1002 NIGHTS
The Shed Co.
THE DEATH OF SOCRATES
Alianak Theatre Productions
RIGMAROLE
Danceworks
PLAY
inDANCE
MERNIE!
Maryem & Ernie Tollar
LISTME
New Music Coalition
CYPRESS, FLOTSAM ANDJETSAM
Princess Productions
FOR IMMEDIATE
RELEASE: November 4, 2002
Media Refer: Dianne Weinrib / Amy Stewart
DW Communications - 416-703-5479 Fax: 416-703-5465 E-mail: dwc@total.net
HARI KRISHNAN and inDANCE present
the premiere of
play
A series of Bharatanatyam solos, duets and trios in the Tanjavur tradition
inDANCE's Artistic Director Hari Krishnan brings to Toronto play – an exciting, fresh suite of 18th and 19th century ritual and court dances from the South Indian city of Tanjavur (the birth place of Bharatanatyam). Conceptualized within a modern aesthetic framework, play is an evening of never-before-performed antiquated repertoire that speaks to a universal audience. play runs Saturday, November 23 at 8pm at Robert Gill Theatre, 214 College Street, 3rd Floor and Sunday, November 24 at 8:30pm at Fairmount Royal York Hotel, Concert Hall (as part of the prestigious American Academy of Religions Annual Conference).
In keeping with the cultural framework of the Tanjavur traditions of dance,
play explores erotic, sensual love poetry with
underlying spiritual subtext. This blurring of the boundaries between
human and divine love, and the gamut of emotions that arise from it, form
the basis of the repertoire of the Tanjavur tradition.
Krishnan infuses this vintage repertoire with a new life, a creative energy
that retains the aesthetic integrity of the form, and allows it to speak
to a new audience. Discarding what he sees as a false dichotomy between
“traditional” and “contemporary” dance, Krishnan’s
play demonstrates the very essence of his artistic
path – in other words, play brings out
the new in the old.
In his performance of play, Hari Krishnan provides
an evening of fully-improvised mimesis of erotic love in the tradition
of the devadasis of Tanjavur-courtesans and ritual specialists
who preserved the life-breath of Bharatanatyam, and have passed on their
knowledge through their direct descendants to Krishnan, including the
lyrics and hand-gestures dealing with female sexuality that have until
now been hidden away. play is thus NOT an "imagined"
world of "temple-dancing women", but their actual art, NOT as
an artefact, but as living performance culture infused with new life.
The heart of the dance lies in subtlety and suggestion, NOT stories.
play takes audiences into the ABSTRACT world
of pure emotion, a world of faces, names, bodies, feelings.
Created for nine performers (3 dancers and 6 musicians), play
reveals a rich, vibrant synthesis of drama, movement, live music, spoken
text, original lighting, costume and visual design. Embedded in the performance
culture of Tanjavur is the idea of “play”
(keli in Sanskrit and vilaiyatu in Tamil) – whimsical, improvised
artistic play between dancers and musicians, the ethos of love-play
between Gods and humans represented by the courtesans of South India,
and the interplay of court and temple, the rural and
urban.
Krishnan’s training in Tanjavur with two great masters – the
late Guru K.P. Kittappa Pillai and P. R. Thilagam – is reflected
in this evening of Bharatanatyam dance. Hari Krishnan
is joined on stage by his company of two young dancers Sreyashi
Chakraborthi and Rajkumari Chatterjee and by
live musicians Sheela Bharath, Thanathevy Mithratheva
and Gowri Shankar. Research/conducting is by Devesh
Soneji, and spoken text is performed by Katherine Duncanson.
Lighting is by Arun Srinivasan and Rex
designs costumes/visuals.
The premiere performance of play will take place
on Saturday, November 23, 2002 at 8.00pm at the Robert
Gill Theatre, 214 College Street (3rd Floor). Tickets: $18 ($15 students,
seniors, CADA) are available through the Box Office at (416) 504-6429,
ext.33. The second performance is on Sunday, November 24, 2002
at the Fairmont Royal York Concert Hall. Krishnan and inDANCE have been
honoured with an invitation from the prestigious American Academy of Religion
to present play as the only Arts Series Performance for
their Annual Meeting convening in Toronto. The November 24 performance
is sold out.
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