Creating and Entertaining a Community: Meters, Melody, Staging, and Messages in the Sāṅgīt Theatre Traditions of Northern India

Speaker: Dr Devendra Sharma

Dr Devendra Sharma is a performer, writer, and director of Sāṅgīt (Svāṅg-Nauṭaṅkī), Rāslīlā, Bhagat, and Rasiyā, the traditional musical theatre genres of northern India. He was trained in the traditional Swami-Khera Akhara by Pandit Ram Dayal Sharma and has given more than 500 performances worldwide, and directed many films on Indian folk culture.

Sāṅgīt with its various variants was the most popular entertainment form of Northern India before the spread of television. Prof. Sharma will discuss the music, literature, and community building aspects of Sāṅgīt, and also its position as a traditional form in a changing global world. The talk will feature Sāṅgīt's live singing by Prof. Sharma.