Fierce and fragile, stately and joyful, spiritual and sensuous, the Ragamala dance company presents its uniquely contemporary interpretation of traditional Indian dance on Friday, January 15, at 7:30 pm in Hailey.
Rooted in the Bharatanatyam (Ba-ra-ta-NA-tee-um) tradition, a southern Indian classical dance form that emphasizes supple hand gestures and stylized postures, Ragamala is internationally acclaimed for the beauty, elegance and rhythmic complexity of its performances. The Minneapolis Star Tribune said that "Ragamala astounds audiences with works that expand one's perception of dance, cross-cultural collaboration, and spiritual meaning." Dance magazine praised the dancers' ability to "alter the very textures of their bodies from moment to moment—they thicken, sharpen, attenuate, and refine the highly inflected vocabulary of Bharatanatyam."
"Bharatanatyam is among the oldest dance forms in the world, with a history that goes back more than two thousand years, but the energy and vibrancy of their dances are very contemporary," says Kristine Bretall, Marketing Director at the Sun Valley Center for the Arts, "and this is a rare opportunity to see one of the finest Indian dance companies right here in the Wood River Valley." The Center is bringing the Minneapolis-based company to town as part of its 2009–2010 Winter Performance Series. Ragamala will also visit local schools and offer master classes as part of its residency in the Wood River Valley.
True to its dedication to updating classical Indian dance with cross-cultural influences, Ragamala will be joined by special guests the Wadaiko Ensemble Tokara, a Japanese Taiko drum troupe, who will perform as well as accompany the dancers. In addition to the twist of taiko, Ragamala uses unconventional music from the likes of Zap Mama for its performances.
In India, dance has been used both as a vehicle of worship and as an expression of profound emotions. Integrating elements of music, theater, poetry, sculpture, and literature, Bharatanatyam has survived over the centuries as a dynamic, vital, living tradition passed on from master to student. Ragamala's artistic directors, Ranee Ramaswamy and Aparna Ramaswamy (mother and daughter), return to India every year to study with Padma Bhushan Alarmel Valli, one of India's greatest living masters of Bharatanatyam.
While the vocabulary of Bharatanatyam is highly structured, the beauty, vitality, stunning physicality and emotional depth of the form offer infinite potential for self-expression. It is these qualities that have allowed the form to survive as a living, breathing tradition with the potential to convey both timeless themes and contemporary ideas. "The form is but the foundation on which the creative dancer builds structures...drawing from her individual experience of music, movement and life," Valli says.
The Ragamala performance is part of the Sun Valley Center for the Arts' multidisciplinary project, Outside In: Indian Art Abroad, which explores writing, art and film created by artists who primarily live outside India. The project also includes visual arts exhibitions in Ketchum and Hailey, classes for all ages and a lecture by Salman Rushdie on February 11.
Tickets to Ragamala are $25 for Sun Valley Center for the Arts members and $35 for nonmembers. Tickets for kids 18 and under are $10. The performance takes place Friday, January 15, at 7:30 pm at the Community Campus auditorium in Hailey. For details and to purchase tickets, go online to www.sunvalleycenter.org, call 208.726.9491 ex 10 or visit The Center in Ketchum.
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