Performance Synopsis

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Shobha Korambil (Kuchipudi)
Natesha Kouthvam
A unique choreography by Guru Vempati Chinna Satyam, the doyen of Kuchipudim is performed as an invocatory piece. Natesa is Lord Shiva as the Cosmic Dancer. Kouthvam is a traditional composition conventionally performed in the Bharathanatyam reportire, and is adapted here for the Kuchipudi dance form. Set in the majestic Carnatic musical mode, Ragam Hamsadvani and Adi Talam, this composition describes Nataraja"s (Lord of Dance) divine dance in which all the elements of nature exist.

Trinayan Dance Theater: Leena Mohanty (Odissi)
Govinda Damodara Stotram
This composition by Sage Bilvamangala, also known as Lila Sukha, is the ecstasic outpouring of pure Bhakti for Lord Krishna. The composition describes the beauty of Lord Krishna and his exploits.

Featured Performance
Guru Radha Mohanan & Troupe (Kathakali)
Kiratham (Full Performance)

This episode from the Mahabharata combines humor with a subtle philosophical message of humility and overcoming ego. While in exile, Arjuna, the third of the Pandava brothers and an expert archer, is performing penance to Lord Shiva to obtain the divine arrow ‘Pasupata’. Pleased with Arjuna’s worship, Shiva disguises himself as a hunter (Kirata), along with his consort Parvati, disguised as a huntress, to test Arjuna’s skill and to subdue his pride.

Sunday August 15th @ 1 pm; Battery Park, NYC; Free

Special appearance: Downtown Dance Festival
Guru Radha Mohanan &Troupe (Kathakali)
Dussasana Vadham (Excerpt)

This episode from the epic tale of Mahabharata is a tale of war, strategy and retaliation sought by a woman for her humiliation. As Krishna proceeds to the court for final peace negotiations before an imminent war, Draupadi, the wife of the Pandava brothers, comes to meet him. She reminds him of her disheveled hair which remain untied and of her vow that her hair will be tied only with the blood of Dussasana (one of the Kaurava brothers who publicly and wrongly humiliated her). At the climax of the epic Mahabharata war between the cousins Pandavas and Kauravas, Bheema, the second of the Pandava brothers, fights Dussasana. In the mighty encounter that follows, Bheema kills Dussasana and takes his blood to Draupadi to fulfill her vow.