Dance, music, theatre and art - events worth your time this winter

As the holidays approach, Ranjita Ganesan lists the best performances and activities on offer around the country

Music

 

Beyond the brief
 

Music virtuosos will take instruments beyond their conventional roles in the Aadi Anant: From Here to Eternity festival. Zakir Hussain, the world-renowned tabla maestro, will show off the instrument’s versatility by using it for its typical purpose — to give rhythmic accompaniment to Hindustani music and Kathak dance — as well as for presenting a more active and creative solo performance. Sitar exponent Niladri Kumar will play alongside him. 
 

Where: Tata Theatre, National Centre for the Performing Arts, Mumbai
 

When: December 14, 2019
 

Zakhir Husain and Niladri Kumar

Notes of nostalgia
 

Bengali music legend Kabir Suman, known for creating “Tomake Chai”, “Jagorane Jay Bibhabori”, “Gaanola”, among other songs, returns to perform Kheyal sangeet in the purest form and share his life stories and poetry.
 

Where: Nazrul Mancha, Kolkata
 

When: December 25, 2019
 

Kabir Suman

Dublin to Mumbai

Irish rockers U2 will belt out “Where the Streets have No Name” and several other wistful anthems, which they wrote in the late 1980s for the first time in India. Nostalgia is expected to reign at the concert as crowds wave their arms and sing along to tracks of The Joshua Tree album like “With or Without You” and “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking for”. There will also be giant screens projecting films shot by the band’s long-time visual collaborator Anton Corbijn.
 

Where: D Y Patil Stadium, Navi Mumbai
 

When: December 15, 2019

U2

Dance

Ballet ballet

Dancers from the Russian Classical Ballet group promise to enthral audiences as they perform Don Quixote, Bluebird, Spartacus, Coppelia and Paquita.

Where: Arya Auditorium, New Delhi

When: December 21, 2019

Russian Classical Ballet

Time-honoured
 

Dance styles as diverse as Manipuri, Kuchipudi and Yakshagana will be presented at the Kalakshetra Foundation’s 66th Annual Art Festival. Music and dance from the Northeast region, too, will be represented in this Chennai event with Prashanna Gogoi and his group’s production called Bihuti. There will also be music recitals — a Hindustani classical performance by Sanjeev Abhyankar and Carnatic renditions featuring vocalists S Sowmya and Ranjani-Gayatri.
 

Where: Kalakshetra Academy, Chennai
 

When: December 20, 2019-January 1, 2020
 

Kalakshetra Foundation’s 66th Annual Art Festival

Theatre

 

Travel heavy
 

A play about boyhood wonder, which features a transcultural cast of actors and musicians, is returning to Bengaluru after 120 shows across continents. Directed by Andrea Gronemeyer, Boy with a Suitcase is the story of a 12-year-old, Naz, who sets off on an adventure-filled, often arduous journey to be with his sister in London.
 

Where: Ranga Shankara, Bengaluru
 

When: December 14, 2019, 11 am
 

Boy with a Suitcase

Cop in control 

Actor Amol Palekar takes to the stage after 25 years in Kusur as a retired assistant police commissioner, Dandavate, who volunteers in the police control room. He receives various calls for help from which mystery slowly builds and unravels. The sound design becomes a character in the play, which is adapted by Sandhya Gokhale from Den Skyldige (written by Gustav Moller and Emil Anderson), as it makes the audience question its assumptions.
 

Where: Multiple venues in Pune and Mumbai
 

When: December 21-28, 2019
 

Kusur

Telling tales 

A storytelling festival next year will showcase some local and faraway oral traditions ranging from folk ensemble to shamanic storytelling and dastangoi. Both young and old are expected to participate over the course of three days. Led by artists, authors and journalists from various parts of India and the world, the festival hopes to revive the culture of storytelling. 
 

Where: Park Exotica, Udaipur
 

When: February 21-23, 2020
 

Comedy

 

Hold that thought
 

Catch Kunal Kamra taking his special Fresher Thoughts on the road for a final tour, before ending the show in his home town Mumbai. Uncles, journalists, politicians, and all life become the target in his jokes, which intend to make people laugh and think.
 

Where: Multiple venues across cities (for details, visit www.bookmyshow.com)
 

When: December 2019

 

Keeping up with Kumar 
 

Dreams of singing and serenading will play  out on stage in the musical comedy Jhumroo. This is the story of Bhola, a young ad agency employee with an unexceptional voice who still wants to be a singing star and confess his love for a co-worker. With some help from the spirit of Kishore Kumar, he makes it to a reality show. The cast is led by Gaurav Gera.
 

Where: Kingdom of Dreams, NCR
 

When: Various dates in December

Jhumroo

Dining Out

 

Eat street
 

As many as 70 stalls will pop up for a Christmas Bazaar to serve food and handcrafted jewellery and clothing. With music and bright lights in the mix, this may be a good place to make an evening of shopping for holiday gifts.
 

Where: The Bohemian House, Bengaluru
 

When: December 14, 2019

Raid the closet

That Yellow Closet, a Hyderabad pop-up concept, will have a Christmas edition. Holiday revellers will get a chance to pair food with shopping, and mix things up by attending a workshop or exhibition while there.

Where: Fat Pigeon, Hyderabad

When: December 15, 2019

 

Christmas Bazaar

ART

 

Commute on canvas
 

Walking through Soul City is a retrospective of Sudhir Patwardhan’s unmatched work as a chronicler of Mumbai. He has painted the in-between, overlooked realities of the city that make up its pulsing heart. Spread over NGMA’s vast galleries, his works show the consistencies, changes and injustices in life there. The exhibition has been curated by Nancy Adajania. 

Where: National Gallery of Modern Art, Mumbai

When: Until February 12, 2020

 

 

Missed calls

 

After winning the 2019 Joan Miro Prize, Nalini Malani has returned to Mumbai with a solo show, Can you hear me? The title is a reference to a 2018 animation about a minor girl who was raped and whose screams went unheard. The careless or deliberate neglecting of the dispossessed and their wretched cries become the centre of the exhibition, which uses bright colours and peculiar sounds to amplify the irony and absurdity of this scenario.

Where: Max Mueller Bhavan, Mumbai
 

When: Until January 2, 2020