A Guru’s Journey

Pandit Chitresh Das and Indian Classical Dance in Diaspora
Author: Sarah Morelli
The work and art of a dance master in America
Cloth – $110
978-0-252-04286-7
Paper – $28
978-0-252-08468-3
eBook – $19.95
978-0-252-05172-2
Publication Date
Paperback: 12/23/2019
Cloth: 12/23/2019
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About the Book

An important modern exponent of Asian dance, Pandit Chitresh Das brought kathak to the United States in 1970. The North Indian classical dance has since become an important art form within the greater Indian diaspora. Yet its adoption outside of India raises questions about what happens to artistic practices when we separate them from their broader cultural contexts.

A Guru's Journey provides an ethnographic study of the dance form in the San Francisco Bay Area community formed by Das. Sarah Morelli, a kathak dancer and one of Das’s former students, investigates topics in teaching, learning, and performance that developed around Das during his time in the United States. In modifying kathak’s form and teaching for Western students, Das negotiates questions of Indianness and non-Indianness, gender, identity, and race. Morelli lays out these discussions for readers with the goal of deepening their knowledge of kathak aesthetics, technique, and theory. She also shares the intricacies of footwork, facial expression in storytelling, and other aspects of kathak while tying them to the cultural issues that inform the dance.

* Publication of this book is supported by grants from the University of Denver’s Lamont School of Music and the AHSS Book Publication Support Fund and from the AMS 75 PAYS Endowment of the American Musicological Society, funded in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

About the Author

Sarah Morelli is an associate professor of ethnomusicology at the University of Denver and a performing kathak artist.

Reviews

"Morelli's book is deeply researched and a significant addition to dance studies. . . . Highly recommended." --Choice

Blurbs

"Recounting a story that extends over the course of decades and across the globe, A Guru's Journey charts the impact of mobility on kathak dance as well as the embodied impact of this rapidly changing dance style across multiple dimensions of time and space. Morelli has crafted a narrative filled with powerful historical, biographical, and musical insights while also capturing the human dimensions of musical performance and transmission. An exciting contribution to the ethnomusicological literature and a striking study of issues surrounding migration, ethnicity, and gender."--Kay Kaufman Shelemay, author of Soundscapes: Exploring Music in a Changing World, Third Edition

"Novel, original, and impressive. A story of the dance and one of its most important personalities, and an important book for all interested in the diaspora of Indian and Eastern arts."--George E. Ruckert, author of Music in North India: Experiencing Music, Expressing Culture

A supplemental companion website with videos is now available for readers of A Guru’s Journey.

Supplemental Material

Supplemental media

Chapter 1: Encountering the Dance

Chapter 2: Dancing History

Chapter 3: On the American Stage

Chapter 4: Teaching in a New Country

Chapter 5: Dancing Gender

Chapter 6: Dancing Unity, Articulating Difference

Chapter 7: Form and Freedom in Kathak Performance

Chapter 8: Coming Full Circle

 

Publication of this book is supported by grants from the University of Denver’s Lamont School of Music and the AHSS Book Publication Support Fund and from the AMS 75 PAYS Endowment of the American Musicological Society, funded in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.


Sarah Morelli is an associate professor of ethnomusicology at the University of Denver and a performing kathak artist.


Return to Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Encountering the Dance


Video 1.1. "Kaliya Daman" performed by Leah Brown and members of a kathak class taught by Chitresh Das at San Francisco State University. From Sadhana, Cowell Theater, San Francisco, October 2001.


Video 1.2. Pranām from Master of Tradition, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, September 2008. Performed by Chitresh Das with Abhijit Banerjee (tabla), Jayanta Banerjee (sitar), Shweta Jhaveri (vocal), Bhavani Shankar (pakhawaj), Rohan Misra (sarangi).


Video 1.3. Ganesha vandanā from Master of Tradition, 2008.


Video 1.4. Bol-paran from Master of Tradition, 2008.


Video 1.5. "Mohe Panaghaṭ Pe" from Master of Tradition, 2008.


Video 1.6. Performance of short tihāīs (emphasizing sam) within the ṭhāṭ portion of a kathak solo, from Master of Tradition, 2008.


Video 1.7. Gat bhāv "Draupadi Bastraharan" from Master of Tradition, 2008.


Video 1.8. Jaipur-gharānā and Lucknow-gharānā footwork from Master of Tradition, 2008.


Video 1.9. "Jaipur" from Darbar, Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, March 2012, featuring (left to right): Aarohi Bhargava-Shah, Sneha Patkar, Sonali Toppur, Labonee Mohanta.


Video 1.10: Scene 1, in Lucknow style from Darbar, 2012, featuring (left to right, first configuration): Nilima Dave, Poonam Narkar, Doli Bambhania.


Video 1.11: Scene from Impressions of California Goldrush in which the prospector finds gold, Cowell Theater, San Francisco, September 1990. Choreographed by Chitresh Das. Performed by Das and members of the CDDC. Music composition by George Ruckert. Brian Godden, (guitar), Pranesh Khan (tabla), John Pedersen (banjo), James Pomerantz (sitar), George Ruckert (sarod and violin).


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Chapter 2: Dancing History


Video 2.1. Excerpt 1 from Sadhana, performed by Chitresh Das, Cowell Theater, San Francisco, October 2001.


Video 2.2. Excerpt 2 from Sadhana, 2001.


Video 2.3. Excerpt 3 from Sadhana, 2001.


Video 2.4. Excerpts of performance by Madhuri Devi Singh, from Kathak at the Crossroads, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, September 29, 2006. With Ramesh Mishra (sarangi), Chitresh Das, Gopal Mishra (tabla).


Video 2.5. "Nautchwali" from Darbar, 2012, featuring Cimeron Ahluwalia with (left to right, first configuration): Seema Mehta, Joanna Meinl, Preeti Mann, Ritu Mathur, Neerja Sinha.


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Chapter 3: On the American Stage


Video 3.1. Excerpt of a kathak solo performed by Chitresh Das in the 1970s (location and specific date unknown).


Video 3.2. Twelve Minutes, 1984 LA Olympic Arts Festival, Los Angeles. Performed by Chitresh Das with Ritesh Das (tabla), Peter Peringer (pakhawaj), and Joanna Das (jal taraṅg). Prerecorded music performed by Swapan Chaudhuri (tabla), Christopher Ris (sarod), Dallas Smith (bansuri).


Video 3.3. The Train from Master of Tradition, performed by Chitresh Das, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, September 2008.


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Chapter 4: Teaching in a New Country


Video 4.1. Excerpt 4 from Sadhana, performed by Chitresh Das, Cowell Theater, San Francisco, October 2001.


Video 4.2. Panje tatkār demonstrated by Labonee Mohanta, Cultural Integration Fellowship, San Francisco, August 2014.


Video 4.3. Eṛi tatkār demonstrated by Labonee Mohanta, 2014.


Video 4.4. Āṭh śabd tatkār demonstrated by Labonee Mohanta, 2014.


Video 4.5. Lucknow- and California-style chakkars performed, respectively, by Seibi Lee and Anjali Nath. From the CDDC performance Shabd, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, October 3, 2010.


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Chapter 5: Dancing Gender


Video 5.1. Classroom exercise: "theī ta theī ta theī, theī theī tat tat" as taught by Chitresh Das in the 1970s, demonstrated by Gretchen Hayden, Cultural Integration Fellowship, San Francisco, August 2014.


Video 5.2. Classroom exercise: "theī ta theī ta theī, theī theī tat tat," danced by Noelle Barton (center) and other students of Chitresh Das, Marin County, CA, ca. 1987.


Video 5.3. Classroom exercise: "theī ta theī ta theī, theī theī tat tat" demonstrated by members of the CDDC, Cultural Integration Fellowship, San Francisco, 2014.


Video 5.4. "Sarpa Śīrṣa" from Sadhana, performed by Chitresh Das, Cowell Theater, San Francisco, Octoer 2001.


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Chapter 6: Dancing Unity, Articulating Difference


Video 6.1. Kramalaya tatkār (abbreviated) from Shabd, performed by the CDDC, October 2010. Featuring (left to right, first configuration): Antara Bhardwaj, Seibi Lee, Rachna Nivas, Rina Mehta Charlotte Moraga, Kasturi Mishra, Anjali Nath, Labonee Mohanta.


Video 6.2. Fifth-mātrā tihāī at a CDDC class, Cultural Integration Fellowship, San Francisco, July 2002.


Video 6.3. Kathak yoga excerpt from Master of Tradition, performed by Chitresh Das (dance, tabla, vocal), Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, September 2008.


Video 6.4. Kathak yoga excerpt from Sadhana, performed by Chitresh Das, Cowell Theater, San Francisco, October 2001.


Video 6.5. Kathak yoga excerpt from Shabd, performed by the CDDC, October 2010.


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Chapter 7: Form and Freedom in Kathak Performance


Video 7.1. Classroom "dhā ta ke thungā" demonstrated by Charlotte Moraga with other CDDC members reciting, and Chitresh Das (off-camera) playing tabla and singing, 2014.


Video 7.2. "Dhā ta ke thungā" from India Jazz Suites world premiere, Cowell Theater, San Francisco, November 2005. Performed by Chitresh Das with (left to right) Kousic Sen (tabla), Ramesh Mishra (sarangi), Jayanta Banerjee (sitar), André Sumelius (drum set), Marcus Shelby (bass), Jason Martineau (piano, not pictured).


Video 7.3. "Sixteen tihāīs" (partial: tenth-, second-, eleventh-, third-, twelfth, and fourth-mātrās) at a CDDC class, April 23, 2002, at the Cultural Integration Fellowship, San Francisco.


Video 7.4. The "tihāī game" Union City Chhandam branch, California, June 25, 2013. Performed by Chitresh Das Youth Company members, with Charlotte Moraga.


Video 7.5. "Savāl-javāb" performed by Rachna Nivas and Satyaprakash Mishra (tabla), Jayanta Banerjee (sitar) and Vaibhav Mankad (harmonium) at the New Spirit Community Church, University of California, Berkeley, April 2017.


Video 7.6. Pancha Jati, first movement, Cowell Theater, San Francisco, October 2002. Performed by the CDDC (left to right): Charlotte Moraga, Farah Yasmeen Shaikh, Joanna Meinl, Leah Brown, Rachna Nivas, Seibi Lee.


Video 7.7. Excerpt from the world premiere of India Jazz Suites, Cowell Theater, San Francisco, November 2005. Performed by Chitresh Das and Jason Samuels Smith.


Return to Table of Contents

Chapter 8: Coming Full Circle


Video 8.1. Building Bridges (excerpt) shot and edited by Antara Bharadwaj. 2005. Video courtesy of Antara Bharadwaj.


Video 8.2. First movement from Pancha Jati, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, May 2014. Performed by the CDDC with Chitresh Das (tabla, vocals), Debasish Sarkar (vocals, harmonium, tabla tarang), Jayanta Banerjee (sitar), Jim Santi Owen (thavil, kanjira, morsing).


Video 8.3. Final movement from Pancha Jati, 2014.


Video 8.4. Excerpt from Shiva, Z Space, San Francisco, October 2013. Performed by the CDDC with Debasish Sarkar (vocals, harmonium), Jayanta Banerjee (sitar), Biplab Bhattacharyya (tabla), Jay Gandhi (bansuri), Pankaj Mishra (sarangi).


Video 8.5. "Śri Krishna Chaitanya" from Master of Tradition, performed by Chitresh Das, 2008.