The Durga Project/SHAKTI: A Return to the Source (2016)

The Durga Project/SHAKTI: A Return to the Source

Artistic Direction: Jonathan Hollander

Guest Artist: Unnath Hassan Rathnaraju

Music: Rajan and Sajan Mishra; Samir Chatterjee; Ashirvad/Sangita Sounds

Costumes: Sole Salvo

Lighting: Calvin Anderson

First Performance: 2016, Battery Dance 40th Anniversary Season, Schimmel Center, New York City

Subsequent Performances: Dallas, Houston, Fort Wayne, Sri Lanka, India, Bangladesh 

Run Time: 28 minutes

The Durga Project/SHAKTI: A Return to the Source was supported by The New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, Air India, and by Molly K. Heines and Thomas J. Moloney

Praise for The Durga Project/SHAKTI: A Return to the Source

“With its beautiful images and soulful music, The Durga Project/SHAKTI: A Return to the Source evokes the sentiment of Bhakti (devotional love of the Goddess).  The choreography is excellent, drawing inspiration from Indian classical dances and classical music, which go hand in hand.  The human chain performed in the beginning with Bharatanatyam dancer and guest artist Unnath Jain gradually gathers momentum, resolving into the pas de deux which offer imaginatively suggestive and iconic poses of Goddess Durga in motion.  Hollander and his dancers from the U.S. and India have captured the essence of Shakti, the female principle of divine energy, in a meaningful manner.”

-The Late Sunil Kothari
Dance historian and critic, India
Recipient of Lifetime Achievement Award, Dance Critics Association, New York​