A brief report on the ten days online National level Value added course on Performance Making organized by School of Drama and Fine Arts, John Mathai Centre, Thrissur, held from 15th July- 24th July.
As part of conducting value-added courses, the School of Drama and Fine Arts had successfully organized a 10-day online National level course on 'Performance Making.' The course began on 15th July 2021 and concluded on 24rd July 2021. Around 180 participants comprising Heads of departments, Faculty members, research scholars, and practitioners from different institutions across India had registered and participated in the course. The course coordinators were Dr. S. Sunil, assistant professor and dean faculty of fine arts, Sandeep Kumar, Assistant professor, School of Drama and Fine Arts, and Vipin M, Assistant Professor, School of Drama and Fine Arts. On the inaugural day of the course, Hon. Vice-chancellor of the University of Calicut, Dr. Jayaraj, had graced the occasion with his presence, gave the inaugural speech, and officially inaugurated the function. He also appreciated the efforts of the IQAC team of the university in conducting similar courses across all departments and was particularly happy with the kind of response the courses were receiving. Shri. Najumul Shahi, Assistant professor School of Drama and Fine arts, extended her warm welcome to the Hon Vice-Chancellor, participants, and resource persons. Dr. Sreejith R, HOD of School of drama, chaired the session, and the course was introduced by Dr. S Sunil, Dean, Assistant professor, School of Drama and Fine arts, and course coordinator.
The inaugural day session was conducted by Dr. Abhilash Pillai, Professor and Dean, National School of Drama and Fine arts, on Making-Circus theatre. He elaborated on the creative exchanges between the Circus as a performance and theatre and talked about his own experiences and productions based on Circus. Participants had a very lively interaction with the speaker at the end of the session for about one hour.
The second day began with a feedback session on the previous day's talk. Participants had a chance to add anything they wished or could not ask on the previous day during the discussion session. The feedback session was followed by an online quiz based on the first day's talk. On the second day of the course, we had noted theatre practitioner and scenographer Prof. Satyabrata Rout of the Department of theatre arts, SN School of Arts and communication, University of Hyderabad talk to participants on the topic 'Understanding Scenography'. He expanded on different concepts regarding visualization in theatre and how his journey as a theatre practitioner was. A Q&A session followed the session for about one hour. Dr. Sreejith R, HOD, offered the Vote of thanks to the speaker and the participants to conclude the session.
The third day began with a feedback session on the previous day's talk, followed by a Quiz on the precious day's talk. The speaker for the day was one of the very noted theatre practitioners in Kerala, Dr. Shibu S Kottaram, who also happens to be Assistant Professor at the School of Drama and Fine Arts, who spoke on the topic Drafting a performance. The speaker was introduced by Vipin M, Assistant Professor, School of Drama and Fine Arts. He effortlessly connected different concepts he expanded on during the beginning of the session with his productions. A feedback session followed the session for about one hour. Jyotirmayi Kurup, Ph.D. Scholar, School of Drama and Fine Arts offered the Vote of thanks to the speaker.
The fourth day again began with a feedback session on the previous day's talk followed by a Quiz. Mallika Prasad is a noted theatre-maker and voicework trainer, was the speaker for the fourth day. Dr. S Sunil, Dean, and Faculty of the School introduced her and welcomed her to conduct the session. She talked about the importance and intricacies related to Voicework. A discussion session followed her session for one hour. Dr. Seetha Vijayakumar, Assistant Professor, NSS College, Pandalam, offered the Vote of thanks to the speaker and concluded the session.
The fifth day of the course began with a discussion on the previous day's talk followed by a Quiz. Sandeep Kumar, Assistant professor of the School, introduced the speaker. Amitesh Grover, Faculty of National School of drama and a very noted interdisciplinary theatre artist, talked on 'An Artist talk'. He talked about his productions which he had created during the pandemic when the whole artist community was bearing the brunt of the lockdown. It was a very illuminating talk which was followed by a one hour discussion. Richa Mohan, one of the participants, offered the official Vote of thanks and concluded the session.
The sixth day of the course began with a discussion on the previous day's talk followed by a Quiz. Sandeep Kumar, Assistant professor of the School, introduced the speaker. Dr. Methil Devika, a renowned Mohiniattam exponent and scholar on dance, talked to everyone on Dance and Choreography. The session elaborated on the history of dance and how she perceives choreography and conceived her dance performances. Parshathy J Nath, one of the participants, gave the official Vote of thanks and ended the session.
The seventh day of the course began with a discussion on the previous day's talk followed by a Quiz. Sandeep Kumar, Assistant professor of the School, introduced the speaker. E Santosh Kumar was the speaker for the day and talked to the participants about the intricate connection between visual arts and film. A one hour discussion followed the session. Dr. Pretty John, HOD, Department of English, Carmel College, Mala, offered the official Vote of thanks before concluding the session.
The eighth day of the course began with a discussion on the previous day's talk followed by a Quiz. Sandeep Kumar, Assistant professor of the School introduced the speaker. Vinod VN, Assistant Professor, School of Drama and Fine arts was the speaker for the day. He is an expert of performance art practices and a theatre maker of well-known stature. He spoke on the topic 'Performance making' and elaborated about the history and current trends and practices. Meeta Mishra, one of the participants, offered the Vote of thanks to the speaker and concluded the session.
The ninth day of the course began with a discussion on the previous day's talk followed by a Quiz. Sandeep Kumar, Assistant professor of the School, introduced the speaker. Dr. Kavitha Balakrishnan well known art-critic was the speaker of the day. She spoke on the topic Invisible in Visual Art. Her session was followed by a brief discussion of about one hour. Atulya Manoj, one of the participants, offered the Vote of thanks and concluded the session.
The final day was inaugurated by Hon Registrar Dr. E K Satheesh and IQAC coordinator Dr Sivadasan P. The session was chaired by Dr. Sreejith R, HOD of the department, and a Vote of thanks to the inaugural session was offered by Vinod VN, Assistant professor, School of drama and Fine arts. Sandeep Kumar, Assistant Professor, School of Drama and Fine arts, introduced the speaker of the day. The day's session was conducted by Maya Krishna Rao, a well-known name in the sphere of theatre arts in India. She spoke on the topic of Devising Solo. Her session was followed by one hour question answer session, and Vipin M, Assistant Professor, School of Drama and Fine Arts, offered the Vote of thanks to the speaker and all participants and ended the course.
Day 1: Inaugural Session
Abhilash Pillai
Day 2: Satyabrata Rout
Day 3: Dr. Shibu S Kottaram
Day 4 Mallika Prasad
Day 5 Amitesh Grover
Day 6 Methil Devika
Day 7 E Santosh Kumar
Day 8 Vinod VN
Day 9 Dr. Kavitha Balakrishnan
Day 10 Maya Krishna Rao
