Mysore :

The creative hands of three alumni of city’s Chamarajendra Academy of Visual Arts (CAVA), has given a dried Bottle Palm (Hyophorbe Lagenicaules) tree the shape of a ‘ROCKET’ at a park opposite Hemavathi School in T.K. Layout in city.

The three alumni of CAVA who have been credited for the concept are Shivaprasad, working as a Graphic Designer at AIISH; Obaiah, who is pursuing his Master of Fine Arts (MFA) at Rabindra Bharati University, Kolkata and Ravishankar, an artist at Ripple Fragrances of Ranga Rao and Sons Group.

Shivaprasad, speaking to SOM, said that he frequently visits the park as he lives nearby and thought of doing something creative when he saw the dried Bottle Palm tree at the park.

He further said that M.N. Satyanandavittu, Gen. Secretary of Sri Tulasi Parisara Nairmalya Samsthe in T.K. Layout approached him to do something creative out of the dried tree.

Shivaprasad then discussed it with his friends Ravishankar and Obaiah about the same, who in-turn readily expressed their willingness to join him in creating this piece of art.

The trio initially thought of turning the tree into a bottle or a pencil, but zeroed in on the rocket, considering the interests of kids who frequent the park.

From Tree to Rocket: A coat of Plaster of Paris (PoP) was applied before painting the tree with white and red colours. The rocket also evokes a sense of patriotism with the tri-colour painted in the middle with ‘India’ written in bold letters. The park has been drawing huge crowds of people of all age, wanting to have a glimpse of the creativity of the artists and clicking photographs standing next to it.

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> General News / March 19th, 2014

So the board exams are around the corner, and obviously students are busy studying! But Rakshitha Harimurthy from St Mary’s High School, Giorgia Valenti and Nikhila Nandgopal from Bangalore International School are doing more than just studying, they are scorching the ramps.

Bengaluru seems to be going the Paris way, when it comes to launching teenage models into the glamorous world of fashion.

Nikhila Nandgopal, a 12th standard student is being grooming for a coveted beauty pageant. “I am one of the 25 finalists and am really kicked,” says the model who has been walking the ramp for almost three years now.

“Bengaluru is the launch pad. It is a testing ground that preps you for the bigger runways. I was so intimidated by all the models, the first time I walked and I was quite starstruck. But the fraternity here is so relaxed and welcoming that it helps you grow as a model,” says this lass who is gunning for a business school abroad.

Incidentally, Bollywood stars Deepika Padukone and Anushka Sharma started modeling in namma Bengaluru in their teens.

While Nikhila was noticed during a summer pageant in one of the city clubs, Rakshitha began her career by walking for a designer and then going on to win the Mega Model Hunt last year.

“Studies aren’t really a problem at the moment considering I never leave anything for the last moment,” she says in an easy-breezy tone.

This 17-year-old who is looking forward to start her own fashion label someday reveals that her friends are her biggest supporters and she has a bit of celebrity status going on in her school.

“I am loving the attention. My friends try and make it for most of my shows and they are immensely proud of me,” she says with pride.

Diya Prabhakar is another 14-year-old who though based in Singapore, comes here during her summer break to model. This dusky, leggy and curly haired lass, has grabbed quite a few eyeballs with her style and elegance on the stage.

Fortunately for these teens, their parents too are supportive. Says 15-year-old Giorgia, “My mom used to model and she asked me to give it a shot after she saw me walking in heels at a store,” says this Italian girl who is settled here.

source: http://www.deccanchronicle.com / Deccan Chronicle / Home> Lifestyle> Fashion-Beauty / DC / Zoya Philip / March 06th, 2014

You can say versatility is her other name. A Bharatanatyam dancer, a singer, a sought after anchor, a theatre artiste and also a dedicated dance trainer, moulding budding talents is what she is. Meet Bhuvana, a multifaceted artiste from the heritage city.

Bhuvana, who currently is a dance faculty at the Karnataka State Gangubai Hangal Music and Performing Arts University is someone you should know about for the resourcefulness that she is full of. For being all that’s mentioned above and also being good at each one of them is no simple thing.

Let us begin with the 32-year-old multifaceted talent’s dancing experience. She says she took to Bharatanatyam at the age of 14 and enjoyed the privilege of being trained under city’s noted danseuse Vidu. Kripa Phadke, under whom she completed her Vidwat exams in 2006. But her love for the classical dance form did not stop at that. Having performed at innumerable dance shows with the legend at various presentations, she is currently training under yet another dance exponent Dr. Vasundhara Doraswamy for advance training in Dance and Yoga.

And being the Master of Ceremonies and gripping the attention of audience at shows through her anchoring skills is what she took to when she was just 20. And having been compeering shows of all kinds from stage to television and radio ever since, she can boast of having hosted and anchored hundreds of programmes till date, apart from winning several awards and appreciations in all fields of her expertise, all of which fill her heart with a sense of happiness.

The charm of this talent lies in her simplicity for she believes she is no achiever yet to be talked about. Ask her how it feels having done all this and being recognised for the same, she replies, “I don’t think I have achieved anything yet. I have a long way to go. I indeed love dancing and hosting shows as a MC but I wish to do a lot more.”

But talking of theatres, Bhuvana says she had no intention of becoming a theatre artiste and it just happened by choice. “Yet, once I started it, I was very comfortable and happy doing the shows, probably because I had no trouble with expressions or dialogue deliveries, all thanks to my dance skills. I started acting in plays under the direction of theatrist Mime Ramesh in 2001 and it was fun. Medea, Urubhanga, Samsaradalli Sanidapa, Kraunchapakshi, Uriyauyyale, Ekalavya, Yayathi, Jothegiruvanuchandira are a few plays I have acted in.”

Lessening her involvement in all other things that interest her, she has returned to her first love – dancing with which she is more involved now. She delights her involvement anchoring that she started in 2002 which helped her meet many noted personalities, singers and artistes but dance is what she is mostly into. “Competing helped me involve more with the audience. I have hosted several shows like Yuva Dasara, shows on Doordarshan, radio talks, political stage shows, and much more.”

At present, she is delighted at the vista of moulding young talents by training the budding stars through Samskruthi – a cultural academy of music and dance which actively conducts State and National level festivals to encourage young talents every year.

Bhuvana is a resident of Vivekanandanagar in city and can be contacted on Mob: 98453-28355.

Bhuvana’s Feats

• Bhuvana who holds a MA in Dance from the Bangalore University, has also completed her Ph.D in “Analytical Study of Folk Dances for South Karnataka and Relation with other Indian Classical Folk Dances” at Indrakala Sangeeth Vishwa Vidyalaya, Khairagarh (Chattisgarh).

• Has anchored shows for DD Bharti, DD-9; provided voice over in Kannada and English for Kalyan Jewellers; more than 1,000 stage programmes for music and dance festivals; compeered for Yuva Dasara (2006-2007).

• As a dancer, she has won many prestigious awards for her performances at Aryabhata, Kannada Culture, Yuva Prathibe, Mysore Dasara.

• As a theatre artist, she has won the National level Best actress award from the Mumbai Kannada Sangha and State level Best actress from Udupi Rangabhumi.

• Has made paper presentations at Suruchi Ranga mane, at Indian mime theatre Kolkata on Navarasa and At Himachal Heritage Centre, Sikkim, organised by Sangeet Natak Akademi, New Delhi.—AN

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> Feature Articles / March 16th, 2014