From: mahesh@pinky.Eng.Sun.COM (Mahesh Jethanandani)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.indian,rec.music.indian.classical,rec.music.indian.misc,soc.culture.indian.american,sun.misc.indian-interest,soc.culture.indian.telugu
Subject: Festival of Dussera
Keywords: dance drama
Date: 15 Sep 92 02:04:48 GMT
Followup-To: poster
Distribution: ba
Organization: Sun Microsystems Inc., Mountain View, CA, USA
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE				Contact: Pragati Grover
						(408) 238-1870

NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION

		    Festival of	Dussera

     One of the	most popular Indian festivals,	Dussera,  is
being  celeberated by the Abhinaya Dance Company in the	form
of dance, rangoli,  and	 an  exhibition	 of  Indian-American
artists,  and paintings.  This festival	is being celeberated
at the Center for Performing  Arts  (CPA)  in  San  Jose  on
Saturday, September 26 at 7 p.m.

     Abhinaya Dance Company will present legends of  Dussera
such as, the slaying of	the demon Ravana and the vanquishing
of the demon Mahishasura by goddess Durga.  All	the drama of
Hindu  mythology comes alive through the classicism and	vir-
tuosity	 of  Abhinaya  Dance  Company's	 artisitc  director,
Mythili	Kumar.	Bharatnatyam, Kuchipudi, and Odissi style of
dance will be used to depict these legends.

     Kumar has earned five  consecutive	 National  Endowment
for the	Arts choregrapher's fellowships	(from 1989 to 1993).
She was	 recently  awarded  the	 City  of  Cupertino's	Dis-
tinguished  Artist Award for 1992.  Under her direction, the
Abhinaya Dance Company has produced seven full	lenght	pro-
ductions, namely "Shiva	- The Cosmic Dancer," "The Rhythm of
Life," "The Splendor of	the Infinite,"	"Dancing  Divities,"
"Epic  Emotions,"  "Women  Triumphant,"	 and the "The Guru."
Kumar and her dance company have been inivited to perform at
the  San  Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival, and the South Bay
Asian-Pacific  Performing  Arts	 Festival.    "Festival	  of
Dussera"  is  funded  in  part by the City of San Jose,	Arts
Council	of Santa Clara County, and California Arts  Council.
Kumar  and  her	 dance	company	 will  be accompanied by the
renowned Carnatic vocalist Prema Ramamoorthy,  N.  Narayanan
on mdridangam, Shanti Naraynan on voilin, and Radhika Kannan
will provide the nattuvangam.  Jyothi Lakkaraju	will present
a dance-drama piece in the Kuchipudi style.

     Garba, the	joyous folk  dance  performed  at  Navaratri
will  be presented by a	Gujrati	folk dance group.  The lobby
of the CPA will	be decorated with colorful rangoli  designs,
and  the  paintings  of	 Indian-American  artists, including
children.  This	display	of  art	 expresses  the	 traditional
element	 of  Navaratri.	  The central arrangement at the CPA
lobby will be creatively fashioned "golu" --  a	 traditional
decoration   featuring	 images	 of  Hindu  gods  and  other
artifacts.   "In  Indian  culture,  religion  and   art	  go
together," said	Kumar.	"The Dussera festival, with its	high
degree of symbolism is a wonderful occasion for	the arts  to
find  expression,  and	create the true	Indian atmosphere of
truth, holiness	and beauty," added Kumar.

     Tickets for the Dussera Festival are on  sale  for	 $25
(donors),  $12	(general),  and	$8 (children/seniors).	They
may be purchased by mail by sending a check to the Abhinanya
Dance  Company	of San Jose, 476 Park Avenue, #226, San	Jose
CA 95110, or call (408)	 993-9231.   Other  locations  where
tickets	 can  be purchased are American	Inn in Mountain	View
(415) 961-6720,	and Days Inn in	San Jose (408) 224-4122.

			    ###
--
Mahesh Jethanandani

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