For several years, I have been a committed attendee of Mahagami Gurukul’s annual festival, Sarngadeva Samaroh held on its premises in Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar (formerly Aurangabad). I have long maintained that Mahagami Gurukul helmed and conceptualised by noted danseuse and pedagogue Parwati Dutta is an oasis for the performing arts in a region not particularly besotted to classical music or dance for various geographical, economic, and cultural factors.

Every year, spending four days at the annual festival is an eye-opening experience and a great learning opportunity. Like me, there are several individuals who return each year to this retreat to learn, observe, educate ourselves and leave more sensitised to the finer aspects of the performing arts. I also feel that Sarngadeva Samaroh presents a very interesting template of curating the performing arts which I will try to recount and discuss in this piece.

But before that, let us pause for a bit and think about curation. What does curation mean and entail? Curation is a much used and often abused term in the current times. Though popularly associated with the visual arts, the term has gained currency across all fields of the visual as well as performing arts. From art exhibitions to performing arts festivals to...

Read more