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The youth group was launched in 1998 by Chitraleka Bolar, Artistic Director of Chitraleka Dance Company who, while working with young people in the community, came across many students with ambitions to becoming good dancers. She undertook a unique initiative to start a group and focus on providing intensive training and development to young and talented dancers. The group is the youth wing of the main Chitraleka Dance Company which came into existence from this aspiration. The company is in the process of restructuring the youth group to that of an ‘Academy’.
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| Members of the group are provided with regular and intensive training, theory of dance and music, special skills for choreographing and opportunities for developing a repertoire of classical Bharatanatyam dances, including dance-drama productions. The company provides performance opportunities for the members of the youth group at venues ranging from schools to community centres. An annual event called ‘Samaagama’, meaning a get together, is being launched in Autumn 2008. This promises to be a high profile event that will provide students with a platform to showcase their talents, knowledge and skills. Alongside their training and practice in Bharatanatyam, students are also taught the syllabus material leading to ISTD (Imperial Society of Teachers of Dance) examinations for grades 1 to 6. Intensive preparation for this work takes place during Easter and Summer School. |
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The youth programme has been successful in creating a significant number of new generation of dancers regularly engaged in presenting classical and dance-drama productions in the community through festival events at venues such as Artsfest (Birmingham City Council), Asian Spring (Sampad), Balaji Temple and many more. The group has also worked on collaborative projects performing alongside professional artists from organisations such as Birmingham Royal Ballet (BRB) and City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (CBSO).
Through the delivery of the dance academy’s programme of work, the company aims to encourage more children and young people to be engaged with the art form, Bharatanatyam. Progressing through the ISTD national examination route via the provision of training and then ultimately professional development (or Arangetram which marks the transition from student to a professional), students are then equipped to embark on a career in Bharatanatyam dance.
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