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DW COMMUNICATIONS
Specializing in the ART of Communication
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 28, 2002
Media Refer: Dianne Weinrib / Melissa Mohaupt / Amy Stewart
DW Communications - 416-703-5479 Fax: 416-703-5465 E-mail: dwc@total.net
Lata Pada and Sampradaya Dance Creations
present
LIFE LINES:
An evening of women's lives in dance and theatre
– three world premieres –
Choreography by Artistic Director Lata
Pada and India's Anita Ratnam
Sept. 27 & 28 at the Premiere Dance Theatre
Acclaimed Bharatanatyam dancer/choreographer Lata Pada, Artistic Director of Sampradaya Dance Creations, builds on the huge success of her recent multi-media dance work Revealed By Fire (Harbourfront Centre's 2001 World Moves Dance Series, Ottawa's Canada Dance Festival 2002) with LIFE LINES: An Evening of Women’s Lives in Dance and Theatre on Friday, September 27 and Saturday, September 28 at 8pm at Harbourfront Centre's Premiere Dance Theatre.
This evening of haunting and provocative contempoary dance features three world premieres: a new commission for Sampradaya Dance Creations choreographed by India's esteemed Anita Ratnam (Hyphenated); a world premiere dance theatre work choreographed and performed by Pada (Soraab - Mirage) with playtext by Judith Rudakoff; and the premiere of a solo choreographed and performed by Ratnam (Vaitharani – the crossing).
Artistic Director of Sampradaya Dance
Creations, Lata Pada is at the leading edge of contemporary
South Asian dance in Canada. Originally from Bangalore, India, Pada has
made Canada her home for thirty-eight years. Pada’s career spans
an impressive spectrum of performance, choreography and teaching. Over
her extensive international career, Pada’s work has been featured
in several festivals, including the 1998 and 2002 Canada Dance Festival
and 2001 Harbourfront’s World Moves Dance Series. Her work is recognized
as daring and innovative; Pada’s choreographic versatility is seen
in her exploration of the classical idiom of bharatanaytam and its interpretation
of contemporary themes.
Anita Ratnam is one of India's most respected dance artists
whose background in dance, television, theatre and film in North America
and India has enriched her worldview on the historical location of the
dancing body in contemporary times. A cultural entrepreneur in her native
city of Chennai, India, Ratnam has won numerous awards and has created
an independent voice through her teaching, workshops and transcultural
choreography around the globe. Her firm conviction in the contemporary
dimensions of South Asian dance led to the creation of THE OTHER FESTIVAL,
India's only annual contemporary arts event devoted to avant garde
music, dance and theatre.
HYPHENATED WORLD PREMIERE
A new commission for Sampradaya Dance Creations choreographed by Anita
Ratnam. With musical composition and accompaniment by
Ernie Tollar and Deb Sinha
Four dancers explore the hybridity in their lives as second generation South Asian - Canadian women. Straddling the cultural worlds of East and West, they constantly negotiate their diverse and often conflicting identities. In speaking of the work, Ratnam noted "It is the hyphen that connects who we are and identifies our inner selves. It is in that state of hyphenation that we live our daily lives, comfortable in our dual skins."
SORAAB - MIRAGE WORLD
PREMIERE
A new dance-theatre work choreographed by Lata Pada and
written by Judith Rudakoff. Pada is joined on stage by
vocalist Maryem Hassan Tollar. Dramaturgy is by Judith
Rudakoff.
The past remembered, the present imagined, the future a vision of hope in the distance. Inspired by the memories of Pada’s childhood friendship with Afghan woman Zubeida and writings on the ongoing struggle of Afghan women, Soraab-Mirage continues to explore an ongoing theme in Pada's work: the identity and transformation of women in a sometimes hostile, sometimes unforgiving contemporary world.
VAITHARANI: the crossing
WORLD PREMIERE
A solo choreographed and performed by Anita Ratnam with
direction from Dipankar Mukherjee
Inspired by the mythical Hindu river Vaitharani which confronts
all souls in their journey after death, the work rearranges the avalanche
of memories that float like dreams in water. According to Ratnam, "Death
is the true secret of life. After the dust has settled and we weep that
our bodies are no longer ours to control, the soul laughs in delight at
what it has found."
Sampradaya Dance Creations' LIFE
LINES: An Evening of Women’s Lives in Dance and Theatre
runs September 27 and 28 at 8pm at Harbourfront Centre's
Premiere Dance Theatre, Tickets: $35.75/$29.50/$21 (Discounts
for students, seniors and CADA members.) BOX OFFICE: 416-973-4000.
Please visit www.sampradaya-dance.com
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