Chennai :
As dusk falls on Saturday, the tinkling of anklets will fill the air at the Kapaleeswarar temple as well-known danseuse Dr Ranjani Ganesan Ramesh performs along with her disciples. And the performance is all the more special as it also marks the worldwide launch of an app that will help eager students across the world learn Bharatanatyam.
‘Learning Bharatanatyam from Dr Ranjani Ganesan Ramesh’ is the brainchild of software professional Srinivasa Gopal. “I felt that an increasing number of people were learning things online and with the help of apps, whether it is maths, science or music. And I felt that even Bharatanatyam could be learnt with the help of an app,” says Gopal, who then contacted his friend Ranjani, who lives in Mumbai.
For the Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi exponent, it was an idea that immediately appealed. “Since 2008-09, I had been teaching dance to students all over the world through Skype and online classes,” says Ranjani, who currently lives in Mumbai.
Her mother, dancer Savithri Ganesan, had established the Ponnambalam Golden Temple of Fine Arts in Bengaluru in the late 1980s. Ranjani began teaching as her assistant and by the early 1990s, the academy grew, with centres in Mumbai and even Arizona in the US.
“Though I began using Skype to teach them, it had its own problems – connectivity was an issue and we also had to juggle time zones,” she says. “So I was also looking for something which would help make it easier.”
Ranjani and Gopal began working on the app in June 2014. The free app, which can be downloaded only onto Android smartphones, provides various levels of tutorials — the beginner level, where Ranjani discusses theory and some hand gestures and head movements; intermediate level, and advanced level. “It is similar to what a student will experience in a classroom,” says Ranjani.
According to Gopal, it will help eager students who may not be able to go to a dance class. “It saves the trouble of commuting and is also very user friendly,” he says. “We have also put up 25 videos that you can download.”
You can search for the app in the Google playstore apps section with the search terms ‘Indian Classical Dance’; ‘Learn Bharathanatyam’. The app, which has been online for the last 50 days, has had more than 1,000 downloads. “It will be formally launched worldwide on Saturday but we are encouraged by the response we have got so far,” says Ranjani. “Even people who have learnt dance find it interesting and want to learn further items through it.”
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Chennai / by Priya Menon, TNN / June 27th, 2015