2ND SEMESTER PAPER4- ACTIVITIES

ART EDUCATION:

ACTIVITY1:

Burra katha

Burra katha, also spelled Burrakatha, is an a oral storytelling technique in the Katha
tradition, performed in villages of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. The troupe consists of one
main performer and two co-performers. It is a narrative entertainment that consists of prayers,
solo drama, dance, songs, poems and jokes. The topic will be either a Hindu mythological
story or a contemporary social issue.[1]

Contents

 1 Origin
 2 Etymology
 3 Alternative names
 4 History
 5 Modern form
 6 Significance
 7 Present
 8 See also
 9 References
 10 Bibliography
 11 External links

Origin

Burra - Katha was developed in Guntur district around 1942 with the aim of propagating
political ideas among illiterate masses in villages.[2] The communists with the help of Andhra
Praja Natya Mandali founded by Mikkilineni Radhakrishna Murthy in Bezawada spread the
message to the masses in the Naizam region during the rebellion against Nizam in the 1940s.

Etymology

"Burra" is referred to tambura, a musical string instrument with a hollow shell. "Katha"
means story.

Burra means a skull in Telugu. The shell resembles a human skull. It is made of baked clay or
dried pumpkin, or of brass and copper. The instrument looks very similar to veena and the
performer can pull and press strings to get music.
Alternative names

Burrakatha refers to the art throughout Andhra Pradesh, and there are local names in each
region.

 Coastal region: Tamboora or Jangam or Tandanana Katha

 Rayalaseema: Tamboora or Tandana katha or suddulu
 Telangana: Tamboora or Sarada katha

History

Burrakatha started as devotional songs of nomadic people and became a popular art form. It
is played on radio and TV regularly in Andhra Pradesh. It is a 20th-century name for the
theater show known as Jangam Katha. The jangams were wandering minstrels who
worshiped and sang of Siva. Two performers participated in these plays: the storyteller and
his wife. With societal and cultural changes, the secular aspect was incorporated into this
form. The modern form has three performers of any gender.

Popular Hindu artists were Pendyala Venkateswarrao, Paruchuri Ramakotayya, Sirivisetti

Subbarao, Kosuri Punnayya, Govardhana, Kakumanu Subbarao, Davuluru, Chintalal
Suryanarayana, Budagajangala mote papaiah, Budagajangala mote kullayappa,
Budagajangala mote ramalingam, etc. Women also formed groups, e.g., Moturi Udayam,
Chintala Koteswaramma, Mahankali Lakshmi, Sridevi sisters, etc. Popular non-Hindu artists
are Abraham Bhagavatar, Manohara Kavi, Khader Khan Sahib, Shaik Nazar etc.

Modern form

The main storyteller (kathakudu) narrates the story. He plays tambura and dances to music.
He also wears a metal ring called an andelu on his right thumb, holds another ring in his other
hand and adds more music by colliding them frequently. The co-performers plays gummeta
(also called dakki or budike), earthen drums with two heads. All three or only the kathakadu
wear anklets (also called as gajjelu), which add even more music when they dance.

The right side performer (hasyaka, meaning joker) acts as a joker and cracks satires and
jokes. The left side performer (rajakiya, meaning politician) acts as someone who knows
worldly ways and talks about politics and social issues. The main performer and co-
performers constantly was address each other. The co-performers interrupt the kathakudu
with doubts, and they sometimes add emphasis to the main events in the story with short
words similar to "Wow!" "Aha!" and "That is it."

Whenever the main performer sings a song, he or she starts with "vinara veera kumara veera
gadha vinara" followed by the co-performers singing "tandhana tane tandhana na." It is also
called 'tandana katha.'

Significance

Burra katha was a pastime event in villages. It is seen even now during Dussehra or Sankranti
festival seasons to describe events in epics like Ramayan and Mahabharat and also some of
best and moral stories of kings like kambojaraju katha, chinnamma katha, muggurumoratila
katha, etc.

It played an effective role in conveying message to people and awakening them during Indian
Independence Movement. Burrakatha was banned in Madras by the British government and
in Hyderabad kingdom by Nizam government, because it was the medium to enlighten the
people of the political situation in political meetings.

Present

Burrakatha tellers are called as budagajangalu. Internet and movies play a major role in
modern life. That's why the burrakathas are not being seen and no one is there to develop this
and improve the art. In past these burrakatha tellers were important in the villages; now there
is no response for their art.

So these burrakatha tellers left their traditional art and have become beggars or day labourers.
Even in these modern times, there are no educated people in this tribe. They don't have caste
certificates for developing their tribe.

‘Burrakatha’ spreads the message

'Burrakatha' artistes in action at the programme in Vijayawada on Tuesday.— Photo: V. Raju

Vasavya Mahila Mandali (VMM) is using the traditional art form ‘burrakatha’ to create
awareness among the public on AIDS and alcohol.
As part of the World AIDS Day programmes, Vasavya Mahila Mandali in association with
Apollo Tyres Health Care Centre, organised a ‘burrakatha’ at Pantakaluva Centre in
Autonagar in the city on Tuesday.

Gangadhar and troupe of the city explained the drivers and cleaners on how AIDS and other
Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STD) would affect them.

Project coordinator K. Srinivas Rao said it was the duty of every citizen to fight against the
dreaded disease. VMM was conducting sensitisation programmes through brochures, stage
plays and documentaries against alcohol and sexual diseases.

Apollo Health Care Centre is organising 21 centres across India, and public can use the
services for one month by paying Rs.15 each, said counsellor A.J.R. Satya Prasad.

The troupe explained how alcohol and AIDS was spoiling the lives of the public, particularly
those who were in motor field.

The artistes appealed to the public to keep away from bad habits and lead happy lives. VMM
lab technician M. Nagendra Babu, out reach staff J. Chandrashekar, V. Raja Mohan and A.
Rajesh were among those who conducted the programme.

VMM uses the traditional art form to spread awareness on AIDS and alcohol

ACTIVITY2:

art form
art form
 An activity or a piece of artistic work that can be regarded as a medium of artistic
expression.
 (Art Terms) a conventionally established form of artistic composition, such as the
symphony or the sonnet
 (Art Terms) a recognized medium of artistic expression


 the structure of an artistic work.

 a medium for artistic expression.
 any medium regarded as having systematized rules, procedures, or formulations.
 The form of a work is its shape, including its volume or perceived volume. A three-
dimensional artwork has depth as well as width and height. Three-dimensional form is the
basis of sculpture.

Elements of art
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A work of art can be analysed by considering a variety of aspects of it individually. These
aspects are often called the elements of art. A commonly used list of the main elements
include form, line, color, space and texture.

Form
The form of a work is its shape, including its volume or perceived volume. A three-
dimensional artwork has depth as well as width and height. Three-dimensional form is the
basis of sculpture.[1] However, two-dimensional artwork can achieve the illusion of form with
the use of perspective and/or shading or modelling techniques.[2][3] Formalism is the analysis
of works by their form or shapes in art history or archeology.

Line
Lines and curves are marks that span a distance between two points (or the path of a moving
point). As an element of visual art, line is the use of various marks, outlines and implied lines
in artwork and design. A line has a width, direction, and length.[1] A line's width is sometimes
called its "thickness". Lines are sometimes called "strokes", especially when referring to lines
in digital artwork.

Color
Color is the element of art that is produced when light, striking an object, is reflected back to
the eye.[1] There are three properties to colour. The first is hue, which simply means the name
we give to a colour (red, yellow, blue, green, etc.). The second property is intensity, which
refers to the vividness of the colour. A colour's intensity is sometimes referred to as its
"colourfulness", its "saturation", its "purity" or its "strength".The third and final property of
colour is its value, meaning how light or dark it is.[4] The terms shade and tint refer to value
changes in colours. In painting, shades are created by adding black to a colour, while tints are
created by adding white to a colour.[2]

Space
Space is an area that an artist provides for a particular purpose.[1] Space includes the
background, foreground and middle ground, and refers to the distances or area(s) around,
between, and within things. There are two kinds of space: negative space and positive
space.[5] Negative space is the area in between, around, through or within an object. Positive
spaces are the areas that are occupied by an object and/or form.

Texture
Texture, another element of art, is used to describe either the way a work actually feels when
touched, or the depiction of textures in works, as for example in a painter's rendering of fur.
Lesson Plan: Art Around Us 1
Art Around Us
Introduction to art on Guam (Part 1 of 3)
Subjects

Art, History, Social Studies, Music

Grade-level

Elementary, 3-5
Middle School, 6-8
High School, 9-12
Time required

40 min.
Materials required

 Flipchart or chalk board

 Markers or chalk
 Classroom internet connection (optional)
 Classroom computer and projector (optional)
Related background reading
None
Related documents

None
Related links

Guampedia: Art entries

Guampedia: Music entries

Lesson Plan
Description

With this lesson students will recap the many forms artistic works may take. They will then
list examples of these types, and in the process, examine whether they have overlooked local
artistic traditions. A classroom discussion will then delve into reasons why local art forms are
important.
Objectives/Skills

 Students will recap the types of art with which they are familiar.
 In listing examples of artwork, students will become aware of their familiarity, or lack
thereof, of artistic works on Guam.
 Students will discuss what makes artwork “important,” and why these reasons may or
may not help local artwork.
Questions or Assessment

 What are some of the many forms art may take?

 What examples of artistic works am I most familiar with?
 What sort of artistic works are present on Guam?
 Am I familiar with these on-island artistic movements?

Procedure
Teacher prep
1. None

Brief Exercise to Overview “Art” (15 min.)

Over the course of the year, your class has most likely covered numerous forms of art. This
section will help students recap what they have learned, and in turn, position them to begin
thinking about how these same art forms may exist on Guam.

1. Ask students to list the first things they think of when they hear the word “Art.”

a. List these terms on the board. Do not worry about right or wrong answers; this is more of
an exercise to get them to warm up to the term “Art” and to begin thinking about their
personal relationships with art.
2. Ask students to list different types of artwork.

a. List these types on the board. Encourage students to think outside of the box. Guide the
class to cover a diverse number of art forms: paintings, sculpture, performance art, cinema,
theater, dance, music, etc.

b. Emphasize to students that art may take numerous forms.

Beginning to Think About Art on Guam (20 min.)

1. Ask students to list specific examples of artwork.

a. List these examples on the board. Most likely, students will neglect to list many (if any)
local examples.

b. After listing examples on the board, if students have not cited many local examples, ask
them why they may have overlooked artwork? Responses may range from “they’re not
important enough and don’t count” to “we’re too familiar with them.” If students have
actually cited numerous local examples, congratulate them and ask what prompted them to
list examples originating from Guam.

c. Encourage students to openly discuss why they did (or did not) include local examples on
their class list. There are no right or wrong answers. Prompt students to think about the
“importance” afforded established works of art, and what qualities should make a work
important to them.

Recap (5 min.)
1. Recap what we’ve done and learned in the lesson:

“We’ve recapped numerous, diverse types of art forms, and provided examples of each. In
the process, we came to realize that its easy to overlook the rich local artistic traditions. We
discussed reasons for this, and tomorrow we will delve further into the many art forms on
Guam.”

2. Ask students for their favorite parts of the lesson.

Lesson Plan in PDF format for printing:

Directions To Print: Click on the lesson plan in PDF format below to enlarge or view in full
screen. Move your mouse to the top of the screen and a transparent menu box of icons
appears. Finally, select the print icon from the menu box located second from the right.

ACTIVITY3:
Learning and Teaching Resources
for Learning English through Drama

The resources presented here are meant to be examples to show the types of activities/materials
 that can be designed and developed to help students to work on the various focuses of the module
in the Suggested Schemes of Work for the Elective Part of the Three-year Senior Secondary English
Language Curriculum (Secondary 4-6) (2007) (hereafter referred to as “SoWs”). Teachers are
encouraged to adapt, modify and develop their own resources or make use of other relevant
materials to suit the needs and interests of their students.

Part 1: Mastering the basics

Lessons 1-2: Module introduction and drama vocabulary (please refer to SoWs pp.4-5)

Activity

Work on the following in groups of 4.

1. Share anything that you know about drama or acting. You may refer to some movies you have
watched before and briefly talk about some characters, actors, plots which impress you.

2. Read the list of words below and do the following:

a. Try to work out the meaning of any of the words that you do not know. You could also make use
of the dictionary if necessary.
b. Think of meaningful ways of putting these words into groups and give reasons for your
grouping.
Actor/actress Narrator

Act/to act Part(s)

Audience Perform (to perform a play)

Cast (to cast a part) Performance

Character Play

Costumes Project (to project your voice)

Deliver (to deliver lines) Props

Dialogue Rehearse (to rehearse your lines; to rehearse a

play)
Director Rehearsal

Direct (to direct a play) Role

 Drama Scenes

Emotion Script

Express (to express emotion) Set (to set the scene)

Lead actor/actress Sound effects

Lighting Stage

Lines Stage directions

Make up (to do make up) Supporting actor/actress

Monologue Theatre

Motivation

3. Sally has just joined the school drama club and her teacher asked her to write something about her
favourite actor/actress. Read the following passage written by Sally and try to complete it with the
words in the list provided.

I have been a drama fan since I was in primary school. I like almost all kinds of (a)
____________ including comedy, tragedy, musical, etc. Anthony Hui is my favourite (b)
____________ because he is an all-round performer. He is good at playing all sorts of (c)
____________. He has a special charm on the stage that captures the attention of the (d)
____________. He also directs plays himself and has been awarded the best (e) ____________
for several times.

Like me, Anthony was a member of the Drama Club when he was in secondary school. He was
particularly interested in getting involved in backstage production like (f) ____________, props
and costumes, (g) ____________, etc. He did not enjoy (h) ____________ on stage because he
always forgot his (i) ____________. He was also not good at (j) ____________his feelings and
(k) ____________ in front of the public. He played the (l) ____________ of a narrator in his
first drama performance. He just had to deliver his narration between the acts and
(m) ____________ and had no dialogues. He practised hard and did very well in the (n)
 ____________, but just when the final performance came, he was so nervous that he was
standing still on the (o) ____________ for a minute before he could barely finish his lines. That
was really an unforgettable experience for him. After years of hard work, he is now a very
successful and famous actor in Hong Kong.

Teachers’ notes
*Teachers may cut down the list of words for Step 2 by choosing words appropriate to the needs and
level of their students. If they decide to do so, the cloze in Step 3 will need to be edited.
*For the less able students, teachers might like to provide them with a list of concise definitions of the
vocabulary as a matching activity and discuss the words with them if necessary.
*For the more able students, teachers might like to further expose them to concepts relating to drama
like break a leg, comedy, dress rehearsal, musical, opening night, play bill, plot, prompt, prompter,
scenery, suspense, tragedy, tragicomedy, etc.
*Teachers might consider skipping Step 2b of the activity if they find it too demanding for their students.
Suggested answers:

3. (a) plays/dramas
(b) actor
(c) characters/roles
(d) audience
(e) director
(f) lighting/sound effects/make up
(g) lighting/sound effects/make up
(h) performing
(i) lines
(j) expressing
(k) acting
(l) role
(m) scenes
(n) rehearsals
(o) stage