Call for scholarship applications 

Masterclass with Shobana Jeyasingh
From Bharata Natyam to contemporary dance techniques

 4-5 November 2015
Fondazione Giorgio Cini onlus
Island of San Giorgio Maggiore – 30124 Venice

The Fondazione Giorgio Cini is offering 10 scholarships to the competition winners and a contribution to funding for a further 10 applicants. Number of participants: 20

Application deadline: 15 September 2015

The Intercultural Institute of Comparative Music Studies is organising a masterclasswith Shobana Jeyasingh on 4 and 5 Novemberat the Fondazione Giorgio Cini, thus a study project that began with Carolyn Carlson in 2009. Coordinated by Vito Di Bernardi, the project is devoted to the exploration of new languages and crossovers between the practice of traditional non-European dance and contemporary Western dance.

Shobana Jeyasingh, was born in Chennay, capital of Tamil Nadu, and has lived in London since 1981. She is an authoritative leading figure on the British contemporary dance scene. As an Anglo-Indian artist, her work has often been compared to that ofAkram Khan even though her choreographies can be seen as being more in the tradition of William Forsythe’s postclassical aesthetics and the highly structured articulated formalism of Wayne McGregor. Having trained in India as a professional Bharata Natyam dancer, Shobana Jeyasingh has gradually transformed Indian classical dance into a sophisticated dynamic urbane post-modern art that also appeals to a wider public. Hercollaboration with minimalist British musicians (the best example being Michael Nyman) has opened up new possibilities for Bharata Natyam, broadening its horizons and exploring unexpected new dimensions of movement.

Today in the choreographies of Shobana Jeyasingh Dance, the company she created in 1988, Indian classical dance is a fundamental element together with martial arts, classical ballet, modern dance, everyday gestures and the new digital media. A commitment to community dance and intense teaching activities are, moreover, an important natural extension into the social world of the highly ethical vision of dance that the Anglo-Indian choreographer has developed in recent years.

Shobhana Jeyasingh has won many prestigious academic and cultural acknowledgements, including a prize at the Venice Biennale 2012, for TooMortal. In 1995 she was appointed an MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire). She was awarded an Honorary MA by Surrey University and an Honorary Doctorate by the De Monfort University, Leicester. In 2008 she was presented with an Asian Women of Achievement Award for her contribution to British cultural life. The author of over fifty choreographies, in March 215 Shobana Jeyasingh gave the London première of her latest work, Bayadère – The Ninth Life, commissioned by the Royal Ballet and inspired by Marius Petipa’s La Bayadère.

This call for applications is addressed to professional or semi-professional dancers with at least two years experience in a dance company.

Ten scholarships are available for the intensive two-day masterclass. The scholarships will cover the enrolment fee, board (breakfast and lunch, dinner is at the participant’s expense) and accommodation in the Residence of the Vittore Branca International Centre (a single room for a maximum of three nights).

Applicants must email the following material to the secretary’s office (musica.comparata@cini.it) of the Intercultural Institute for Comparative Music Studies by 15 September 2015:
–  CV in pdf;
–  We recommend that applicants send the selection committee a video clip, preferably in HD or Full HD format, and include the link to the relevant YouTube page (public viewing should be turned on) in the email with the CV attached.

Applicants not selected for scholarships

The first ten applicants in the list not selected for scholarships can nonetheless apply to take part in the masterclass. The Fondazione Giorgio Cini offers these applicants without scholarships free enrolment, lunches and the opportunity to stay at the Vittore Branca Centre at a discounted price. All other expenses must be paid by the participants themselves.

Selection Committee and publication of results

The successful applications will be selected by Vito Di Bernardi, professor of Dance History (Università di Roma “La Sapienza”) and Giovanni Giuriati, professor of Ethnomusicology (Università di Roma “La Sapienza”) and director of the Intercultural Institute of Comparative Music Studies at the Fondazione Giorgio Cini, Venice, in conjunction with the masterclass teacher. Results will be published on the website www.cini.it and communicated to all candidates by 1 October 2015.

 

For information:

Istituto Interculturale di Studi Musicali Comparati
Fondazione Giorgio Cini onlus
Isola di San Giorgio Maggiore – 30124 Venezia – Italy
Tel. 39 041 2710357 – Fax +39 0412710221
musica.comparata@cini.it – www.cini.it