Poway Center Welcomes Ragamala Music And Dance Theater 4/4

The Poway Center for the Performing Arts Foundation continues its Professional Performance Season with an evening of explosive color, light, music and dance compliments of the Ragamala Music and Dance Theater. The lively troupe of dancers and musicians will be accompanied by thunderous Taiko drumming provided by the Waidaiko Ensemble. Ragamala Music and Dance Theater appear one night only, April 4th at 8pm. Tickets, including deeply discounted, $5 youth admission, are on sale now.

Ragamala artistic directors Ranee Ramaswamy and Aparna Ramaswamy work with international composers to present three pieces that unfold the beauty, elegance, poetry, and driving rhythmic complexities of Bharatanatyam, the ancient classical dance of Southern India. The culmination of 15 years of unwavering creativity, Sva (Vital Force), is a magical evening of new work that continues the company's mission of bringing Bharatanatyam to audiences around the world:

Ardhanareeshwara Stotram - the origin of creation is conceived as the celestial unity of Shakti (Divine Feminine) and Shiva (Divine Masculine). The transcendent balance of Ardhanareeshwara (half-man half-woman) reflects the constant symmetry of the world itself. Performed by acclaimed soloist Aparna Ramaswamy, the ancient hymn known as the Ardhanareeshwara Stotram is a sublime homage to the sacred concept of duality.

"As Aparna Ramaswamy weaves patterns of grace and rhythm skillfully onstage, one feels encouraged at the rise of gifted talent in Bharatanatyam." -The Indian Express

Yathra (Journey) explores the intricacies of the human journey-from the dawn of birth to the twilight of life. With an original score by renowned New Delhi-based composers Shubhendra Rao and Saskia Rao-de Hass that intertwines the deep, haunting tones of the cello with the virtuosic harmonies and emotional range of the sitar, light design by Jeff Bartlett and live drawing by New York-based visual artist Terry Rosenberg, Yathra is an exquisitely layered artistic rendering of the human experience.

"With a fine command over technique and innovative creativity, [Shubhendra Rao] evokes the various facets of the music and its moods, rendering a wholesome perspective and maturity far belying his years." -The Hindustan Times

Sva (Vital Force) represents sound as the first element in an unfolding universe. Six dancers and four drummers converge on stage to embody the rhythm and flow of life and the primordial sound that unites all of creation-the sacred and the profane, the animate and inanimate. Wadaiko Ensemble Tokara's large, sweeping movements, thundering force, and stunning physicality brilliantly compliment Ragamala's fluid precision, punctuated footwork, and sustained gestures. Sva features two lauded young masters of their respective forms, Art Lee and Aparna Ramaswamy, and explores the kinships between Taiko and Bharatanatyam, the spiritual traditions from which they emerged, and their journey into the 21st century.

"An entertaining, sublime dance exhibition. Juxtaposed against the powerful rhythms of Tokara's drums, [Ragamala's] sharp, subtle gestures become graspingly beautiful." -Time Out New York

Inspired by the ancient philosophy that the universe is perpetually forming, dissolving, and re-forming, Sva is a visceral evening of dance that should not be missed.

SVA (Vital Force)
April 4, 2009 at 8pm
Adults: $45
Youth (18 and under): Just $5
Poway Center for the Performing Arts
15498 Espola Road, Poway CA
Box Office: 858.748.0505
Tickets available online at www.PowayArts.org

 

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