Lotus Music And Dance Presents World Dance Festival, October 27

The fourth annual World Dance Festival: Dancing Across Cultural Borders will take place on Sunday, October 27t at 4pm at the Manhattan Movement Arts Center, 248 West 60th St. between 10th and 11th Aves. This event is presented by Lotus Music & Dance in partnership with Robert Browning Associates with support from the National Endowment for the Arts.

World Dance Festival: Dancing Across Cultural Borders will feature Dancing Crane Georgian Dance Ensemble and Sonali Skandan/Jiva Dance (Bharata Natyam, South Indian Dance), accompanied by live music. The festival will take place on Sunday, October 27th at 4pm at Manhattan Movement Arts Center, 248 West 60th St. Pre-performance discussions and demonstrations will provide information on the cultural context and technique of the art form.

Brooklyn's Dancing Crane Georgian Dance Ensemble brings together soloists from the world's leading Georgian dance companies, "Sukhishvili", "Rustavi", "Erisioni" and "Fire of Anatolia", to present a spectacular program of the dance traditions from the country of Georgia. Georgian dance rivals classic ballet in its demanding and refined technique, but has a style all its own. Performers excel in the virtuoso leaps, turns and especially the traditional, tseruli, or men's dancing on the toes. The repertoire includes Parikaoba mountain dances with swords, the elegant Osuri court dances, the ancient Samaya women's dance, the city dances of the Kinto and Karachokheli, the refined women's dances with elegant hand movements including Jeirani and Mukhambazi, as well as the regional folk dances such as those from Acharia and Svaneti. The music, played on traditional folk instruments is based on ancient modes which helps distinguish the dances as among the most beautiful in the world. Songs and music represent all traditional Georgian genres, including folk music in the various local regional styles, church songs, city songs, romances and contemporary estrada, as well as, songs from the Georgian classic and opera repertoire.

Jiva Dance is a critically acclaimed dance company based in NYC, under the artistic direction of Sonali Skandan, which sees the importance of preserving and promoting the traditional arts, yet also understands the need to incorporate innovative techniques to reach diverse audiences. Jiva Dance holds the belief that tradition is a continuum of evolution and hopes to invigorate classical works with a freshness and unique voice. Jiva Dance strives to present work that is inclusive, allowing those who do not have a background in. We are not tied to Bharatanatyam's cultural specificity, but are open to creating work that reflects who we are living in a diverse urban environment. And though the art is ancient, we feel the vocabulary of movement and expression has the ability to transcend time and culture. The Company creates original works with modern themes, and reenergizes classical pieces to incorporate innovative light design, staging and multimedia. We believe that Indian classical dance is a holistic art form, and the art is not fixed but is in fact continually evolving. Jiva was invited to bring classical Indian dance to the Joffrey Ballet School roster for the first time in its 63-year history. Jiva Dance presented work in major venues in the US, becoming the first Indian Classical dance company to be presented at the prestigious Victory Dance Series at the New Victory Theater, the first Indian Classical company to be part of the CUNY Dance Initiative (2017 and 2018) at Queens College, as well as performing for Juilliard's new online educational program. Jiva Dance was also featured on NBC Learn, in a short documentary titled "Why We Dance." Jiva Dance will be accompanied by stellar music support from a classical Carnatic orchestra.

Lotus Music & Dance is a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization founded in 1989 by master Bharata Natyam dancer Kamala Cesar. It is a center of education for traditional and indigenous performing arts. The mission is to protect, promote and celebrate the music and dance traditions of all world cultures. Lotus Music & Dance is one of the few institutions of its kind in New York City where master artists from India, Korea, Japan, Indonesia, the South Pacific, West Africa, Spain and the Mohawk Nation collectively call home. Aside from our varied schedule of unique, multi-cultural performances and festivals, we offer Arts-in-Education programs to K-12 schools throughout the tri-state area. Lotus Music & Dance also presents Manhattan's only open air pow wow, the annual Drums Along the Hudson: A Native American and Multicultural Celebration.

For more information please visit www.lotusmusicanddance.org or call 212.627.1076