By Mabel Pais

“Erasing Borders” dance performances are part of the Indo-American Arts Council’s (iaac.us) ongoing celebrations of the 75th anniversary of India’s Independence, August 15. The celebration will feature two live performances, August 6 & 7 at the Ailey Citigroup Theatre, and a virtual August 8th streaming with artists from India, Canada, Singapore and the U.S.

PROGRAM

Program A: live, Saturday August 6, 7 pm

Program B: live, Sunday August 7, 7 pm

Venue: Ailey Citigroup Theater, 405 West 55 Street, NYC

Program C: virtual, Monday August 8

India@75

Program A: Saturday August 6, 7 pm

Featuring

Sanjib Bhattacharya and Lagannath Lairenjam in

Manipuri-Pung Cholom (Drum Dance)

Kavya Ganesh in contemporary Bharatanatyam

Bhavana Reddy in Kuchipudi with introductions by the legendary Raja Reddy.

India@75

Program B: Sunday August 7, 7 pm

Featuring

Jin Won in Kathak with live music

Ailey II in “Saa Magni”

Mythili Prakash in contemporary Bharatanatyam

Erasing Borders Dance Festival-virtual

Program C: Monday August 8, premiers at 7 pm.

Streaming is available until August 22

featuring choreography by

Tanya Saxena

Tanveer Alam

Liz Lea and danced by Subastian Tan and Shahrin Johry

Mythili Maratt Anoop

Deepali Salil with Nilava Sen, Shubhamani Chandrashekar, Athul Balu

India@75

Saturday Aug 6, 2022,  7-9PM

1. Sapta, Manipuri-Pung Cholom (drum dance)

Performed by Sanjib Bhattacharya and Jagannath Lairenjam

Sapta, meaning seven, is an attempt to paint the canvas of time, using 3 sets of 7 beats.

12 minutes of time is celebrated through three ornate sets of 7 matras (beats), each set depicting a significant tradition of Manipuri Classical Dance.

2. ‘Time the Elusive Friend,’ contemporary Bharatanatyam

Choreographed and performed by Kavya Ganesh

Music courtesy- Smt. Rama Vaidyanathan

Music composition- GS Rajan

Mentored by Smt. Rama Vaidyanathan

External time is a linear dimension-ticking along in a constant, singular rhythm. What about the internality of time? In this work, time has been conceptualized as sakhi (friend).

3. ‘Solo Kuchipudi’ by Bhavana Reddy with introductions by Raja Reddy

Narasimhavataram

This is a story of one of Vishnu’s avatars that of Narasimha. Hiranyakashyapu, a demon king worshipper of Shiva, sought a boon from Brahma, to be unvanquishable by any weapon, by any man or animal, inside or outside, by day or by night.

Nijagadha sa yadu Nandane (Jayadeva’s ashtapadi)

‘Jathiswaram’ is a tapestry of rhythm and melody which are given visual form with dance on the brass plate.

India@75

Sunday Aug 7, 2022

Alvin Ailey Citigroup Theatre, 7-9PM

1. ‘Andaaz’ – an immersive exploration of Rhythm and dance, by Jin Won, kathak, with tabla by Mike Lukshis and Electric Viola by Martha Mooke.

A sonic and visual endeavor alternating between two different Rhythm cycles, 5 and half beats / 16 beats, “Andaaz” explores the subtle movements through contemporary and traditional dance forms of Kathak to portray a beautiful visual canvas.

2. Alvin Ailey II, Saa Magni Alvin Ailey II will be joining Indian dancers to celebrate the 75 years of Indian independence. They will be performing Saa Magni in the spirit of hope, celebration and dance.

Saa Magni is choreographed by Yannick Lebrun and performed by Meagan King and Christopher Taylor to music by Oumou Sangaré from the album Ko Sira, published by World Circuit Records.

3. ‘Poo | Poo’ (Contemporary bharatanatyam) Performed and choreographed by Mythili Prakash

Polarity. Co-existence. Singularity.

Lingering between past and present, global and local, sacred and worldly, stylized and pedestrian, structure and fluidity, Poo | Poo (flower in Tamil |shit in America) negotiates the weight of past and tradition through the freedom of our bodies and voices today in the re-imagining of a traditional myth–the dance-off between Shiva and Kali.

India@75

Erasing Borders Dance Festival

Monday August 8, 2022, premiers at 7 pm.

Streaming is available until August 22 on Indo American Arts Council Facebook https://www.facebook.com/iaac.us and Youtube https://www.youtube.com/user/IAACEvent

Introduction by Subhalakshmi Amjad Ali Khan

1. Bindu

Choreographed and performed by Tanya Saxena (bharatanatyam)

Sound Design and Mixing: Ananda Gupta

Music: Rajat Prasanna

‘Bindu’ (the originary dot) is a movement film inspired by artist S.H. Raza, made in collaboration with the Raza Foundation.

2. Leher (Wave) choreographed and performed by Tanveer Alam (kathak)

‘Leher’ emerged as a quiet response to this time and context of massive change that we have all experienced since the pandemic. The work, in vilambit taal (slow tempo) is patient, intimate, and looks at the effects of decelerating in time.

Music: Gurumurthy Vaidya

Dramaturgy: Harikishan S. Nair

Mixing and mastering: Roshin Shabu

Videography and editing: Aman Chandak

Supported by: Sadhana Project Residency (Anandam Dancetheatre), The Canada Council for the Arts, Ontario Arts Council, Toronto Arts Council.

3. ‘Terra’

Choreographed by Liz Lea

Danced by Subastian Tan and Shahrin Johry.

Music by TaikOz

A contemporary dance with influences from movement techniques of Singapore and India.

4. ‘Bird of Time’

Inspired by Sarojini Naidu’s poem, ‘The Bird of Time’ this work presents an assortment of life’s dramatic moments which ultimately ends in silence.

5. ‘Animals’ (excerpted from Looking Within Looking Around) The excerpt “ANIMALS” is choreographed and performed by bharatanatyam dancers from all over India. It is conceptualized by Deepali Salil. Choreographed and performed by Bharatanatyam dancers Nilava Sen as Gazelle; Shubhamani Chandrashekar as Orca; Athul Balu as Hyena; Deepali Salil as Sarus Crane.

Original music composition – Sanchit Choudhary

In our excerpt film “Animals” we seek to renew the connection with our animal kingdom. The only way forward is together. Conserving and living sustainably needs to become a lifestyle.

To learn more about each performer/artist, visit iaac.us/erasing-borders-dance-festival-2022

TICKETS

For Tickets, visit eventbrite.com/cc/festival-of-india75-605699

For reservations, contact Audrey Ross at audreyrosspub@aol.com or 929 222 3973.

(Mabel Pais writes on The Arts and Entertainment, Social Issues, Health & Wellness, Cuisine and Spirituality)