APPEAL
As a part commercial and part philanthropic organization, Junoon is a very young foundation with high aspirations. Join our movement to enable an awareness and diffusion of the Classical Arts by contributing to the project and development initiative of your choice.
Productions & More
This is everything Junoon aspires to and is working towards in view of Pedagogy and Productions. Trace our journey from seed to tree to a forest fire!
A MARRIAGE LIKE EVERY OTHER
We marry for love, for passion, for togetherness, for peace, to endure and build something that lasts forever. It's bittersweet, laborious and the biggest transition we will ever make.
Those of us married to our Art; to our loves; to our labour of love, often put up with an unreasonable, volatile, eccentric and exacting partner that won't relent, won't leave, won't let us leave and voila! every now and then, produce the best and bettering versions of us. Hence, we also marry to become better.
When did we give ourselves to them? Why did we give ourselves to them? What ritual, what ceremony bound us together so inextricably?
Ask a girl and she'll tell you it was a girlhood dream, this marriage. To walk down the aisle - a symbol of beauty, elegance and strength. Unflinching. Unguarded. Given away by those that hold her dearest, as bells rung and melodies played and wide eyes cried, awed by her beauty one moment and closed in the next as palms pressed together in prayer for her fortune and future.
Ask an artiste and she'll tell you it was a girlhood dream, this marriage. To leap onto stage - a symbol of beauty, elegance and strength. Unflinching. Unguarded. Watched by those that hold her dearest and will, as rhythm and raga played and unblinking eyes cried, awed by her presence, her movement, her ecstacy, her poise. She builds her future, breathing her dreams into many more than just her.
In Marriage, in Art, she surrenders, she delivers, she hurts, she heals, she dusts herself off and constantly gathers and grows. She has her loudest laugh, her loudest cry, her brightest smile and her toughest days (possibly all at once). In any case, in every case, she returns and conquers.
Brides or Performers, we are Queens, making our way down and up an aisle, a stage, life. This is our moment. Our coming of age. A decision to dance the Dance. Our chance and the biggest chance we'll ever take. With fear, freedom and faith. Give us away, come with us, this is the way - a marriage like no other, for all the right reasons, elevating us, in pain and pleasure.
Landing on feet, bruised and skinned. Soaring with wings, sore but sure. Because this thing you're married to, is with you as much as you're with it. It takes, yes, every ounce of you and beyond but there's no telling how much more it gives.
Oh to marry...Oh to be married to an Art..
Oh what an irony that it will always set you apart.
(A Junoon for Marriage, in the making.)
TO THOSE THAT BUILD HOMES
Nothing quite encapsulates the warmth and gorgeousness of the women of a dreamy village named Dhasa, nestled in remote Gujarat, than this painting by Project Dharti (www.projectdharti.com) that is empowering women in this rural heartland by nurturing their creative, culinary and artistic skills.
They stand before coloured doors, bearing the widest smiles to welcome you warmly into their homes and hearts; into the households they keep together with so much pride and positivity.
Art can very often be a response to creations of the other Arts. As a nurturer of every Art form related to Classical Dance, Junoon prays our girls will one day Dance an ode to the strength, smiles, beauty, earnestness, hardwork and warmth of the womanhood they have come to define as they stand before doors that remain forever open to those of us hungry for love, Art, peace, togetherness and (inevitably) a simple, mouthwatering home cooked meal.
Building and keeping a home is no easy task. It is an emotional, spiritual, physical and transformational journey. Quite like Classical Dance.
We can't wait to see our girls dance to our women. The Future is ours. The limitlessness of this Blue will tell you.
(The painting is the Art of Meenal Zatakia titled "WELCOME HOME".)
SHYAMA - AN ETERNAL DREAM
Most girls that have journeyed with Indian Classical Dance, have an illusory love affair with this inimitable, inscrutable, irresistible divine but incredibly real paradox named "Lord Krishna".
As dancers, we have embodied the stories of every stage and phase of his life. We are obsessed with his mischief as an infant, his pranks as an adolescent, his acumen and wisdom as an adult, his charm and wit and chivalry and above all, his mystery.
Krishna is an enigma. Unattainable and yet so close to us, every "step" of the way.
With this painting, Project Dharti (www.projectdharti.com) gives us the impetus to continue to hold our dearest SHYAMA in every pipe dream of love and longing. And to therefore, continue to dance to his glory, his constant memory and presence in our hearts.
And although this piece is now SOLD, haven't our hearts been sold on him forever?!
We can't wait for Junoon to prepare the 'Meera's and 'Radha's and 'Gopi's to dance to our beloved SHYAMA.
DIVINE LITTLES
In India, we tell our children stories that have been passed down generations, acquainting us with characters that are said to belong to the realm of Indian Mythology. These characters, their traits, their circumstances and responses are vital lessons in living and being. Our children are meant to learn from these tales and emulate the good they hear of.
We have, for time immemorial, eulogized these characters by pronouncing them: Divine.
Project Dharti constitutes women who tell their children stories by making these divine characters closer to the latter's age for added context and relatability.
The shenanigans, curiosity and intelligence of Ganesha, the powers of Devi, the responsibility of every other divine being and their fundamental interdependence on and respect for nature are at the core of most storytelling.
Hence, the women of Project Dharti create Art imagining little versions of Goddesses and Gods. Perhaps they see their children in these faces. Perhaps they want their children to be just as divine!
Given just how many little Girls Junoon has the privilege of passing on Classical Dance to, it will be an added privilege to also pass on the divinity that resides in the characters our girls will someday (not so far into the future) dance to! After all, every story told is a story to be danced.
These adorable Art pieces are available for purchase on Project Dharti's site - www.projectdharti.com/shop
THE PROFESSOR'S SPECIAL
OBJECTIVE:
Combining Western Classical Literature with Classical Dance (Indian as well as Western) to make it more accessible and relevant to contemporary audiences.
INTRODUCTION:
This is The Professor's Special with Mr. Gardner, currently based in the United Kingdom. We have the privilege of learning how to adapt Classical Literature for Classical Dance from a man who is a fountainhead of knowledge, wisdom and advice.
His love of Literature is only rivalled by his passion for teaching it and inculcating that truest love for it in whosoever sits before him. Live the journey with us and see where we've made a beginning, courtesy our beloved, respected, revered Prof. 🤍
Thank you Mr. Gardner! For making our Junoon more informed, more refined, more evolved and more Classical than ever!
Fall '23
Summer '24
We've learnt a lot today about what it takes to preserve history, tragedy, philosophy and comedy - the four key components of William Shakespeare's work and perhaps, our lives. And I owe it, as I do many things to one of the (if not THE) biggest influences in my life - Mr. Gardner, amongst other things, for his leadership, love of Art, endless well of knowledge, energy and willingness to teach if you want to learn.
To quote him:
"It is important to see Shakespeare in the context of his own real life and know that genius can spring from ordinariness."
Art is universal in its ability to make us all feel the same and differently about what matters. Stratford-upon-Avon is a temple to (arguably) the greatest playwright to have ever existed. He was a writer, an actor, an entrepreneur and a patron of the Arts all rolled into one.
Made me also see how the story hasn't really changed 400 (and more) years on. Artists still have to be many different things, all at once, besides and over and above their profession of choice and focus.
Everything in Stratford today, owes itself to the genius and very hard work of a man who wrote and gave us so much of the English language we know, speak and use; to the relentless work of charities and passionate artists who have worked, appealed and strived very hard to preserve his legacy, memory and enormous body of work; to the symbolism that he inspired in the architecture and composition of this serene town.
And yet, everywhere you go, even amid the endless green of fields and blue of brooks and dainty cottages and warmth of fireplaces and boisterous pubs and tools that have turned into astounding and everyday literary symbols, one meets artists that struggle to make ends meet even as they continue to deliver and develop Art.
How do we shift the narrative? How have these institutions managed to survive the test of time and remain tributes to the institution-like figures that have contributed so much during their time on earth?
Junoon has undertaken several Research missions - one of them being the 'Professor's Special' that we were able to begin with Mr. Gardner last Fall - drafted and proposed under the "Productions and More..." component of our APPEALS section. We have already had our children perform the Classics we worked on, earlier this year.
As we script The Junoon Method, in and as a curriculum that deeply emphasizes the connection of Dance and other Arts and various Disciplines, Literature is and will always remain the cynosure and springboard of all the conception, ideation, preservation and thereby perpetuation we hope to "institute" for the Arts. (There is a pun on that word and if you haven't already figured it out. We hope you will, and experience it soon.)
And we hope to persevere on this mission to adapt Classical Literature for Classical Dance, with your continued support. So, take a look at our APPEALS and do what you can to make our mission a shared one.
