May 19 at Academy of Fine Arts; 6.30 pm: Drama Festival 2006 hosted by Nehru Children?s Museum. Today: Anubhav presented by Nehru Children?s Museum. May 20 at Academy of Fine Arts; 3 pm: Rangakarmee presents Mukti. Design and direction: Usha Ganguli. May 20 & 21 at Proscenium?s Art Centre, 46 AJC Bose Road; 6.30 pm: Proscenium presents Neil Simon?s Chapter Two. Design and direction: Ashoke Viswanathan. May 21 at Academy of Fine Arts; 3 pm: Kolkata Suchetana presents Aatarkothi. Drama and direction: Onkar Ghosh. May 21 at Madhusudan Mancha; 6.30 pm: Rangakarmee presents Kashinama. Design and direction: Usha Ganguli. May 20 at Gyan Manch; 6.30 pm: Spotlight presents Neil Simon?s Broadway Bound.

performing arts

May 18 - 22 at Rathindra Mancha, Jorasanko: Tagore?s 145th birth anniversary celebrations by Rabindra-Bharati Society commences at 6 this evening featuring Tagore songs by Pramita Mallick, Shikha Basu, Agnibha Bandyopadhyay and Bulbul Sengupta and Tagore?s dance-drama Chitrangada presented by Visva Bharati University. May 18 at Emami Landmark, 3 Lord Sinha Road; 6 pm: Sketches from Matir Manabi: A Tribute to Tagore, a soliloquy based on Tagore?s Chandalika, presented by Sreyashi Mitra, with an introduction by Lopamudra Mitra and a chorus song by children of Madhura. May 19 at Purbashree, Bharatiyam Cultural complex, Salt Lake; 6.30 pm: Ranan, in collaboration with EZCC, presents Rangeeniyan ? a Kathak presentation. Concept and choreography: Debashree Bhattacharya and Vikram Iyengar. May 20 at Kala Kunj, 48 Shakespeare Sarani; 6.20 pm: Guru-Shishya Parampara, an evening in memory of Ustad Aziz Khan featuring a sitar recital by his son Shahid Parvez Khan. May 20 at Niranjan Sadan; 6.30 pm: Lalit Sangeet Academy presents Najruler Gaan, featuring various artistes. Dir: Jhuma Chakraborty. May 20 at Saturday Club; 8 pm: Reliance IndiaMobile and Saturday Club present Moonlight and Roses, a musical walk down memory lane with Francis Lepcha and Chanelle Grosser. May 21 at Academy of Fine Arts premises; 3 pm onwards: The sixth anniversary celebrations of Theatre Spandan features theatre songs, an open-air play, mime and poetry collage.

talk

May 18 at Ramakrishna Math, Baranagar; 7 pm: Swami Jitatmananda will discourse on Srimad Bhagavatam; the Sri Krishna ? Sudama episode. May 18 at Ramakrishna Vedanta Math, 19 A&B Raja Rajkrishna Street; 7 pm: Swami Samshuddhananda will speak in Bengali on Mandukya-Karika.

photographs

May 18 - 22 at Abakash, 141 G.T. Road, Uttarpara, Hooghly; 2 pm - 9.30 pm: Ishtehar, an exhibition of posters and photographs. Till May 21 at Samokal Art Gallery, 22 Gariahat Road, Gol Park; 5 pm - 8 pm: An exhibition of photographs by Atanu Basu.

exhibition

Till May 20 at Mrignayani, Dakshinapan: Chanderi Utsav, a summer collection of chanderi sarees. Till May 25 at 79 Raja Basanta Roy Road, 1st floor; 2 pm - 8 pm: Nimble Fingers presents Summer Bazaar, featuring traditional crafts of Bengal in a modern milieu.

kids? fest

Till June 4 at Crossword Bookstore, 8 Elgin Road: Annual Children?s Summer Fest featuring 12 fun-filled programmes. For enquiries, call #22836501-5.

quiz

May 21 at Prajanananda Hall Pathagriha, 142/4 AJC Bose Road; 10 am - 11.30 am: Mahaquizzer, annual solo written quiz contest, open to all above the age of 12 years. To register, send e-mail to kqaquizzes @gmail.com with name of city where participant wishes to enter mentioned in the subject header (sub: Mahaquizzer - Calcutta). Or, write to gautam08@gmail.com or call Goutam Ghosh at #9830044093.

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