Karna Shapatam | Dance Shabdam | Kambhodhi | Ravikiran | Presented by Kalanjali, Madison

This Dance Shabdam in the Indian Raga Kambhodhi is uniquely set from Chitravina N Ravikiran's Mahabharata - Karna Shapatam opera. In this piece, Karna pledges lifelong loyalty and friendship with Duryodhana, who crowned him King of one of his states against the opposition of Pandavas and other seniors who were ridiculing him based on his being born to a charioteer., when he outdid Arjuna in the State Archery Competition and challenged him for a duel. The entire opera was originally choreographed by dance icon Prof C V Chandrashekhar and premiered at the Cleveland and San Diego Festivals in 2013. This was at a subsequent concert by Guru Meenakshi Ganesan's Kalanjali in Madison in 2018. Orchestra: Anahita & Apoorva Ravindran - Vocal Bhargavi Balasubramanian - Chitravina Sanjay Suresh - Violin Ethirajan Ramanujan - Mrdangam Sangeet Samrat Chitravina N Ravikiran (www.ravikiranmusic.com), hailed as the world’s youngest prodigy and "Creator of Ragas" (Deccan Herald) from age two is now renowned as one of India’s all-time greats for his "Teasing precision & dazzling effects" (New York Times) for "Taking his music to new audiences" (CNN TV). Youngest artist to win the President of India's Award, Ravikiran is the inventor of the world music system Melharmony and one of India's most prolific composers with over 800 music dance traditional and contemporary compositions to his credit. * He has also set music to over 1400 compositions of other composers including Tiruvalluvar;s 1330 Tirukkurals, Shlokas from Bhagavad Gita, Sangam literature pieces and works of Adi Shankara, Vedanta Deshika, Azhwar Pashurams, Annamacharya, Purandara Dasa, Arunagirinathar and select contemporary lyricists. * He discovered a new raga at age 2 and named it after his mother, Choodamani. * He created a world record in Jan 2016 by tuning the entire 1330 Tirukkural in merely 16 hours. * 5 Languages: Tamil, Sanskrit, Telugu, Hindi and Kannada * Musical forms: Geetam, Varnam, Krti, Tillana, Padam, Javali, Chindu, Bhajan and Shiruppuhazh (a la Arunagirinathar's Tiruppuhazh) Dance forms: Pada Varnams, Tillana, Padams, Pushpanjali, Melaprapti, Kavuttuvam, Shabdam, Shabdam and his own innovative Jati-Swara-Krti. * International Operas & dance productions like: Ramayana & Mahabharata, Lakshmi Prabhavam, Savitri, Vinayaka Vaibhavam, Almighty Trinity, Cosmos, Translation, Pushed to the Edge, Illusion to Resolution etc. * Dance collaborators: Dr Vyjayantimala Bali, Pt Birju Maharaj, Prof C V Chandrashekhar, Dr Padma Subramaniam, Dr Leela Samson, Shri Adyar Lakshmanan, Guru Rhadha and leading names in USA, Canada, Australia etc. * He has also composed secular non religious and educational songs. * He is also the only one to have created a new Indian raga on Beethoven called Veetavanam. Other ragas Discovered by him: Samapriya, Keshavapriya, Vaishnavi, Katyayani, Mohini (dedicated to Mahatma Gandhi), Andhakarini to name a few.. * He has also composed hundreds of short (Ragam Tanam) Pallavis, over 75% on-stage during his performances. Unique Works: Ravikiran is perhaps the first to: * Compose in each of the 35 talas of Carnatic Music, * Compose the 72-mela-ragamalika geetam. * Explore "Schematic svarakshara" pieces (where svaraksharas themselves have an underlying theme in each line like SR - RR - GR - MR or S,D - R,D - G,D- M,D etc) * Employ innovative approaches to incorporating Raga-mudra (name of raga) in multiple ways within the same composition, "Adharam nee enakku" where the raga name Kedaram appears directly or suggestively 8-9 times). * Special compositions on Destiny (Vidhi), Yama, Adishesha, Karna, Indrajit (S/o Ravana) etc. * Other creations: Eulogies on Buddha, Vyasa, Ramanuja, Tyagaraja, Carnatic Music Trinity, Ramana Maharshi, Swami Vivekananda, Kanchi Paramacharya, Mahatma Gandhi, Sitar maestro Ravi Shankar, M S Subbulakshmi, Guru Chitravina Narasimhan besides social critiques and philosophical works.