WCS
devissaro bio
background
Studied classical piano as a child growing up in Perth, Australia, and later commenced composition studies at the University of Western Australia under Dr John Exton. After one year however, I dropped out and moved south to the “alternative lifestyle” community, Belvedere, on the Leschenault Peninsula.
1980 Travelled to India in 1980, and have lived most of my life there ever since.
1983 Married dancer Daksha Sheth. We first settled in Delhi (1983-89), where I taught piano, while Daksha undertook further dance training. It was here we began our collaboration to explore new directions in Indian dance.
1983-89 I undertook training in Dhrupad vocal music under members of the illustrious Dagar family - Ustads Fahimuddin Dagar, Zahiruddin Dagar, Faiyazuddin Dagar and Sayeeduddin Dagar. I also studied bansuri (Indian bamboo flute) under Pandit Harsh Vardhan, and pakhawaj (horizontal drum) under Pandit Tota Ram.
In 1989 with our young daughter Isha, we moved south to join Protima Bedi in the very early days of Nrityagram (The Dance Village) outside of Bangalore.
1990 to 1993 we settled in the temple complex of Radha Raman Ghera, Vrindaban, where Daksha offered Nritya-seva.
1993 - Moved to Trivandrum, Kerala, now with our second child, son Tao, to add to our tribe. On the banks of Vellayani Lake outside Trivandrum, Daksha and I established "Natyashram", a centre for innovation and experimentation in the performing arts.
dance
1989 - Became co-Founder and co-Director with Daksha Sheth of the Daksha Sheth Dance Company, which over the past 30 years has gained international renown as one of the most visionary and path-breaking contemporary dance companies in India. The company has featured in International festivals in over 30 countries around the world.
In this collaborative and creative partnership, my main areas of responsibility have embraced conceptualization, visual direction, music direction and technical direction.
As Visual Director of all the company productions, my work has encompased stage design, set fabrication, light design, running the lighting desk during shows, and occasionally even costume design!
As Music Director, most of the works of the Daksha Sheth Dance Company over the past 30 years have been to original music composed by myself. This music has embraced a wide range of styles, including music for live onstage performance, recorded sound tracks produced by me, and recorded backing tracks combined with live onstage music.
As Technical Director of the company, I have been responsible for everything involved in the logistics, set-up and running of shows, both in Indian and when touring internationally.
theatre
1998 Composer and music director music for the world premiere of Girish Karnad's play "The Fire and the Rain" directed by Arjun Sajnani at Chowdiar Auditorium, Bangalore.
2006-8 Composer and Music Director for the British Council production of Shakespeare’s "Midsummer Nights Dream", directed by Tim Supple. Presented at the Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon as part of the Royal Shakespeare Company’s “Complete Works” Season of 2006, the show generated a torrent of unprecedented critical acclaim and subsequently toured the UK, India, the US, Canada and Australia notching up more than 300 shows, including a season at the Perth and Adelaide Festival of 2008.
“The most life-enhancing production of Shakespeare’s play since Peter Brook’s. The kind of Dream that leaves you wishing you never had to wake up” - The Guardian (UK Review 9 June 2006)
music ensembles
asima Founded in 1996, Asima is a male vocal and percussion ensemble comprising Carnatic trained musicians from Trivandrum. The music is a collaborative and cross-cultural experiment exploring areas of overlap between eastern and western music traditions, with music composed and directed by myself. The ensemble has performed in India and toured to Taiwan, the UK, Kuwait, China and France. Prestigious International festivals in which Asima has featured include the BBC Proms “Indian Voices” at the Royal Albert Hall, London in August 2009, and at the Millennium Stage of The Kennedy Centre, Washington in March 2011.
samatma A cross-cultural musical collaboration initiated by me, with the support of the British Council, that brought together 4 exceptional musicians; English cellist Matthew Sharp, Indian bansuri player Sameer Rao, Australian-based percussionist Tao Issaro and Indian keyboardist Yakzan Pereira, for world music performances in India.
Studied classical piano as a child growing up in Perth, Australia, and later commenced composition studies at the University of Western Australia under Dr John Exton. After one year however, I dropped out and moved south to the “alternative lifestyle” community, Belvedere, on the Leschenault Peninsula.
1980 Travelled to India in 1980, and have lived most of my life there ever since.
1983 Married dancer Daksha Sheth. We first settled in Delhi (1983-89), where I taught piano, while Daksha undertook further dance training. It was here we began our collaboration to explore new directions in Indian dance.
1983-89 I undertook training in Dhrupad vocal music under members of the illustrious Dagar family - Ustads Fahimuddin Dagar, Zahiruddin Dagar, Faiyazuddin Dagar and Sayeeduddin Dagar. I also studied bansuri (Indian bamboo flute) under Pandit Harsh Vardhan, and pakhawaj (horizontal drum) under Pandit Tota Ram.
In 1989 with our young daughter Isha, we moved south to join Protima Bedi in the very early days of Nrityagram (The Dance Village) outside of Bangalore.
1990 to 1993 we settled in the temple complex of Radha Raman Ghera, Vrindaban, where Daksha offered Nritya-seva.
1993 - Moved to Trivandrum, Kerala, now with our second child, son Tao, to add to our tribe. On the banks of Vellayani Lake outside Trivandrum, Daksha and I established "Natyashram", a centre for innovation and experimentation in the performing arts.
dance
1989 - Became co-Founder and co-Director with Daksha Sheth of the Daksha Sheth Dance Company, which over the past 30 years has gained international renown as one of the most visionary and path-breaking contemporary dance companies in India. The company has featured in International festivals in over 30 countries around the world.
In this collaborative and creative partnership, my main areas of responsibility have embraced conceptualization, visual direction, music direction and technical direction.
As Visual Director of all the company productions, my work has encompased stage design, set fabrication, light design, running the lighting desk during shows, and occasionally even costume design!
As Music Director, most of the works of the Daksha Sheth Dance Company over the past 30 years have been to original music composed by myself. This music has embraced a wide range of styles, including music for live onstage performance, recorded sound tracks produced by me, and recorded backing tracks combined with live onstage music.
As Technical Director of the company, I have been responsible for everything involved in the logistics, set-up and running of shows, both in Indian and when touring internationally.
theatre
1998 Composer and music director music for the world premiere of Girish Karnad's play "The Fire and the Rain" directed by Arjun Sajnani at Chowdiar Auditorium, Bangalore.
2006-8 Composer and Music Director for the British Council production of Shakespeare’s "Midsummer Nights Dream", directed by Tim Supple. Presented at the Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon as part of the Royal Shakespeare Company’s “Complete Works” Season of 2006, the show generated a torrent of unprecedented critical acclaim and subsequently toured the UK, India, the US, Canada and Australia notching up more than 300 shows, including a season at the Perth and Adelaide Festival of 2008.
“The most life-enhancing production of Shakespeare’s play since Peter Brook’s. The kind of Dream that leaves you wishing you never had to wake up” - The Guardian (UK Review 9 June 2006)
music ensembles
asima Founded in 1996, Asima is a male vocal and percussion ensemble comprising Carnatic trained musicians from Trivandrum. The music is a collaborative and cross-cultural experiment exploring areas of overlap between eastern and western music traditions, with music composed and directed by myself. The ensemble has performed in India and toured to Taiwan, the UK, Kuwait, China and France. Prestigious International festivals in which Asima has featured include the BBC Proms “Indian Voices” at the Royal Albert Hall, London in August 2009, and at the Millennium Stage of The Kennedy Centre, Washington in March 2011.
samatma A cross-cultural musical collaboration initiated by me, with the support of the British Council, that brought together 4 exceptional musicians; English cellist Matthew Sharp, Indian bansuri player Sameer Rao, Australian-based percussionist Tao Issaro and Indian keyboardist Yakzan Pereira, for world music performances in India.
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