Ragamala Dance with Rudresh Mahanthappa
Aparna Ramaswamy and Ranee Ramaswamy, Artistic Co-Directors
Song of the Jasmine (New York Premiere)
In India, the jasmine flower traverses the world of man and the world of the gods. Song of the Jasmine, a new collaboration between contemporary explorers of South India’s classical Bharatanatyam dance and acclaimed jazz saxophonist Mahanthappa, moves between past and present, composition and improvisation, music and dance, to embody the spiritual and the sensual that are the lifeblood of the Indian psyche.
Song of the Jasmine is commissioned by the Walker Art Center (Lead Commissioner and Development Partner); the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (Lead Commissioner), through its Advancing the Incubation and Development of New Work in Dance Initiative funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation; the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center, University of Maryland (Co-commissioner); and Lincoln Center Out of Doors (Co-commissioner). Song of the Jasmine is supported in part by grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, New Music/USA’s Commissioning Music/USA program, the MAP Fund (supported by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation), and the New England for the Arts’ National Dance Project (with lead funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation).
Kun-Yang Lin/Dancers: Be/Longing 2 (New York premiere)
Through the lens of contemporary Western and ancient Asian movement traditions, immigrant experiences and contemplative practice, Be/Longing 2 is about individual and collective journeys and draws inspiration from art works by Lygia Pape and Anish Kapoor, the poetry of Sufi philosopher Rumi, and the labyrinth and mandala as metaphors for humankind’s journeys.
Through the lens of contemporary Western and ancient Asian movement traditions, immigrant experiences and contemplative practice, Be/Longing 2 is about individual and collective journeys and draws inspiration from art works by Lygia Pape and Anish Kapoor, the poetry of Sufi philosopher Rumi, and the labyrinth and mandala as metaphors for humankind’s journeys.
Chinese American Arts Council Dancers: From Chinatown with Love
Under the direction of choreographer Zhiqiang Wang, the CAAC dancers perform the lively, living traditions of China’s minority communities, presenting traditionally-rooted Chinese dance.
Presented in association with the Chinese American Arts Council