Singer Shubha Mudgal will perform along with a host of musicians to highlight the connection between music and maths
Singer Shubha Mudgal will perform along with a host of musicians to highlight the connection between music and maths
To say that maths mania has gripped the culturati has become a cliche by now. We have already seen films, attended readings, workshops and melas, and watched performances over the past few days.
This evening's performance, Paanch Pachchees by Shubha Mudgal, Aneesh Pradhan, Sudhir Nayak, Murad Ali and Tanay Gajjar, brings the curtains down on the month-long celebration of maths after which we await the arrival of UK-based troupe Complicite with their play, A Disappearing Number.
Tonight's performance continues the celebratory spirit of the Maths Month. Don't expect the usual at this performance.
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| Tabla player Aneesh Pradhan and classical vocalist Shubha Mudgal have planned an interesting concert as part of Prithvi Theatre's Maths Month celebrations. |
Maths is a very integral part of every musician's training, Mudgal tells us. "We're all taught certain formulae for presentation or for elaborating a particular taal.
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To an extent, maths is a device of musical training. But a good musician is expected to assimilate the rules in such a way that they become intuitive and transcend the formulae while performing," explains Mudgal.
Not just at the training stage but also in the poetry that will be performed, maths plays a pivotal role.
The name of the event comes from Sankhya Vachi, which refers to the five elements or senses. Each of these senses has their own five tributary senses, hence the title Paanch Pachchees.
"Paanch Pachchees comes from medieval Nirgun poetry and its influence can be seen in Kabir's poetry too. It's amazing to observe that in many compositions, numbers are used to convey a deeper meaning," says Mudgal.
Since the aim is to explore the influence of maths in music, the structure of the performance will be very different.
As it is, a space like the Prithvi Theatre gives artistes a rare opportunity to perform without amplifiers. "Normally, at a concert we musicians take turns to perform.
The focus tends to be on the vocalist, who is flanked by artistes who play the instruments. But at this concert we're taking certain liberties with the structure and style," reveals Mudgal.
The artistes will be seated differently compared to a regular concert. Moreover, they will not follow someone's lead but perform together.
The group even took help from theatre director Sunil Shanbag to bring the performances together in a seamless way in the auditorium.
In fact, the idea of performing in an intimate auditorium has got Mudgal thinking about turning this experimental performance into a bigger project.
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"I might use props too, perhaps not at this performance because we don't have much time to prepare.
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But if the audience response is good and depending on how much fun we have as artistes, we could develop this into a much larger project," says Mudgal.
Drop by for this evening's performance, make sure you have a ball and prompt Mudgal and Co. to perform many similar concerts in the future.
On: Tonight, 8 pm at Prithvi Theatre, Janki Kutir, Juhu Church Road, Vile Parle (W).
Call: 26149546 Tickets: Rs 300
