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Bhoomikaa
5300 Waterview Drive, Rockville, MD 20853. Tel.
301-871-2234
Bhoomikaa
Inc. a Theater Arts Organizatio, in Maryland, USA
A
non-profit, Charitable (tax-exempted) Organization since 1995.
Tax ID-52-1911921
Bhoomikaa was founded with
the sole purpose of promoting the theater and theater arts related activities
in the local community on September 1994, formally registered in March 1995. The
group takes its origin from South India, the culturally rich "Kannada" speaking language. The intention is to introduce/share the
richness of the ethnic/folk and theater arts to the broader community by
performing both the original language and the English versions. In addition, Bhoomikaa also intends to arrange and hold reading/discussions and
workshops relating to the promotion of plays and theater arts. Bhoomikaa
invites anyone who is a serious theater-lover interested in participating in
such activities.
As part of the theater
arts-related activities, presentations, discussions and information exchanges
are being conducted on second Sunday of every month. As the main aim of Bhoomikaa is to build the awareness about the Kannada Theater and its heritage (more than 1500 year old)
to the broader community, it is essential to introduce and share its language,
literature, folk arts including dance and music related to the production of
the plays. Monthly discussions by the
members of the group, volunteers, visiting and invited artists, and
professionals are being conducted since the inception of the organization.
As an extension of this program, independent books have been
published by two of the active members of Bhoomikaa:
1.
Mathugalu by P.N. Srinivas. A compilation of three talks/discussions
on literary criticism held at Bhoomikaa during 1998-2000. Published and released
in India, August 2000.
2.
The Faith by Manohar
Kulakarni. (Translation of a Kannada play “Saththavara NeraLU”) The play was
published and released on Nov 20 th, 1998, during the celebration of
the 200th performance of Sattavara Neralu by Benaka, Bangalore, India.
3.
Chalanachithra
Nirdeshaka by P.N. Srinivas. Portraying the roles played by a typical
director in making a movie (Presented/discussed
at monthly forum during 2001). June 2003, India.
4.
Nade by P.N.
Srinivas. A thought-provoking novel depicting the significance of
cultural differences in the social life of east and west. June 2003. India
Since the inception of the organization, five major theatrical
plays were produced and presented.
1.
Jookumaraswami. 1995. A folk play consisting of music
and dance, comprising more than 26 artist-volunteers was staged. The artists were all from the local
community with little or no stage experience.
During their participation in the production, they were given the
training in various technical aspects of theater arts, including the cultural
background, and significance of the play in which they are part of it. The net
proceedings from this production were donated to Kannada Sahitya Parishat,
Bangalore, Karnataka, through local Kaveri Cultural Organization.
2.
The Square Peg (Trishanku,
in Hindi) 1997. An Indian
contemporary social satire-play was transformed and suitably modified into
American spoken English by Manohar
Kulakarni, the director-founder, and staged during June 1997. This play was
staged in the spirit of celebrating the 50th anniversary of Indian
Independence. The play with a crew of
28 volunteer artists depicted the social structure and its role in determining
the fate of the young generation in the newly liberated India. The universality
of the theme, and the modern artistic stage techniques were very much
appreciated by the audience.
3.
Ashadh ka Ek Din (One
day in Monsoon) 1998. The play is an endeavor tracing the source of
inspiration for the romantic and creative life of the great Sanskrit poet
Kalidasa, the author of A Cloud messenger
(Meghadootha) and Abhignana Shakuntala, existed around 57 B.C. The play being
historical, a great deal of effort is invested in making the costumes,
settings, and music, to make the play as authentic as possible. Once again all
the artifacts were made by the participating volunteers locally. Two performances were staged for the fund
raising event of Vedantha center for greater Washington, USA, (an affiliate of
Ramakrishna Mission) and for the aid to the opening of CRY, USA (Washington
D.C. branch of Child Relief and You- an international charitable organization).
It was staged during the early spring
of 1998.
4.
Yayathi 2000. A service to the
local cultural organization, Kaveri. The play was based on Mahabharata – the
great Indian Epic - was produced in the month of May 2000. To date six performances of the play have
been given in various parts of USA.
5.
Vyuha 2003.
Written and directed by Manohar Kulakarni was staged on June 29th,
2003 at SSVT Temple Lanham, MD. The
Drama festival was hosted by Kaveri Cultural Association.
Other activities:
Hindustani light music concert in the aid of Earthquake victims,
India, was arranged on March 2001.
Dakshayajna -Yakshagana production by a local group was sponsored
on April 18, 2002.
Rangapravesha by Miss Prkruthi Prativadi was sponsored on May 25, 2002.
Bhoomikaa was invited to present its activities at Magical
Montgomery 2002 on September 28, 2002. An art festival hosted by Montgomery
County Arts and Humanities Council MD.
Narakasura Vadhe–Yakshagana was staged.
Many more community related activities are and being provided as
service by Bhoomikaa and its core members. The list goes on and on…