03/24/2005

NYC

Queens Museum of Art presents

South Asian Dance & Theater Festival

Saturday, March 26th 4-8pm

4:15-4:45 Nayikas Dance Theater presenting selections from their recent series "GLOW"

4:45-5:15 Rajika Puri presenting "Flamenco Natyam" fusion dance performance

5:15-5:45 Parul Shah performing Kathak dance with live musical accompaniment

5:45- 6:00 Intermission

6:00 - 6:30 Desipina & Company present a sneak preview of Seven.11. 2005 - seven stories, eleven minutes, and a convenience store

6:45 - 8:00 Alter Ego Productions staged reading of "Out of Fashion" by Anuvab Pal - an historical comedy set in a Saville Rowe suit shop.

 
Sunday, March 27th 3 - 5pm

3:00-3:15 D'lo - Sri Lankan American comedy, poetry, and performance virtuoso

3:15-3:45 Preeti Vasudevan's Thresh Dance Co. presenting "Tablet #2" inspired by circular strokes of calligraphy on the board and the body language of Sufi women's praying rituals

3:45-4:15 Mango Tribe's Marian Yalini Thambynayagam and Varuni Tiruchelvam use movement, music, recorded interviews, invocation, and spoken word to explore the legacy of war, diaspora, and the recent Tsunami disaster on Sri Lankan Tamil communities.

4:15- 4:30 Intermission

4:30-5:15 Rasa Theater presents a staged reading of Deepa Purohit's "Exile," a story of a South Asian woman's journey through memory which spans two continents in search of lost loves.

Saturday- Sunday, March 26th - 27th, 2005

The Queens Museum of Art (QMA) is pleased to present a weekend-long festival showcasing some of the most celebrated South Asian dancers and theater companies in New York City. The event complements QMA's "South Asian Spring" which includes two visual art exhibits: Edge of Desire: Recent Art in India, co-presented with Asia Society, and Fatal Love: South Asian American Art Now, both on view through June 5th, 2005.

Four internationally touring dancers and dance companies will be performing - Rajika Puri, Nayikas Dance Theater Company, Parul Shah, and Preeti Vasudevan's Thresh Dance Company. These performers represent the highest level of accomplishment in various forms of South Asian traditional, fusion, and contemporary dance including: Bharatnatyam, Odissi, and Kathak.

Three New York-based South Asian theater companies, Rasa Theater, Alter Ego, and Desipina & Company, will present original dramatic readings, and all the presented works are either written or directed by South Asian artists. In a more experimental genre of performance that blends movement, poetry, hip hop and theater are provocative Sri Lankan performers, D'lo, and Mango Tribe's Marian Thambynayagam and Varuni Tiruchelvam.

All performances are free with museum admission and take place in the Unisphere Gallery or in the museum's auditorium, both on the second floor. Complimentary refreshments will be served during intermission on both days. **Note, the free Queens Cultural Trolley will be available Saturday evening at the end of the event to take folks to the subway or to Jackson Heights**

Directions

Subway: Via # 7 Flushing IRT, exit Shea Stadium/Willets Point stop. Follow signs to the Museum, which is located next to the Unisphere. A ten-minute walk through the park to the museum.

Car: Via the Grand Central Parkway, exit at US Tennis Ctr and follow signs to the Museum. Free parking.

Public Events at the Queens Museum of Art are supported by funds from The Independence Community Foundation, The Institute of Museum & Library Services, and the Ford Foundation.

For more information visit www.queensmuseum.org or call 718-592-9700 X145