The World Music Institute has announced their 12th annual Dancing the Gods festival. For the first time, the celebration will occur at Ailey Citigroup Theater.
From April 14-15 audience members will be treated to spectacular performances from India’s two leading dancers Sreelakshmy Govardhanan and Praveen Kumar. Programs will kick off with a slide presentation titled Epics, Poetry and Indian Dance from festival curator, dance expert and storyteller Rajika Puri.
Since 1985, The World Music Institute has been recognized as one of the most stellar presenters of world music and dance within the United States. The non-profit organization strives to present the best in traditional and contemporary music with a myriad of cultural dances. Their mission is to educate people on the world’s rich cultural traditions, promoting awareness and appreciation and encouraging cross-cultural dialog and exchange. The program is partially supported by public funds from the New York State Council, Office of the Governor, New York State Legislature, and New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.
Sreelakshmy Govardhanan is a remarkable woman with numerous talents. She is a renowned creative dancer, choreographer and teacher of Kuchipudi and the founder and Artistic Director of a center for learning, performance and research known as the Avantika Space. Additionally Govardhanan is a trained psychologist who fuses her professional perspective with her art. She uses this to educate young minds through workshops, classes, seminars and lecture demonstrations.
In the Dancing the Gods festival, Govardhanan will explore the Nritta, Nrutya and Natya elements of Kuchipudi through a repertoire set in the format of Margam. Kuchipudi is a dance originating from the theatrical and dance traditions of Andhra Pradesh. It was named after the village called Kuchelapuram. Traditionally the dance is presented by troupes of male actor-dancers who celebrate festivals dedicated to Lord Vishnu. The dance has now transformed into a solo form, which is today popular around the world.
Praveen Kumar was born into a family of artists and showed a passion for dance at a very young age. He learned to appreciate the aesthetic depths of Bharatanatyam after studying with the esteemed guru of Bangalore, the late Smt. Narmada. Currently, Kumar studies with Guru Prof. C.V.Chandrasekhar runs the Chithkala School of Dance in Bangalore. In his solo performance for the festival, he will explore a man’s journey as a companion, admirer, and a friend through various facets of life. Musicians will provide South Indian traditional music for this prodigious production.
Rajika Puri has performed all over Latin America, Europe, Malaysia, the US and India, and in New York at the Asia Society and Ailey Theaters. Prior to Puri’s devotion to western theater, she danced internationally in solo recitals of Bharatanatyam and Odissi for several years. Her success in the Lincoln Center Theater’s “The Transposed Heads”inspired her to develop a form of dance storytelling called ‘Sutradhari Natyam’. The performance is accomplished through songs in Indian languages and English narration with excerpts from dances, spoken rhythms and chants. In ‘Eleni of Sparta’ or ‘Helen of Troy’, Puri sang in ancient Greek.
Tickets and more information about Dancing the Gods festival can be found here.
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