What is actually hip hop? In the conversation with Drupad at Youth Center we talked about that. Many times is wrongly mistaken by gangsta rapping but basically is hip hop defined by five key stylistic elements rapping , DJing andscratching, sampling , beatboxing and dancing. They're saying that Hip hop began in the South Bronx of New York City in the 1970s. And we found out what that got to do with the Youth Center. Read more

How Auroville sounds... to me, to you ? This sound is just to express my fully and deep gratitude towards my Auroville's friends et ce quelque chose de si particulier ici à Auroville que j'aime tant. One may recognize the 15th august dawn fire, the famous Dalai Lama's question, the Matrimandir inner chamber silence, monsoon and more. Just listen and experience how beautiful sounds Auroville.

On Sunday 15 th of August at Bharat Nivas in the morning was the celebration for the birthday of Sri Aurobindo and for the Independence day of India. In the opening talk of Anu we could remember that Sri Aurobidno saw that for the evolution of mankind was important for all nations to be free, and India had to take the role to start that process. In the ideal human unity this evolution would regard mankind as one single nation, that a free world union must it in its very nature be a complex unity, based on diversity, and that diversity must be based on a free self determination. Final dream was not limited in time. It carry the seeds of evolution into the future of humanity, and there we see the birth of Auroville already placed as a seed to experiment of the future of Humanity. Read more

Today's news features an interview with Akash of Aquaponics. He talks about the art of growing plants without soil; it's done with a pond of water with fishes happily swimming about and thereby supplying the required nutrients for the plants to grow through their waste. Also in the news an announcement for Sunday's Dawnfire at the Amphitheatre in recognition of Sri Aurobindo's birthday and in the evening, a musical offering 'Sri Aravindaya Namaha' performed by Nadaka and Gopika at Arka.

The beauty in Auroville lies also in different surprises, and most of them do turn up as beautiful, inspiring, uplifting. Sunday couldn't finish its afternoon better than with a concert of classical music. Our ear buds were treated exceptionally with great voices of two guests – Sarah Aristidou and Eleonore Marmoret, studying opera singing in Paris, and accompanied by Carel on piano. With short songs and arias from operas we traveled trough centuries of European classical music... Pergolesi, Faure, Caccini, Cesarini, Mendhelssohn, Hayden, Strauss, Vivaldi, Mozart, Wolf, Satie...

Yes, Auroville Today is back after few months gap, and it's even richer than before, covering many interesting topics and interviews. Today we can see talk with slide show by Michel Danino about his latest work “The Lost River” which has provided an unexpected bridge between the Vedic world and the Indus-Sarasvati civilization in Cinema Paradiso in Town Hall. At the same place you can see an Italian comedy made in 2008 by Giulio Manfredonia. At Bharat Nivas they start with seven sessions of Well Being(Pranayama) workshop from Wednesday 11th of August.

Today's news offers and excerpt from yesterday's presentation of Odissi dance and chants from all over the world. Also in the news an announcement for the workshop “Compassionate Living Deepening: Fluency and Street Giraffe” by Laura on Saturday, which is based on the concept of Nonviolent communication. Also on Saturday: the clown workshop led by Astrid. The movie “City of Dawn is now available at the Visitor's Centre” and the Auroville Premiere League of Basketball has begun.

It has been quite some time since we had an opportunity or a reason to go to Verite for a cultural event, but Thursday night 5th of August proved again that the hall can offer some intimate settings with good acoustics. It felt good to enjoy the intimacy of the numerous listeners in the audience and the artist at the same time...like a circle of friends. Ana's origin is from Portugal, and Andy from Hungary; he danced for the Divine and for us to Odissi dance, which they learned from the same teacher. Both of them mastered postures and gestures of that very specific and elaborated dance, in which each hand gesture has a meaning and a reason. Tiago, Chloe, Caroline and Mariana rocked us with their melodious voices to Africa between dances. Read more

On Thursday 22nd of July the weather here in Auroville is cloudy, and it does feel like a little monsoon. Tonight you can sing Mantras at 7 pm at Verite with Deep or go and see a French Israeli movie Valse Avec Bachir at 8pm at Cinema Paradiso in Town Hall. If you would like to have a consultation from Tibetan Doctor you need an appointment with Kalsang at Pavilion of Tibetan Culture. For safety of us all we got 24/7 security Service available at 94433 62691 and at 94439 90107, and you can can also write to them at avsecurity@auroville.org.in, and 24 hour hotline for women needing support after an incidence of sexual or other violence on the road at 944 235 7690. Read more

Today's news includes several announcements. There will be a fusion concert tonight at 7.45 p.m. at the Sri Aurobindo Auditorium combining Jazz and Funk with traditional Indian music styles. And the Multimedia Center starts showing German movies again. Tonight: My name is Bach, a biography-drama about Johann Sebastian Bach. The Freeland Bookshop offers new books and a preview for tomorrow morning for an introduction about the Integral Yoga of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother. Read more

Nadaka and Gopika just returned from their last journey which took them from Canada to Southern California, LA, San Diego and finally British Columbia – a place which they describe as amazing. Listen to their experiences about traveling with their three children, the different vibrations they felt in the USA and in Canada and the inspiration they got from their trip. And of course, you will be able to hear some samples of their beautiful music as well. For more more information about Nadaka and Gopika visit the website www.shantakaram.net.

Cette semaine nous sommes avec Caroline qui nous parle du yoga de la voix. Elle a été formé par Clare Fanning, ancienne aurovilienne, qui, après avoir pratiqué la technique Bel Canto (technique utilisée par les chanteurs d'opéra) a crée une méthode de travail sur les cordes vocales qui intègre la pratique d'asanas (positions de yoga). Outre le chant et le yoga, Caroline adore parler d'argent, c'est dans ces gènes comme elle le dit. On lui a posé, avec Paulo, quelques questions sur le rapport d'Auroville avec l'argent. Read more

Auroville band, which is playing “acoustic indo pop”, is a unique combination of musicians with leading vocal, and guitar player Krishna McKenzie, Mishko M'Ba on bass, Karthick Srinivasan on violin and Suresh Bascara on drums. Over the years they were always warmly welcomed by the Auruoville public, but their voice is spreading... About their music, honesty, recognition, and about his life we talked with Krishna. More about them or if you would like to follow up, you can find on www.emergence.in or www.emergencemusic.dreamhosters.com/may

Bhajans have always been a mainstay of devotional music in Hinduism and the rousing passion of voices accompanied by nothing but cymbals has made centuries of minds soar. Over the last couple of decades however bhajans have been influenced by other music traditions like Bollywood and gazals, light classical music and western instruments. In a move to counter this and find the real community flavour of bhajans, there is a new revival of the music without heavy instrumentation, in southern India. The bhajans last all night and the songs move from one deity to the next and so on. Read more

Today's news features an interview with Kate, a volunteer at an orphanage in Pondicherry, who is organizing a benefit concert on Sunday, the 6th of June at the beach. Also in the news an excerpt from Auroville's Community General Meeting regarding l’Avenir d'Auroville, which was held on Tuesday, the 2nd of June. And the Ultimate frisbee team is looking for new members who would like to participate in a tournament in the beginning of July in Bangalore.

Y'a pas d'soucis. Avec des si, on peut faire beaucoup de choses. C'est comme avec les « y-a-ka : y-a-ka-faire, y-a-ka-dire, y-a-ka-pas... ». Si, nous vous parlons du « si », c'est qu'aujourd'hui nous démarrons notre chronique avec un si. Nous supposons donc quelque chose qui peut vous arriver, si vous n'y prenez pas garde. Et si par malheur, vous allez trainer dans la zone résidentielle, alors là, tout est possible. Car ils sont là tous les bébés du future. Ils sont chez eux. Tous ces mômes sont at home. Et ils n'attendent plus que vous pour faire les fous. Ne venez donc pas vous plaindre en grommelant « si j'avais su » que l'on ne vous avez pas prévenu.

Last Saturday, the 15th of May Carl Bernstein gave a concert at the Bharat Nivas Auditorium. Carl Bernstein was born in Detroit, Michigan, USA. At the age of sixteen he concentrated his attention on the guitar and later studied with some of the world's most renowned guitarists. He has performed at many locations in the United States and has been a guitar teacher for over 40 years. The artist performs music in many styles including classical, improvisational, popular and original compositions. Here you can listen to the whole concert.

It was last Friday, around 9 pm. at la Terrace. Many people, mainly guest from Auroville and few Aurovilians were there. Also those two guys. Two guys from Netherlands who came only for two weeks, they are part of the famous “Kyteman Hip Hop Orchestra”. They invite us to an unexpected jam where everybody could participate through singing and drumming. But suddenly everything stop! Why?? This is a good question, hear this sound and perhaps you will understand.

Dhrupad is believed to be one of the oldest genres of Hindustani classical music that is still in use. Thematic matter ranges from the religious and spiritual to royal panegyrics, musicology and romance. Last Saturday, the 24th of April, the Pavilion of India presented a dhrupad-concert at the Bharat Nivas Auditorium. Sunita Avani Amin, a student of Ustad Zia Fariddudin Dagar was first explaining and then singing the songs. She was accompanied by Shri Sanjay Agle with the Pakhawaj, the northindian drum.

Ambiance sourire à Auroville: ca sent les vacances ! Pour clore en musique l'année scolaire, l'école "Libre Progrès " de New Creation offre une série de concerts. Situé au cœur des villages, cette école accueille principalement les enfants tamils défavorisés. Cette semaine les enfants ont participé à un projet de chorale avec Laurent Hirsch, musicien pédagogue au grand cœur. Le projet, soutenu par L'Unesco dans le cadre du rapprochement des cultures, prévoie une tournée en France et la sortie d'un disque. Une grande aventure les attends pour ces premières grandes vacances au delà des océans. Read more

Today's news features an excerpt from the dhrupad-concert held on Saturday, the 24th of April at the Bharat Nivas Auditorium. Dhrupad is believed to be one of the oldest genres of Hindustani classical music. Also in the news an announcement for a presentation about the shared space concept by Karl-Heinz Posch followed by a discussion on Wednesday the 28th of April at 7.30 p.m. In the Town Hall conference room and the presentation of the Auroville Green Portal on Friday, the 30th of April. Read more

Friday the 16th of April 2010 the Auditorium in the Bharat Nivas Complex was packed. Parents and children took the sits at 6.30 PM in order to enjoy the cultural program organized by What Can We Do For Auroville's group. Most of the dance and singing schools of Auroville presented their performances. At the event were present the Governor of Puducherry Mr. Iqbal Singh along with the Secretary of the Auroville Foundation, Mr. Ramaswamy. Many people sits on the Auditorium's stairs since the participation was great. This was the last event celebrating the 100th anniversary of the arrival of Sri Aurobindo in Pondicherry.

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On the 14 of April teachers and students of the Sri Aurobindo International Centre of Education - Pondicherry - presented a musical composition by Shobba Mitra. This event was organized by the Centre of Indian Studies, Bharat Nivas, and was part of the celebration of the centenary of Sri Aurobindo's arrival in Pondicherry. SAICE is an integral part of Sri Aurobindo Ashram and it serves as a field for new experiment and research in education. Sri Aurobindo considered the formation of an Education Centre as one of the best means of realizing at end. It was, therefore, in order to give a concrete shape to his vision that the Mother opened a school for children on December 2, 1943.

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We walked along together for a while. We went to some places through Tamil Nadu meeting Indian people and culture. We asked them to sing a little song just like that. Discover India through their voices: at a local market, then harvesting in a rice field, or at Pour Tous Auroville supermarket, inside a church for Easter and finally walking among mountains in Kodaikanal.

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Last Friday, the 19th of March, there was a fundraising event in order to help performing artists in Auroville: The Cabaret Evening. It included live music, theater, dance, mime show and many more things. Auroville Performing Arts is an association of directors, singers, dancers, actors and technicians willing to coordinate their artistic and technical energy to offer the best conditions of work and performance for aurovillian and non-aurovillian performers. This project was about enlisting performers and fund-raising, to enable organizing schedules for venues, equipment and engineers, getting money to maintain the equipment and to support performing artists, to attract external performers to enrich the artistic life in Auroville and also in order to spread the Auroville experience.

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Bharat Nivas, the 23rd of March - it might have been one of the boring Tuesday nights but it turned out into a special treat for music lovers, and the Emergence are so unique with their special blend of soft expressive grooves of rock, blended by funk and ethnic rhythms. Krishna's lyrics are expression of his journey trough life and India, which lately is clearly defined by life and work on Solitude Farm.

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On Friday the 12th the Brand New Band performed an amazing concert in Visitor's Center: A Blue Groove! An eclectic electric mix of sound from the ever energized Brand New Band featuring the one and only Auroville Kids Choir. Combining old songs, contemporary songs and songs from all over the world in an impressive and virtuosic way, the Brand New Band created a warm and joyful atmosphere of sounds everyone was happy listening. We are already looking forward to their next concert. More pictures in Read More. Read more

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On the 10 of March a shortly announced Music Open House was performed. Kids from the 1st till the 8th grade gatherd on the Transition's school small amphiteater in the early afternoon. Parents and friends claps and enjoied the performance. The choir was conducted by Nuria and accompanied by Matt on piano and Saga on guitar. Listen and enjoy the voices of the Auroville's kids and the passionate participation of the audience.

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On Thursday the 17th of February at SAWCHU we had a chance to see a part of folk art from 120 youth who came from all over of India to participate on  National Integration Program held in Pondicherry. In about an hour long program we saw a group from the north of India with some songs and dancing, two groups from the south with dances and drumming, and boys group dancing on recorded music, and with colorful costumes.

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On Saturday, the 20th of February 2010 there was a Tibetan Dance Performance by  visiting students from Dharamsala and Chennai and the Bharat Nivas Auditorium was full of curious people. Before the main dance performance the audience could listen to Nandita Di and children from Auroville, who welcomed the student performers with three Hindustani Vocals: Mother's Mantra, Sri Aurobindo's Mantra and a song called Tin Tin. The singing was accompanied by Debashish Das with the tabla. Here you can listen to the three songs..

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