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Ranjana Phadke
post-graduated (Nritya Alankar) in Kathak from Gandharva
Mahavidyalaya, and pursued her B.Sc. (Statistics) from
Pune University.
Ranjana has been a performing kathak artist
for the last 16 years. She has had the privilege to
perform at the Pune Festival, Pt. Ram Marathe Festival,
Thane Municipal Corporation Festival, Festivals organised
by the Cultural Affairs Directorate, the Maharashtra
Government, and Apna Utsav, to mention a few. She has
also given performances in the U.K. and Netherlands.
As a Kathak artiste, Ranjana Phadke has
choreographed and presented a number of ballets and
dance dramas. She has choreographed Kathak dance items
in group forms, which she presents along with her students.
All these items include the training that she and her
senior disciples, have been undergoing for the last
ten years. Ranjana choreographed dances on poems penned
by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee at a special
programme presented in Pune and has also performed on
invitation from the National Centre for Performing Arts,
Nehru Centre, ISKCON and the Karnataka Sangh.
She has been approved by the Doordarshan
Kendra (Mumbai) as their artist. Ranjana also conducts
workshops for young artists.
Ranjana Phadke has undertaken a study
of the co-relation between Kathak and Health, in which
prominent doctors have agreed to contribute their knowledge
and expertise.

This dance-drama
depicts similarity between the cycle of human life and
the seasons from birth to end.
[This Sanskrit work is penned by
Pt. Prabhakar Bhatkhande and the playback provided by
Asha Khadilkar and Ravindra Sathe. Asha Khadilkar has
also composed the music for the same.
The cultural department for Human Resource Ministry
Government of India had financed this project. It was
presented at the Kalidas Festival at Ujjain, the National
Ballet Festival at Nehru
Centre, the Uday Shankar Ballet Festival at Jaipur and
the Sanskrit Nritya-Natya Mahotsav at Tirupati.]

This dance-drama
underlines
importance of non-violence in the form of a mythological
story.
A hungry hunter, on the auspicious day of Mahashivratri,
perches on a "Bel" tree waiting for a couple
of deer to turn up to drink water. When he is about
to kill them, each of the deer pleads to him that they
be allowed to meet their beloved ones with the assurance
that they will return to him. The hunter allows them
to leave. Unknowingly, the hunter drops a few leaves
on a "Pindi" of Lord Shiv Shankar, at the
bottom of the tree.
When the deer return, the hunter's heart melts and he
realises the folly of killing animals and vows never
to do so in the future.
This act of both, the hunter and the deer pleases Lord
Shankar, who blesses them by awarding them an eternal
position in the celestial.
[Noted
poet G.D. Madgulkar has penned this tale. Ravindra Sathe and Uttara Kelkar provided
the playback. This dance has been telecast on Doordarshan and at festivals in
prominent cities like Pune, Nasik, and Thane.]

which presents more
than 700-year old history of Marathi poetry, on recorded
music.
[Besides Mumbai, Ranjana Phadke and her troupe have
also presented this dance-drama at the Maharashtra Mandal,
London, the Somaiyya College Annual Festival, "AnandParva"
and at many other annual day celebrations of prestigious
organisations.]

[Ranjana Phadke also presented a
novel programme, the "Nritya Samvad" in which,
besides the performance, she also explains the finer
aspects of Kathak. Ranjana has presented the "Nritya
Samvad" to a huge and appreciative audience in
Mumbai and Pune. She was also invited by Doordarshan
for a popular programme"Hallo Sakhi", a phone-in-programme
to explain her nuiances of Kathak. Ranjana Phadke has
also performed in the U.K. and Netherlands.]

The state of mind of a Nayika in which she finds herself
vis-a-vis her Nayaka, the beloved.
[The natyashastra lists eight states of the mind and
Ranjana depicts these nayikas through various Hindi
classical songs.]
Other presitigious
performances to Ranjana's credit include, Kalnirnay
Annual Cultural Nite, Maharashtra Times Sanman Sandhya,
the Government of Maharashtra's Marathi Films Awards
Function and others.
During Ranjana's journey
as a kathak artist, a number of corporate houses including
Hindustan Lever, Glaxosmithkleine, Mahindra and Mahindra,
Voltas, Arvind Mills, Kalnirnay, Asian Paints, Jankalyan
Bank, and the Thane Janata Sahakari Bank, to mention
a few, have sponsored her shows.

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