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Indo-American Arts Council and Asia Society Sync Artistic Synergies To
Present 'Erasing Borders: Festival of Indian Dance - Spring 2010'

(New York, NY – May 24, 2010) Hailed in 2009 as “the best new arrival on this city’s dance scene in the last two years” by the New York Times, Erasing Borders: Festival of Indian Dance , co-sponsored by the venerable New York arts institution, the Indo-American Arts Council (IAAC), and the prestigious Asia Society, presents two mesmerizing evenings of traditional and experimental, classical and post-modern Indian dance. “This festival is reflective of the rich traditions in Indian dance, as well as exciting new works produced in India and the Diaspora,” says Prachi Dalal, IAAC Dance Festival Director. “We’re presenting a piece by a leading American modern dance company to Indian rhythms, revealing exciting connections between India, America, and our globalizing world.” In addition to performances, the two-day festival boasts panels, workshops, and demonstrations of Indian – and Indian-inspired – dance, which will explore aspects such as movement, mime (abhinaya), rhythm, and textual content through a range of performance genres. “Indian Dance in its myriad forms has made a major impact on dance in the U.S., not only as a rich import from India, but as an authentic part of American dance today,” says Rachel Cooper, the Director of Cultural Programs and Performing Arts at the Asia Society. “The spirit of the cross border exchange is at the heart of this exciting festival.”

The entire festival will take place at Asia Society, located at 725 Park Avenue (at 70th Street) in New York City, from Friday, June 4 to Sunday, June 6, 2010 (complete schedule and artist bios below). For more information, please log on to or www.asiasociety.org/erasingborders, and for ticket prices and reservations, please go to www.tickets.asiasociety.org.

Festival Schedule & Artists:

PROGRAM I (Friday June 4 at 8 P.M.):

Shipra Mehrotra - A pair of sinuous dances, one rhythmic and one a love poem, are exponents of the seductive dance form originating in the temple rituals of Orissa, India.

Navtej Johar - In his Meenakshi, dedicated to the fish-eyed goddess, this Bharatanatyam and yoga exponent celebrates the feminine principle through meditative and ritualized movement.

Parul Shah Dance Company - Two contrasting works – one abstract (June 4), one narrative (June 5) – by this New York-based dance company, reflect an expansive and innovative view of the quintessential North Indian dance form Kathak.

Cynthia Lee - Indian rhythm becomes a talking point for this dancer in Ruddha.

Wanted Ashiqz - An explosive blend of hip-hop, disco, and Bhangra catapults audiences into the energy-filled world of Bollywood dance and music.

PROGRAM II (Saturday June 5 at 8 P.M.):

Mythili Prakash - A favorite on NBC’s Superstars of Dance, this artist combines the Sufi poetry of Rumi with verses on the Vedic sun god, Surya, in her suite of Bharatanatyam dances.

Mesma S. Belsare – Known for her innovative Bharatanatyam choreography, this artist is presenting two U.S. premieres, one inspired by a folio of Indian paintings and the other a stark minimalist work.

Parul Shah Dance Company - Two contrasting works – one abstract (June 4), one narrative (June 5) – by this New York-based dance company, reflect an expansive and innovative view of the quintessential North Indian dance form Kathak.

Sheetal Gandhi - Excerpts from Bahu-Beti-Biwi (Daughter-in-law, Daughter, Wife), a soloist tour-de-force combining dance, stirring vocalization and percussive text.

Ailey II - Takademe, choreographed by Robert Battle and set to Indian rhythms - an exuberant example of the spreading influence of Indian dance and music.

PANELS, WORKSHOPS & DEMONSTRATIONS:

Saturday, June 5, Noon to 1:30 P.M. - Angika: The Dance Body
Experience and explore body positions and use of feet, hands, eyes, neck, in three classical movement forms: Bharatanatyam, Odissi and Kalaripayattu.

Presenters: Mesma S. Belsare (Bharatanatyam), Shripa Mehrotra (Odissi), and Sridhar Shanmugam (Kalaripayattu)

Saturday, June 5, 2 to 3:30 P.M. - Vachika: Talking Dance
One of the most exciting elements of Indian dance is how it incorporates chanted poems and vocalized rhythmic syllables. Dancers demonstrate and discuss how spoken word is used in new work.

Presenters: Cynthia Lee, Rajika Puri, Reena Shah, Sheetal Gandhi
Moderator: Elise Thoron

Saturday, June 5, 4 to 5:30 P.M. - Mathematics of Rhythm II
A fascinating discussion and demonstration of the Indian systems of rhythms, Carnatic and Hindustani, and the mathematical process of composition.

Presenters: Bala Skandan (Carnatic percussion), Mythili Prakash (Bharatanatyam), Prerana Deshpande (Kathak), Smruti Patel Jani (Mathematics Professor and Choreographer)
Moderator: Prachi Dalal

Sunday, June 6, Noon to 1:30 P.M. – Workshop: Rasaboxes
Rasaboxes, brings the practice of abhinaya into American performer training techniques for the theatre. Rasaboxes was developed by Richard Schechner over his long engagement with performer training techniques of avant garde theatre, Kathakali, and the Naatyashaastra, a Sanskrit text dealing with theatre, dance, and music. Rasaboxes trains participants to physically access and express eight key emotions. It integrates ancient theory with contemporary emotion research, neuroscience, and performance theory.

Presenter: Paula Murray Cole (Assistant Professor, Department of Theater Arts, Ithaca College)

Sunday June 6, 2 to 3:30 P.M. - Moving Traditions
A thought-provoking discussion with leading dancers, choreographers, and scholars who will share their insights into the changing world of Indian dance.

Panelists: Anita Ratnam, Chitra Sundaram, Navtej Johar
Keynote Panelist: Dr. Richard Schechner
Moderator: Dr. Purnima Shah

Sunday June 6, 4 to 6 P.M. - Kutcheri-Mehfil: Cushion Conversations
At the heart of Indian dance lies Abhinaya, in which a dancer conveys poetic, philosophic, imagistic meanings suggested by the accompanying lyrics. Senior artists of Kathak, Kuchipudi, and Bharatanatyam will present their approaches to art in an informal cushion concert.

Presenters: Anuradha Nehru (Kuchipudi), Prerana Deshpande (Kathak), Rachna Sarang (Kathak), Ramya Ramnarayan (Bharatanatyam)
Moderators: Chitra Sundaram & Prachi Dalal

ARTIST BIOS:

Mesma S. Belsare is "...a consummate dancer...as mesmerizing as staring into the heart of a fire,” raves Dance Current Magazine. Formally trained in Bharatanatyam by Sri Shankar Hombal and Padmashri Geeta Chandran in India, Belsare is a dancer, choreographer, actor, visual artist, and museum educator currently based in Boston.

Sheetal Gandhi creates work that is reflective of a life that embraces diversity, observes human experience, and yearns to tell a story. The solo artist, headquartered in Venice, California, worked as a creator and performer in Cirque du Soleil's Dralion and appeared in New York in a leading role in the Broadway production of Bombay Dreams.

Shipra Mehrotra is an evocative dancer in the Odissi dance form. Initiated in Odissi by Dr. Chitra Krishnamurti (Washington D.C.), she currently receives advanced instruction from the masters performers based in Orissa, India. In 2005, the solo artist from Houston served as a dance consultant for Terrence Mallick for his Hollywood film The New World.

Wanted Ashiqz, an exciting New York-based company, has appeared on programs with major Bollywood artists such as Shahrukh Khan, Bipasha Basu, and the new Pop-R&B sensation Jay Sean, among others. They have won numerous dance competitions and represent the contemporary Indian-American pop culture.

Ailey II, Company under the direction of Sylvia Waters will perform a work by Robert Battle, outstanding New York choreographer and newly appointed director of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Company. Battle, a 2007 recipient of the Statue Award from The Princess Grace Foundation, has created works for his company, Battleworks, and has contributed dances to Introdans, Ballet Memphis, PARADIGM, and both Ailey companies.

Cynthia Lee, based in Santa Monica, California, creates playful choreographic dialogues combining American post-modern dance and North Indian classical Kathak. Recipient of a 2002-3 Thomas J. Watson Fellowship and a 2006 Asia Pacific Performing Arts Exchange Fellowship, Lee's choreography has been seen throughout the U.S., Jakarta, and India.

Mythili Prakash is recognized as one of the world's leading young exponents of Bharatanatyam. Her inventive approach to classicism revitalizes the art and creates an individual style acclaimed by audiences around the world. Currently living in Los Angeles, the solo artist was trained in the Thanjavur tradition by her mother and renowned dancer/teacher Viji Prakash.

Navtej Johar, a resident of New Delhi, India, is a Bharatanatyam exponent and choreographer who exhibits a range from classical dance to works that include street-theatre, installations, musicals, and site-specific works. Johar’s work is unique in that it freely traverses between the traditional and the avant-garde, the Hindu aesthetic and the Sufi-Sikh sensibility.

Parul Shah Dance Company, an ensemble well known to New York audiences, is led by Parul Shah, recognized for expanding the classical medium beyond cultural boundaries. Parul's works reflect her very individual perspective as a highly trained Kathak dancer born and raised within New York's hybrid community.

About Indo-American Arts Council
The Indo-American Arts Council is a registered 501(c)3 not-for-profit, secular service and resource arts organization charged with the mission of promoting and building the awareness, creation, production, exhibition, publication and performance of Indian and cross-cultural art forms in North America.

About Asia Society
Founded in 1956 by John D. Rockefeller 3rd, Asia Society is a nonprofit nonpartisan educational institution. Through exhibitions and public programs, Asia Society provides a forum for the issues and viewpoints reflected in both traditional and contemporary Asian art, and in Asia today. Asia Society is located at 725 Park Avenue (at 70th Street), New York City. www.AsiaSociety.org

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