SHARMINI THARMARATNAM is a dutch-srilankan over-all artist; a dancer, choreographer, composer, writer, stage designer, sculpturer, conference speaker, etc…She lived her first years in Holland, where she studied at the Faculty of Arts in Groningen. During her studies she went to Spain with a grant for artistic research about the link between India and the gypsies of Spain. Since her eighteenth aniversary she exhibited in Holland, Spain and France. She received a grant for her art works in Paris between 1990 and 1992, at L’Hopital Ephémère.
HOW SHE CREATED HER PARTICULAR STYLE; Since the age of five she had learned classical ballet, jazz dance, contemporary dance, Bharata Natyam, Flamenco, Sarangi, etc. She formed the group “Korathi” with gypsy musicians she had met during the shooting of Pedro Almodovar’s movie “The flower of my secret”, and performed weekly in many theatres and clubs since 1995, having in many occasions an exquisite audience of flamenco lovers, such as in Casa Patas…Blanca del Rey invited her for the show in the Theatro de Zarzuela, Madrid. She came to know that Kathak dance was actually much closer to Flamenco then Bharata Natyam. She iniciated her self in the Theorie and Philosophy of Sufism, and was taught spinning meditation by Dr. Orüç Güvenç, a music therapist and sufist from Turqui and she went to India and started the never ending study of Kathak in Jaipur Gharana under the guidance of Pandit Rajendra Gangani in 1996.
In 1996 she performed with Tibetan monks at the Theatre de la Villa in Madrid, and also created a theatre-dance play for the Theatre Cuarta Pared, “Looking for the truth”. She also featured the inauguration of the famous group “Radio Tarifa”, a fusion group of Flamenco with Oriental sounds. Along her own projects, Sharmini has performed on invitation of Embassees like the Dutch Embassy in London, the Russian Embassy in Madrid, the Indian Embassy in Madrid, in Mexico DF.
In 1997 she created the work “Jalsaghar”, which got subsidued by the Ministry of Culture and was presented in the House of Architects in Madrid (Nuevos Ministerios) and Barcelona. There she performed along with her former guru of Sarangi, Ustad Munir Achmed Khan. The work “Agua” she has presented with flamenco musicians, Indian musicians, a professional actress (Pilar Ariola), etc, in many theatres across the country.
She was invited by her Guru at the Kerala festival, Trivendrum, 2001, a stadium show.
In 2002 this work was presented along with the film of Satyajit Ray as the opening ceremony of the film festival of Granada. Sharmini experimented with African musicians and performed as such with Babacar, with other Senegaleese percusionists like Pap Dianbutto Thiosanne and his family, with Wafir from Sudan, with fifteen musicians from Marocco at the Theatre Manuel de Falla in Granada. Since then she had perfomed in many occasions with groups in Holland, (with Sandip Bhattacharya, and Rafi Udhin Sabri, Dhroeh Nankoe, Irshad Hussein Khan). She had performed in many occasions for fund raising for NGO’s (for Vicente Ferrer 84th aniversary, in presence of the President’s wife Ana Botella, for Dominique Lapierre) as well as smaller performances and private happenings that were organized for educational purposes.
The Flamenco Fusion works that followed where;
Madrid-Delhi-Madrid, 2002, with Ustad Daud Khan, sarod, rabab and singing, Keshab Chowdhury, tablas, Manjit Singh Rasiya, tablas, Shiv Shanka Ray, tablas, Jai Shankar, tablas, Sudhi Rajagopal, cajón, Manuel Hernaiz, flute, Paco Vidal, guitar, Gemma Cabellero, singing, etc…A regular show at the sala Caracol in Madrid, and in theatres across the country.
“Entre razón e ilusión”, 2003, with, among others, Joaquin Escudero, singing, Paco del Pozo, singing, Jai Shankar, Tablas, Subhash Dhunhoochand, tablas, Paco Vidal, guitar. This work is later, in 2004, absorbed by the contemporary dance group L’Ánónima Imperial, to be toured from the Forum de la Culturas, Mercat de las Flors till theatres in Germany and in the province of Cataluña.
“Savitri and Satyavan”, 2004, created for the Palau de la Música in Valencia, with Indian and flamenco musicians and dancers, as well as film screen art work.
Spiritual based works that followed;
“Akbar”, 2006, is still “on the road”, now in combination with Efrén Lopez, musician of Greek and Afghan instruments.The first try out was even before 2006, with harp players and flutes at a harp festival in Madrid. The idea is based on Akbar the Great, who in the sixteenth century invited even European jesuites to his court in order to develop a new religion blending all the good elements of all existing at that time…
The show was a big hit in Málaga at the sacred music festival “the languages of God”, 2007, featuring Rohini Sahajpal, sitar, and Jai Shankar on the tabla, the packed audience giving a minutes long standing ovation. She was invited as part of the artistic work “the feet of the dancer” of José Freixanes, where she danced on rice floor along with the sitar music of Shubhendra Rao. The performance still remains in the form of paintings, photo art and exhibition catalogues. After the first try outs at the Faculty of Arts in Granada, this concert took place at the Instituto Cervantes in Madrid, 2007.
She was invited several times to Norway, by tabla player Jai Shankar, and presented shows along with Javid Afsari Rad, (Asian Karavan) santur and his group, or with Pandit Shree Lal and Mukesh Sharma (sarod) and the family of Jai Shankar. Likewise she also was invited at the Telenor Ceremony of prize giving to percussionist Marilyn Mazur, 2007, along with composer Ingrid Kindem, and an array of international artists (Shallum Xavier and part of his Fuzon Band) and a jazz big band.
Again flamenco-kathak, in a Contemporary Form:
“Entre Duende y Raasa”, 2006, performed as an opening show of prestigious flamenco festival of Parla-Madrid, with her fixed company that included Sharat Srivastava, violin, Gyan Singh, tabla, Paco Heredia, guitar, Raúl Amador, singing, José de Mode, cajón and Nacho Blanco, flamenco dance. She presented the work, with shifting troups at the famous Etno Sur festival in 2008, at the Casa de la India in Valladolid, 2007, and at the cultural centre of Barcelona, as well as in Mumbai at the Mumbai festival 2009, including the saxophone of George Brooks.
She performed with classical and fusion kathak at the festival Contrastes, in Córdoba, 2005 all about string instruments of the world, which resulted in a DVD for public sale. Likewise, she has also perfomed at many occasions in important theatres, for world music festivals like in a former bullfight arena of Aranjuez (las noches de Luna) 2006 and in Parla, including Miki Soto with Koto. She had performed in many churches, in villages in the province of Jaen and in Valencia.
At Etno Sur, one of the most prestigious festivals of Spain, 2008 she was invited by Trilok Gurtu and enjoyed dancing on his five beats cycles, along with many artists and her favourite Jan Garbarek.
Next booking was in July 2009, feasturing Sandip Bhattacharya, tabla, Soumik Datta, sarod and Paco Heredia on the flamenco guitar, during the celebration of the Summer University at Escorial, Madrid, a happening that Sharmini does ever alternate year, also as a conference holder as a member of the Institute of Indologia.
At a festival of world music 2008, she was invited by Jan Kuiper (guitar) in Holland.
Contemporary Kathak;
She was invited for the annual show for Christmas in the Palau de Musica in Valencia, 2005, along with a big band of percusionsist (under direction of famous composer and drummer Jesús Salvador, “Xapi”) and contemporary dancer Toni Aparici.
In 2005 she was invited by Stichting de Weeffout to do an experimental performance “Heraclash”, in Heerlen, south Holland, with a contemporary music orchestra, computer designed music and classical singing, a fusion of different forms of arts; acting, sculpture, dance and music, which was highly appreciated by the audience… In 2006 she was invited in Mexico and opened a prestigiuos dance festival along with Accid-jazz group “Los Músicos de José”. She was invited again in 2008.
“Vastukala, architecture of dance” 2008, performed at the College of Architects, Cádiz, in November 2008, along with the book launch “the red saree” of Javier Moro. Sharmini received excellent press reviews. It is a project which is still on the road and will be performed with musicians of different fields (drumset, electrónic violín, electronic tabla, voices, etc) as well as with different dancers. Next show was in the month October 2009, Madrid (teatro Lara) and in Mumbai at the Marico Festival, January 2010.
Promotion of products:
She presented with her dance the collection of Cartier that was inspired in “Maharaja’s Jai Singh II” jewelry in Madrid, 2004. She composed and choreographed for the lounche of the Tata Nano car in Barcelona, being sellected by Tata itself to form part of the new webside and do further collaborations for the company.
She is part of the promotion of the magzine “Lonely Planet” which is sponcered by the Times of India, 28th of January 2010 along with kathak of Akineth Bais. Next performance was in Delhi, 1st of April at the Leela Hotel, along with kathak dancer Amit.
Films and TV collaborations:
Sharmini has done many shootings for films like Flor de mi Secreto, Pedro Almodovar, Naboelk by Mar Sampedro, Bumbum, el corazón del Hombre by Javier Viana (best film of Canarian film festival, 2004, a movie on world percussion, featuring many important artists, form Brasil to Japán) and “The shadow of the Sun” of David Blanco, for whom she also composed the film music, and she did advertisements, also music videos (Asala Nimri, (doing a flamenco –oriental fusion) from Cairo and Spanish Heroes del Silencio, etc.)) The documentary on her classes for adopted children from India, 2002, was broadcasted again on newyears eve by Antena 3, as it was among the best documentatries of that year. She featured in a film on Asian Undergound and did designes for it as well, for la 2 TV, 2001. She is a model of a hand painted portrait of internacionally acclaimed photographer Ouka Lele as well as of Martin Mydtskov Ronne (of Danish royal house). The photograph of Ouka Lele, widely reproduced in catalogues, is also a book cover of a french novel; “Le coeur cousu”, of Patricia Morvan.
Text of Sharmini on the subject of music and dance got published in papers of catalogues of José Freixanes, in the booklet Acciones of the College of Arquitects, in magazines such as Broadsheet, as a wide array of newspaper interviews and an article written on her for the book “The voice of the flamencos” by Miguel Mora, edited by Siruela 2009.
RECENT WORKS IN INDIA:
“Global Warming” was inaugurated the 23rd of January, 2010, at the Navi Mumbai Festival, Mumbai, with great reception at the stadium with ten thousand people in the audience. The show was involving two dancers of the Terence Lewis Company and other dancers, musicians: a total troup of twelve people under the guidance of Sharmini. The festival itself had one of the most beautiful sellection of artists.
The presentation of her work “Nomads but Maths” had taken place the 4th of October 2009 at Blue Frog, Mumbai, with Shakir Khan and Satyajit Talwakar, Tabla, among others. Next performance was at Blue Frog, 7th of January, 2010, with Shakir Khan, sitar, (son and disciple of Ustad Shahid Parvez),Uday Ramdas, tabla and percussions, Ravi Iyer on the acoustic and electric guitar. Her most recent performance was at BlueFrog, the 4th of May, 2010, with Uday Ramdas, percussion and Jashraj Joshi, singer, Amano Manish, slide guitar and Soniaa Gupta, Bol parhant, Saurabh Balurao, keyboards.
Sharmini will be touring Europe in July, including the Barcelona Contemporary Dance Festival with Soumik Datta, 3rd of July 2010.
TEACHING EXPERIENCES
Soon she found herself with her strong daily practise of kathak but without live musicians (as they were not residing in Spain, every performance she invites at least two Indian musician from abroad), so she found a way to do so with flamenco musicians, and created as such a totally new style, encouraged by her Guru. This fusion she has taught to students of kathak at the Kathak Kendra, Delhi, as well as at the Delhi University, Etno Sur 2002 and La Mar de Musicas, 2003, as well as she offered her knowledge to the Antonio Canales Company. The workshop taught at Music Festivals had a final show with the students on stage. The results always astonished the Audience and Art critics, as great effect was achieved in a very short time. Sharmini had also taught in Universities in Mexico (UNAM), in Madrid (Carlos III) and Delhi, Summer Universities in Norway and Spain, and Dance Festivals as well as in Denmark, at Atelier Flamenco. She taught in May 2009 at the Institute of Theatre and Dance of Barcelona. She did a workshop along with Terence Lewis in several cities in Spain, summer 2009. Today she is teaching at the Terence Lewis Dance Institute, as an intern teacher of the “Dance India Dance” students.
SOCIAL WORKS: Sharmini had taught in various occasions kathak and fusion to children “of conflicted areas” of the cities like Granada and Manacor, and did a final show at the Chumberas, Granada, with those students along with Indian musicians and flamenco musicians. She also performed with the flamenco fusion group at Valdemoro’s male prisson.
Sharmini hold classes of Indian Culture and Kathak to Adopted Children from India, where in some occasions the Spanish parents were also receiving classes. These classes also included Indian Cooking classes, Rajastani Tie and Dye and block Print, Story telling, etc.
Sharmini has fund her multiple voyages to India with classes of Fitness and Body Toning in special programs for eldery women. She has popularized her dancing classes in Europe and in India, combining not only Kathak with Flamenco, but also offering these arts to Students of Contemporary Dance, Actors, and youngsters in projects called “Body Percussion”.
She will be touring Gujarat in June 2010, along with tabla player Alpesh Moharir, as part of educational summer schemes for Students of Private and Public Schools. She will also teach at special workshops to be hold in June in the North of India as parts as Summer Festivals and Tourism promotions.
She will be teaching from 5th till 10th of July in Barcelona, and in Mallorca from 10 till 15th July, after this she will conduct workshops in Madrid at Centro Tai San in Trés Cantos.
Recent FORMATION: Sharmini recently invited Terence Lewis to Spain and got special training of Contemporary dance of him. She has trained recently with Said El Moumen (Contemporary dance Marroc, Anania) and with flamenco dancer El Farruquito. She keeps updating her Kathak with her Guru in Delhi, Pandit Rajendra Gangani.
page back