UMASSのプロフェッサーが率いる印度舞踊団の公演です。

UMASSから届いたメール。

Greetings from Amherst! I just learned that Prof. Ranjanaa Devi (Director of the Asian Arts & Cultures Series at UMass) will be leading her group of Indian dancers to a performance in Tokyo on July 11 at 1:30 p.m.

Her group is called the Nataraj Dancers, and Prof. Devi founded it in 1982 and the group currently has quite a few UMass graduates in it.


NATARAJ Performing Arts of India
Center for Asian Performance
7 Pomeroy Lane, Amherst, MA USA / Mailing: PO Box 60, Hadley, MA 01035
www.natarajdancers.org
For Immediate Release (attached poster)
Contact: Ranjanaa Devi Artistic Director, info@natarajdancers.org

WHAT: Dances of the East: Nataraj Dance Company in Concert
A concert of classical Indian dance

WHERE: Casals Hall, Nihon University, Tokyo Japan

WHEN: Saturday, July 11 2009 at 2PM

“Majestic, divine and inspiring dances”

The celebrated Nataraj Dance Company based in the United States but with its roots in India will showcase a scintillating concert of Odissi dances by award winning teacher Guru Ranjanaa Devi and presented as a part of the Dances of the East, a joint concert of traditional Indian and Japanese music and dance at Nihon University This will be the second time Nataraj has been invited to present their work in Tokyo, Japan. The Odissi dance style draws its inspiration from the ancient tradition of Devdasi (temple dancers) worship practiced in the temples in Orissa, a state in the eastern part of India. The Odissi dance movements are distinct from other Indian dance styles by their sculptural bends of the body, soft and lyrical movements of the arms and strong vigorous footwork. Today, Odissi style is among India’s most unique yet widely popular classical art forms.
Opening this afternoon’s concert will be solo invocation dance to Saraswati, the patroness of the Arts in India. Other unique dances will include Charya padas
two songs by pre-Buddhist monks about the caste system and Brahmin orthodoxy showing classical and folk influences, Pallavi, a traditional dance from the prescribed repertoire of Odissi style and a newer rhythmic composition Shakti (Energy), an exchange of rhythms played on drums with response from dancers that adds texture, tension and excitement to the movement.
Ranjanaa Devi is an internationally known performer and choreographer whose work has been presented in many prestigious venues in the world. She has created unique dance-theater productions on Hindu and Buddhist religion and rituals that have received great acclamation from the critics, audience and academics alike. In 1982, she founded Nataraj Performing Arts of India is a non-profit arts and educational organization that promotes understanding about South Asian culture through dance, theater and music programs in the United States. Its resident dance company Nataraj Dancers performs unique and innovative works of Ranjanaa Devi, bridging Eastern and Western artistic and cultural traditions in their presentations. The dancers in the company represent a multi-generational group of dancers drawn from many cultures of the world who train and study under the tutelage of Ranjanaa Devi in a long term apprenticeship.
Ranjanaa Devi is the Founder Director of the Asian Arts & Culture Program at the Fine Arts Center, University of Massachusetts presenting a season of events, films, talks from all corners of Asia and the Middle East. She is Resident Guest faculty in the Five College Dance Department at Mount Holyoke College teaching courses on History, technique and ritual of dance.
As western Massachusetts’s one and only premier dance organization that specializes in Indian classical, folk and contemporary dance and theater, Nataraj Performing Arts of India, a non-profit arts, cultural and educational organization based in the Pioneer Valley is an integral part of the multicultural arts scene in the State receiving awards and grants for its work. Nataraj values its mission to promote an appreciation and understanding of the performing arts of India in the United States; working with dancers drawn from world countries and creating artistic exchanges. A strong focus is placed on making the dancers- young and old develop a social awareness though dance; to share their learning within the community they live in.
Nataraj has been officially recognized as the premier South Asian Cultural Enrichment Resource organization by the Five Colleges, Inc. for its unique and innovative programming that continues to build artistic bridges between the East and West.


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