Devi to perform at Nihon University in Tokyo
Ranjanaa Devi, director of the Fine Arts Center’s Asian Arts and Culture program and artistic director of the Amherst-based Nataraj Performing Arts of India, will present “Dances of the East,” a concert of Odissi dance, on July 11 at Nihon University in Tokyo.
The Odissi dance style draws its inspiration from the ancient tradition of Devdasi (temple dancers) worship practiced in the temples in Orissa, a state in the eastern part of India. The Odissi dance movements are distinct from other Indian dance styles by their sculptural bends of the body, soft and lyrical movements of the arms and strong vigorous footwork. Today, Odissi style is among India’s most unique yet widely popular classical art forms.
Accompanying Devi will be junior Ayumi Mizuno, who will do the light design for her shows in Tokyo and Hiratsuka prefecture. Graduate student Yuko Takahashi prepared the translation of program notes into Japanese. Music for her works is recorded by Peter Jones, a musician in Five College Dance department, and orchestral musicians in India.
Devi creates unique dance-theater productions on Hindu and Buddhist religion and rituals. In 1982, she founded Nataraj Performing Arts of India is a non-profit arts and educational organization that promotes understanding about South Asian culture through dance, theater and music programs in the United States. The dancers in the company represent a multi-generational group of dancers drawn from many cultures of the world who train and study under the tutelage of Devi in a long term apprenticeship.
June 29, 2009.
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