Welcome, we are a South-Asian arts organisation based in East London, with a mission to communicating the arts effectively into the community. Using arts to creating inter-generational and inter-community links. CARNATIC music is our specialty, with Carnatic Jazz, South-Asian Orchestral and other contemporary forms around it.
Dhruv specialises and offers: Carnatic, western music tuition Indian Music concerts, festivals Youth [Panchama], children [Shadja] ensemble Indian, Western music courses Music Workshops, consultancy.
South-Asia is a land of rich culture and heritage. For generations people have admired and practiced its pristine tradition and culture which encompasses classical music and dance, folk music and theatre. Some of the world-famous traditional art forms like the Carnatic music, Hindustani music and dance forms like Bharatnatyam, Kuchipudi and Mohiniattam have originated and evolved in the colourful sub-continent i..e India.
London International Arts Festival, 2012, More on www.liaf.co.uk
Indian classical music is based on the unique combination of 7 basic notes or swaras, shortly notated as Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Dha and Ni . The arrangement of these notes define a particular raga [mode] signature which is set to a specific rhythmic cycle (tala). Different combinations [like pentatonic or hexa or full scale] of the swaras give rise to different ragas thus creating a specific mood or an emotive feel. Singing and instruments are both popular as lead forms in music concerts. Dance is a combination of music and visual expressions. Popular instruments, to name a few are veena, harmonium, kanjira, ghatam , violin, sitar, sarod, tanpura [drone], bansuri [flute], shehnai, sarangi, pakhavaj and tabla.
At Dhruv, we are feeling ecstatic having delivered an inspiring arts festival, London International Arts Festival [LIAF] in August, 2012, which was a major event as acknowledged by the Redbridge Mayor and endorsed by the sell-out shows. LIAF was a 3 days eclectic and inspiring arts festival having 14 acts, 4 workshops, with over 35 artistes and delivered across 3 venues. Dhruv Ensemble have presented over twenty concerts in the last year, creatively directed by Jyotsna Srikanth, the artistic Director of Dhruv Arts.
Past events
Dhruv Ensemble with Artistic Director Jyotsna
Srikanth, Dr. Balamuralikrishna ji, Redbridge
Mayor, Cllr. Jeyaranjan, Percussionist Karthik
Mani, Keyboardist Shadrach Solomon.
For everyone who came, supported, volunteered, and participated in the first ever London International Arts Festival, thank you. We had a glorious 3 days of festival showcasing world class artists in East London’s first diversity arts festival. 14 acts, 3 venues, 30+ artistes and too diverse to put into a slide show but here’s an attempt, please enjoy this small selection of photos from LIAF 2012. You can also read about the festival in our News section. Photo credits: Chris Christoforou [above], Kiran, LIAF Team. London’s successful festival – a different world through the carnatic lens.
