AUG 15 | In-Person & Livestreamed
This year’s festival offering for India’s Independence Day is entitled Purush, and celebrates the power and artistry of classical Indian male dancers.
Rudrakshya Foundation, the celebrated Odissi company and school from Bhubaneswar, Odisha, anchors this evening’s program. Under the leadership of Guru Sri Bichitrananda Swain, this company of ten dancers will grace New York City with its stunning virtuosity. Complementing the program will be two acclaimed soloists, Kathak dancer Durgesh Gangani from Vadodara, Gujarat, and Kuchipudi dancer Amaranth Ghosh from Chennai, Tamil Nadu.
Presentation of this special India Day program is made possible in part by The Consulate General of India in New York and The State Bank of India New York.
In-person: 7pm EDT at Rockefeller Park. Click here for directions.
Livestream: https://vimeo.com/854827308?share=copy
The video will be available to watch for 10 days after the premiere and will expire on Aug 25.
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Program
RUDRAKSHYA FOUNDATION
Surya Stutee | NY Premiere
Magalacharan (the invocation of a deity) involves passionate devotion, which is the essence of Bhakti Yoga. Today we perform Surya Suttee. In this item Surya Stutee, the artist prays for the blessings of Surya, the resplendent Sun God. Oh mighty son of Sage Kashyapa! Thou rises with a colour as red as the hibiscus flower. Thy rays, bright and powerful, destroy the darkness and vanish the forces of evil from this world. Oh Divakar! The maker of day, we offer our obeisance to you. You are Adideva, the first God. You are the source of light and energy. You ride a chariot drawn by seven magnificent horses and you hold a white lotus in your hands. Oh! Lord Surya, the source of all life, we salute before you. The dance item ends with Surya Namaskar, a tribute to the Sun God through yogic postures.
Rudrakshya Foundation’s appearance at the 42nd Annual Battery Dance Festival 2023 is made possible by the generous support of the Consulate General of India in New York and State Bank of India New York.
DURGESH GANGANI
The Legacy
Durgesh will be performing works of his grandfather Pt. Sundarlal Gangani, who was a legendary Kathak Guru with a global impact and pioneering personality who brought Kathak to the Indian university education system in the year 1951.
RUDRAKSHYA FOUNDATION
Taala Taranga | NY Premiere
Taal Tarang is a pure dance piece that is a beautiful blend of different percussion instruments i.e. Mardal, Mrudanga, and Khanjani or cymbal. This piece involves an innovative choreography that uses different percussion instruments to give a new dimension to Odissi music. Taal Tarang, meaning rhythmic waves, is choreographed maintaining or following all the techniques: Grammar, Movements, Emotions, Beauty, and Grace of Odissi dance. Though it is based on one particular taal it has been composed with different Chhanda, or rhythmic patterns, and laya, or speed.
Rudrakshya Foundation’s appearance at the 42nd Annual Battery Dance Festival 2023 is made possible by the generous support of the Consulate General of India in New York and State Bank of India New York.
AMARNATH GHOSH
Maragatha Manimaya
This piece is what is known as a Tarangam in Kuchipudi which is where the dancer performs intricate rhythmic patterns while balancing on the edge of a brass plate. This piece describes the glory and splendour of Lord Krishna.
RUDRAKSHYA FOUNDATION
Kali Krishna | NY Premiere
Yaha Krishna Saha Kaali means he who is Lord Krishna is also Goddess Kaali. This beautiful composition explores the many similarities and contrasts between Krishna and Kaali. While Krishna preserves the cosmos with compassion, Kaali maintains the cycle of birth and death with her ferocity. Beginning with the primordial sound OM, followed by the hymns- KLEEM for Krishna and KREEM for Kaali, the dance encompasses the devotee’s visions of the dissimilarities and similarities between Krishna and Kaali. Krishna, the incarnation of Vishnu, and Kaali, the incarnation of Shakti, descend upon earth to eliminate evil and restore peace. Krishna, the compassionate one, and Kaali, the fierce one, are portrayed as Shyam and Shyama or (Dark) in complexion and in darkness – symbolizing the cosmos and devouring of evil. Krishna lives in Vrindavan, surrounded by gentle white Cows; Kaali lives in the cremation ground surrounded by howling Jackals. Krishna dances with Gopikas near river Yamuna and Kaali dances in a sea of blood. Krishna is pitambari – clad in yellow robes with a garland of flowers; and Kaali is Digambari – naked with a garland of human skulls. Krishna wears sandal tilak and ornaments; and Kaali wears vermillion on her forehead, with a snake as her sacred thread, human bones as her waist band and conch shells as her bangles. Krishna is lotus-eyed and charming, playing the flute to lure the Gopikas, devoted to his beloved Radha; and Kaali, depicted dauntingly with skull and sword in her hand, is the divine consort of Lord Shiva. However, this outward dichotomy ceases to exist as the devotee envisions both as complementary to and merging into each other. Krishna and Kaali, Shyam and Shyamaa are aspects of the one and only truth – the Supreme’s Maya, or illusion, hence beyond human comprehension.
Rudrakshya Foundation’s appearance at the 42nd Annual Battery Dance Festival 2023 is made possible by the generous support of the Consulate General of India in New York and State Bank of India New York.