Arts Brookfield presents Transcendent Arts of Tibet and India
Company:
Arts Brookfield
Arts Brookfield presents Transcendent Arts of Tibet and India
Tibetan mandala sand painting and South Indian Bharatanatyam dance among performances at the Winter Garden at Brookfield Place, April 4 - 15
NEW YORK, NY, March 9, 2016 — Experience Asia’s sacred artistic traditions in the Winter Garden at Brookfield Place (230 Vesey St., New York). Presented by Arts Brookfield, Transcendent Arts of Tibet and India is a two-week series of events highlighting the spiritual nature and ancient origins of South Asian art, music and dance. Running from Monday, April 4 through Friday, April 15, 2016, the events are free and open to the public. The series is curated by Isabel Soffer of Live Sounds.
Week one of Transcendent Arts of Tibet and India features the renowned Tibetan monks of the Drepung Loseling Monastery staging exquisite rituals: the spiritual art of mandala sand painting and ceremonial music, dance and multiphonic chanting. Week two highlights one of India’s oldest dance forms, Bharatanatyam, as curated by Malini Srinivasan in addition to various instrumental and vocal performers showcasing the country’s classical music traditions.
"It’s an honor to host the monks from Drepung Loseling Monastery and Malini Srinivasan, among the number of talented artists who will be performing at Brookfield Place as a part of our Transcendent Arts of Tibet and India,” said Debra Simon, vice president and artistic director of Arts Brookfield. “Each of the performances shed a unique light on these ancient societies, presenting beautiful and inspiring art, music and dance as rituals."
Transcendent Arts of Tibet:
Sacred Music, Sacred Dance and Mandala Sand Painting featuring the monks of the Drepung Loseling Monastery
Of all the artistic traditions of Tantric Buddhism, painting with colored sand ranks as one of the most unique and exquisite. Millions of grains of sand are painstakingly laid into place over a period of days or weeks. As a metaphor of the impermanence of life and to fulfill the function of healing shortly after completion, the sand mandala is deconstructed and distributed to the audience at a closing ceremony, while the remainder is carried to a nearby body of water where it is deposited.
Equally as awe inspiring, Tibetans are the only culture on earth to cultivate the extraordinary vocal ability of multiphonic chanting known as zokkay (complete chord). Monks robed in magnificent costumes play traditional Tibetan instruments while chant masters simultaneously intonate three notes, each individually creating a complete chord. The ancient temple music and dance is believed to generate energies conducive to world peace and healing.
The monks of the Deprung Loseling Monastery are well-known for their recent appearance on the Netflix hit House of Cards.
Visitors to Brookfield Place will be able to enjoy the artistry of the monks daily through sand mandala creation and chant beginning April 4. The first week of Transcendent Arts of Tibet and India culminates with a fascinating performance of Sacred Music, Sacred Dance on the night of Friday, April 8, and the closing ceremony for the sand mandala including a procession to the Hudson River on Saturday, April 9, 2016.
Transcendent Arts of India:
Bharatanatyam temple dances of South India and North and South Indian classical music
A tradition that grew in the temples and courts of South India, the classical Bharatanatyam dance form combines subtle movements and themes closely connected to Indian mythology. Its key features are nritta (pure movement or technique), notable for complex rhythmic patterns, and the abhinayas (mime or expression), which revolves around a heroine in a state of anticipation of union with her beloved, also a metaphor for human waiting for union with the Unseen. The Arts Brookfield presentation features a number of group and solo works that will be performed throughout the Winter Garden, choreographed by Malini Srinivasan who began studying Bharatanatyam at a young age with her mother and grandmother.
Hindustani (North Indian) classical music performances include a vocal trio with Samarth Nagarkar, Bansuri (flute) duet with Jay Gandhi, and a Sarod duet with Anupam Shobhakar. Carnatic (South Indian) performances include a vocal trio with Roopa Mahadevan and violin duet with Arun Ramamurthy, curated by Malini Srinivasan.
Arts Brookfield is well-known for presenting diversity in the arts and making world-class cultural experiences accessible. For more information about Transcendent Arts of Tibet and India and the full schedule, visit: artsbrookfield.com/transcendentarts.
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