The San Diego State University School of Music and Dance and the Center for World Music proudly presents a South Indian Music and Dance show by the Arpana Dance Company featuring:
Ramya Harishankar - Artistic Director/Nattuvangam
Rusty Gillette - Mridangam
Visalini Sundaram - Voice
Aashray Harishankar - Keyboard
Ranjana Ravikumar - Dance
Nikki Shah - Dance
Program:
Sankara Sri Giri - (Ragam: Nagaswaravali; Talam: Adi) Composer: Reji George/D. Kannan
Vaa Muruga - (Ragam: Natakurinji; Talam: Adi) Composer: Spencer Venugopal
Padavini - (Ragam: Alika; Talam: Kanta Chapu) Composer: Subramanya Bharati
Thillana - (Ragam: Kuntalavarali; Talam: Adi) Composer: M. Balamuralikrishna
Bharata Natyam, the classical dance style of South India, incorporates two basic dance techniques, pure or abstract dance and mimetic dance. As with the music that accompanies it, bharata natyam is lively, virtuosic, and rhythmic in character. Facial expressions, hand gestures (mudras), rhythmic footwork, and costume are all combined in order to tell a specific Hindu story, taken from mythology or legend, or simply to create beautiful visual designs within the staged dance space. Bharata Natyam is a demanding art form both physically and mentally; its performance requires years of dedication, hard work, and discipline.
Dance genres of South India include some of the following types: (1) pushpanjali (an invocation to the elephant-headed God Ganesha who is believed to be the remover of obstacles, (2) jathilayasaram (a virtuosic dance with scintillating footwork and statuesque poses), (3) javali (an interpretive mime dance with facial expression, body language, and symbolic gestures, all used to communicate the meaning of the song text), and padam(a devotional interpretive dance-song).
Vocal music in South India normally consists of a short religious text that has three different melodies: the first (pallavi) in a low range, the second (anupallavi) in a high range, and the third (charanam) in a middle range. The veena (vina) is the most prestigious chordophone in southern India. The European violin has displaced some traditional bowed instruments, but its tone and microtonal capabilities make it a superb instrument for expressing the slides and ornaments that "spice" or decorate the melodic modes of Indian classical music, which are known as rag (ragam, raga). The mridangam, the classical drum of South India, is a barrel-shaped, two-headed drum that is played with the fingers. It is constructed with two heads that are "loaded" (weighted) so that their pitches may be lowered. Combined with a virtuosic technique, the mridangam produces a surprisingly large variety of timbres and pitches. These drumming techniques are also applied to the ghatam (tuned clay pot) and kanjira(tambourine). Nattuvangam refers to small cymbals that are struck together; the player of nattuvangam conducts the dance performance. All percussion instruments are organized around the tal (talam, tala), the system of metric organization.
An award-winning dancer, choreographer, teacher, and musician, Ramya Harishankar has directed the Arpana Dance Company since its creation over twenty years ago (Arpana means "offering" in Sanskrit). For more information on Ramya Harishankar, please visit:
Monday, November 8 - 6:00 PM
For more information, please call: (619) 594-1017 or visit: www.centerforworldmusic.org
Ramya Harishankar - Artistic Director/Nattuvangam
Rusty Gillette - Mridangam
Visalini Sundaram - Voice
Aashray Harishankar - Keyboard
Ranjana Ravikumar - Dance
Nikki Shah - Dance
Program:
Sankara Sri Giri - (Ragam: Nagaswaravali; Talam: Adi) Composer: Reji George/D. Kannan
Vaa Muruga - (Ragam: Natakurinji; Talam: Adi) Composer: Spencer Venugopal
Padavini - (Ragam: Alika; Talam: Kanta Chapu) Composer: Subramanya Bharati
Thillana - (Ragam: Kuntalavarali; Talam: Adi) Composer: M. Balamuralikrishna
Bharata Natyam, the classical dance style of South India, incorporates two basic dance techniques, pure or abstract dance and mimetic dance. As with the music that accompanies it, bharata natyam is lively, virtuosic, and rhythmic in character. Facial expressions, hand gestures (mudras), rhythmic footwork, and costume are all combined in order to tell a specific Hindu story, taken from mythology or legend, or simply to create beautiful visual designs within the staged dance space. Bharata Natyam is a demanding art form both physically and mentally; its performance requires years of dedication, hard work, and discipline.
Dance genres of South India include some of the following types: (1) pushpanjali (an invocation to the elephant-headed God Ganesha who is believed to be the remover of obstacles, (2) jathilayasaram (a virtuosic dance with scintillating footwork and statuesque poses), (3) javali (an interpretive mime dance with facial expression, body language, and symbolic gestures, all used to communicate the meaning of the song text), and padam(a devotional interpretive dance-song).
Vocal music in South India normally consists of a short religious text that has three different melodies: the first (pallavi) in a low range, the second (anupallavi) in a high range, and the third (charanam) in a middle range. The veena (vina) is the most prestigious chordophone in southern India. The European violin has displaced some traditional bowed instruments, but its tone and microtonal capabilities make it a superb instrument for expressing the slides and ornaments that "spice" or decorate the melodic modes of Indian classical music, which are known as rag (ragam, raga). The mridangam, the classical drum of South India, is a barrel-shaped, two-headed drum that is played with the fingers. It is constructed with two heads that are "loaded" (weighted) so that their pitches may be lowered. Combined with a virtuosic technique, the mridangam produces a surprisingly large variety of timbres and pitches. These drumming techniques are also applied to the ghatam (tuned clay pot) and kanjira(tambourine). Nattuvangam refers to small cymbals that are struck together; the player of nattuvangam conducts the dance performance. All percussion instruments are organized around the tal (talam, tala), the system of metric organization.
An award-winning dancer, choreographer, teacher, and musician, Ramya Harishankar has directed the Arpana Dance Company since its creation over twenty years ago (Arpana means "offering" in Sanskrit). For more information on Ramya Harishankar, please visit:
Monday, November 8 - 6:00 PM
For more information, please call: (619) 594-1017 or visit: www.centerforworldmusic.org
