Pandit Birju
Maharaj comes to Barclay as first co-presentation with Ektaa Center
By Michael Rydzynski For Irvine
World News
A rose by any other name would
smell just as sweet.
But sometimes name changes are
necessary to eliminate confusion.
So the Arpana Foundation, which
often and understandably has been confused by the public with the Arpana
Dance Company and Arpana School of Dance, will hereafter be known as "Ektaa
Center."
Its motto: Celebrating the arts
of India.
"Ektaa is a Sanskrit word for
'oneness' or 'unity' and serves as our metaphor for celebrating diversity,
not only in our own (Indian) community but the greater community we are
a part of," explained Harish Murthy, executive director of the former Arpana
Foundation. |
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Part of the confusion stemmed
from the fact that Murthy also serves as business manager of Arpana Dance
Company and School of Dance, both of which will retain their respective
names, while his wife, Ramya Harishankar, is on the board of directors
of Ektaa as program director and is also artistic director of the two Arpana
organizations. The fact is, Ektaa was and remains a separate entity from
the two "Arpanas." Hence, the name change.
"At Ektaa, we try to bring the
arts of India to the community," said Murthy, who added that Ektaa has
its own board of directors, mission and agenda.
In its first act under the new
name, Ektaa will initiate a first-time collaborative presentation. It will
cosponsor, with the Barclay, Pandit Birju Maharaj and his company, with
special guest Zakir Hussain, master tabla player, in a program of storytelling
and dances on Tuesday.
"It's a partnership that came
from an ongoing dialogue between the (former) Arpana Foundation and the
Barclay about doing something together," said Murthy, whose wife's Arpana
groups have used the facility in the past, most recently earlier this month.
"This has been going on for
two years, but we finally approached them about Pandit Birju Maharaj last
November, when we found out about this tour, and from the second conversation,
it was a go.
"Long bearing the social title
of "Pandit," conferred by one's peers on someone recognized as a supreme
master in the knowledge of his art-form, the much-lauded and -awarded Maharaj
is generally recognized as the leading artist of Kathak, a centuries-old
storytelling-based classical dance form of northern India, wherein the
Kathakaar, or storyteller, tells a Katha, or story, through dance steps.
"These dance steps are particularly
noted for their speed of execution and complexity of movement of the feet,"
explained Murthy, who first saw Maharaj five or six years ago at the La
Mirada Performing Arts Center.
"And Maharaj is one of the biggest
artists in this art form, perhaps the equal of a Baryshnikov or Martha
Graham in his field."
One of the dance stories, the
company of five dancers - including Maharaj and his son, Deepak Maharaj
- and two musicians will present is "Loha: Autobiography of a Piece of
Iron." It relates the saga of what happens "when one piece of iron is picked
up by a bad person who turns it into a weapon, while another piece is picked
up by a good person, who makes a temple out of it," according to Murthy.
The evening will begin with
Maharaj "interweaving stories on Krishna and interspersing these with pure
dance aspects," Murthy said.
Murthy compared the Kathak to
the Spanish flamenco.
"The essence of rhythm and use
of feet in dancing these complex rhythmic patterns is probably akin to
those in flamenco," he said, then added: "But it has a storytelling aspect
not found in flamenco and often overlooked by audiences." An added bonus
to the program will be having tabla player Hussain join Maharaj.
"(Hussain) generally plays Indian
classical music and his own music, but doesn't play for dance at all,"
Murthy explained. "Yet he makes an exception for Birju Maharaj. They have
a bond between them and Zakir treats Birju, who's much older than he, like
a guru - and gurus, in our culture, have a great reverence."
"So when we found out about
Zakir's availability, we pursued him." With Hussain's participation - the
company itself has its own tabla player - there will be a great concentration
on the relationship between the fingers of the tabla player and the feet
of the dancers.
This relationship has developed
a certain language "that translates from the fingers to the feet and the
feet to the fingers, based on the same sounds and syllables of the rhythmic
patterns," Murthy explained.
Although this will be the first
Barclay-Ektaa partnership, Murthy promised it won't be the last.
"We are dedicated to bring the
arts of India to the community at large and the Barclay is dedicated to
the arts in its many forms," he said.
"And we are very fortunate indeed
to have Pandit Birju Maharaj and Zakir Hussain on the same program together
as our and the Barclay's first co-presentation."
