Inviting young people to apply for Odissi: Dance for Humanity
Free professional training in Odissi dance and music & life skills
Deadline: 17 November 2023
The Arts & Life Education Gurukul Ltd (ALEG), an Australian charity, in partnership with Ausdance NSW, Indian Support Centre and Horizon Theatre Company Ltd invites young people in Australia to participate in Odissi: Dance for Humanity.
Odissi: Dance for Humanity is a unique arts and life skills education program for young people who are financially disadvantaged. They will be professionally trained in Odissi Indian classical dance and music (vocal and drums) by Nirmal Jena, artistic director of the Odissi Dance Company and a director of ALEG. They will also receive training in life skills, including financial literacy, arts and event management (including sound, light, stage and set design), cross-cultural communication, marketing, sustainable living, resilience and leadership. The aim is for graduates to present/perform and teach throughout Australia and the world and also set up arts-based social enterprises. They will be global ambassadors for ALEG’s core values of creativity, diversity, humanity and sustainability.
Odissi classical dance and music, though only one of a few classical dance styles in the world, is currently not offered as an accredited qualification by any Australian higher education institution. However, we will continue to advocate so our graduates can be conferred a degree under the Australian Qualifications Framework.
Duration
3 years full-time (commencing in 2024)
Location
Sydney – venue to be confirmed in western Sydney
Cost
Free & a stipend may be provided to help meet living costs
Eligibility
Selection Process:
More information:
Contact Chitrita Mukerjee, Director, ALEG
artslifeeducationgurukul@gmail.com
Free professional training in Odissi dance and music & life skills
Deadline: 17 November 2023
The Arts & Life Education Gurukul Ltd (ALEG), an Australian charity, in partnership with Ausdance NSW, Indian Support Centre and Horizon Theatre Company Ltd invites young people in Australia to participate in Odissi: Dance for Humanity.
Odissi: Dance for Humanity is a unique arts and life skills education program for young people who are financially disadvantaged. They will be professionally trained in Odissi Indian classical dance and music (vocal and drums) by Nirmal Jena, artistic director of the Odissi Dance Company and a director of ALEG. They will also receive training in life skills, including financial literacy, arts and event management (including sound, light, stage and set design), cross-cultural communication, marketing, sustainable living, resilience and leadership. The aim is for graduates to present/perform and teach throughout Australia and the world and also set up arts-based social enterprises. They will be global ambassadors for ALEG’s core values of creativity, diversity, humanity and sustainability.
Odissi classical dance and music, though only one of a few classical dance styles in the world, is currently not offered as an accredited qualification by any Australian higher education institution. However, we will continue to advocate so our graduates can be conferred a degree under the Australian Qualifications Framework.
Duration
3 years full-time (commencing in 2024)
Location
Sydney – venue to be confirmed in western Sydney
Cost
Free & a stipend may be provided to help meet living costs
Eligibility
- 18 – 25 years
- Financially disadvantaged background
- Passionate about the arts
- Training and/or experience in dance/the arts preferred
- High level of physical fitness required
Selection Process:
- Email and tell us why you should be selected for the program and how you hope to use the training for your future. Email address: artslifeeducationgurukul@gmail.com Deadline: 17 November 2023.
- Audition in Sydney in December 2023/January 2024 (dates to be confirmed)
- 15 participants will be selected initially
More information:
Contact Chitrita Mukerjee, Director, ALEG
artslifeeducationgurukul@gmail.com
Sharing their Dance of Life with young people in hardship
16 September 2023
Nirmal Jena and Chitrita Mukerjee are passionate about creativity, diversity, humanity and sustainability. These four pillars have sustained the two dance artists and educators from the time they met in Delhi, India, almost thirty years ago. After founding the Odissi Dance Company in Sydney, Australia to promote their unique family style of Odissi Indian classical dance and music, they recently established the Arts and Life Education Gurukul Ltd (ALEG), an Australian charity. ALEG’s core program will be Odissi: Dance for Humanity, which will give young people experiencing hardship an opportunity to build their lives and livelihoods through training in creativity, diversity, humanity and sustainability.
After years of performing and teaching, Nirmal says I have done everything in the conventional arts industry, and now I will focus on my artistic practice as a way of life, a living philosophy that can build resilience like no other. Teaching the dance and music to the next generation is an urgent priority for Nirmal and Chitrita. And they want to do this in a Gurukul, a place of deep learning and eco-living, set in nature, and where the guru or the teacher guides and inspires every aspect of the learning process. Under their Odissi: Dance for Humanity initiative, they want to offer scholarships to young people who have experienced difficulties in life, particularly financial disadvantage, and have a passion for the arts. Initially, this program will be offered to young people living in Australia. Later, we hope to expand and offer it to young people from India. The students will train intensively in the dance and music, and in essential life skills, at the Gurukul. Nirmal and Chitrita hope the training will be conferred as an accredited or honorary university degree. After completing their initial training, the young dancers will tour Australia and the world before returning to their respective communities to set up arts-based social enterprises and tourism hubs. Our partners to date include Ausdance NSW, Indian Support Centre (Wentworthville, Sydney), Horizon Theatre Company Ltd (Wiley Park, Sydney) and in India, Nrityashilp Foundation (Delhi), Calcutta Rescue (Kolkata) and Dream a Dream (Bengaluru).
Nirmal and Chitrita’s Gurukul concept is based on the notion of Vasundhaiva Kutumbakam (the world is one family in Sanskrit), thus relevant to anyone who shares their passion, philosophy and commitment to the arts. ALEG will operate out of studios in Sydney metro and in Hazelbrook, Blue Mountains. The Gurukul will offer a unique and powerful suite of arts and educational services for learners, practitioners, observers and anyone in the community. They need more partners, funding and resources. Nirmal and Chitrita invite collaborators, philanthropists, professionals and anyone interested to join them on this journey. They are excited about their Gurukul project, a valuable gift for the local and global community, at a time when the world really needs hope.
If they can embark on this ambitious project, it will be a first for Australia. Ausdance NSW strongly supports their initiative, claiming If there was ever a time when this was necessary, it is now, when the world is rife with uncertainty and chaos. COVID-19 has forced a reset in an unprecedented way and Odissi: Dance for Humanity has much to offer in this period of collective reflection and search for new avenues of creative exploration that redefines creative practice in contemporary, intercultural and international ways.
Gavin Robins, Head of Movement in Australia’s National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA), where Nirmal teaches first year acting students, said in support of Odissi: Dance for Humanity: In a time when diversity and intercultural connections within our communities are increasingly important, the support for this project will have far reaching effects on the performing arts industry and importantly the lives and potential of the young individuals engaged in this rigorous learning.
Nirmal Jena teaching at NIDA Photos: Rudolf Rindler
Sharing their Dance of Life with young people in hardship
16 September 2023
Nirmal Jena and Chitrita Mukerjee are passionate about creativity, diversity, humanity and sustainability. These four pillars have sustained the two dance artists and educators from the time they met in Delhi, India, almost thirty years ago. After founding the Odissi Dance Company in Sydney, Australia to promote their unique family style of Odissi Indian classical dance and music, they recently established the Arts and Life Education Gurukul Ltd (ALEG), an Australian charity. ALEG’s core program will be Odissi: Dance for Humanity, which will give young people experiencing hardship an opportunity to build their lives and livelihoods through training in creativity, diversity, humanity and sustainability.
After years of performing and teaching, Nirmal says I have done everything in the conventional arts industry, and now I will focus on my artistic practice as a way of life, a living philosophy that can build resilience like no other. Teaching the dance and music to the next generation is an urgent priority for Nirmal and Chitrita. And they want to do this in a Gurukul, a place of deep learning and eco-living, set in nature, and where the guru or the teacher guides and inspires every aspect of the learning process. Under their Odissi: Dance for Humanity initiative, they want to offer scholarships to young people who have experienced difficulties in life, particularly financial disadvantage, and have a passion for the arts. Initially, this program will be offered to young people living in Australia. Later, we hope to expand and offer it to young people from India. The students will train intensively in the dance and music, and in essential life skills, at the Gurukul. Nirmal and Chitrita hope the training will be conferred as an accredited or honorary university degree. After completing their initial training, the young dancers will tour Australia and the world before returning to their respective communities to set up arts-based social enterprises and tourism hubs. Our partners to date include Ausdance NSW, Indian Support Centre (Wentworthville, Sydney), Horizon Theatre Company Ltd (Wiley Park, Sydney) and in India, Nrityashilp Foundation (Delhi), Calcutta Rescue (Kolkata) and Dream a Dream (Bengaluru).
Nirmal and Chitrita’s Gurukul concept is based on the notion of Vasundhaiva Kutumbakam (the world is one family in Sanskrit), thus relevant to anyone who shares their passion, philosophy and commitment to the arts. ALEG will operate out of studios in Sydney metro and in Hazelbrook, Blue Mountains. The Gurukul will offer a unique and powerful suite of arts and educational services for learners, practitioners, observers and anyone in the community. They need more partners, funding and resources. Nirmal and Chitrita invite collaborators, philanthropists, professionals and anyone interested to join them on this journey. They are excited about their Gurukul project, a valuable gift for the local and global community, at a time when the world really needs hope.
If they can embark on this ambitious project, it will be a first for Australia. Ausdance NSW strongly supports their initiative, claiming If there was ever a time when this was necessary, it is now, when the world is rife with uncertainty and chaos. COVID-19 has forced a reset in an unprecedented way and Odissi: Dance for Humanity has much to offer in this period of collective reflection and search for new avenues of creative exploration that redefines creative practice in contemporary, intercultural and international ways.
Gavin Robins, Head of Movement in Australia’s National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA), where Nirmal teaches first year acting students, said in support of Odissi: Dance for Humanity: In a time when diversity and intercultural connections within our communities are increasingly important, the support for this project will have far reaching effects on the performing arts industry and importantly the lives and potential of the young individuals engaged in this rigorous learning.
Nirmal Jena teaching at NIDA Photos: Rudolf Rindler
