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NOTES Tickets are going fast!
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November 6, 2015
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A Moving Cultural Dialogue
Indian Classical Dance as Storytelling
River of Light features Indian dancers as a powerful storytelling device. "Incorporating Indian classical dancers as part of the story... is key to including Meera's past as something that she ...longs for and finally realizes has always been with her," says stage director Tanya Kane-Parry.
"The male and female dancers at times interact with the singers, and the singers occasionally use gestures that echo the dancers. In this way, the audience sees the relationship and connection to Meera's culture as a constant presence." There are at least eight forms of Indian classical dance, the symbolic movement that evolved as a ritual in the|
| Antonia Minnecola
choreographer and
Kathak dancer |
sanctum of temples, using mudrā, or hand gestures, as well as body movement, to narrate the story.
Festival Opera's production employs the artistry of choreographer Antonia Minnecola, one of the few American artists recognized as a serious exponent of Kathak dance, the rhythmic and expressive style of North India, and the disciple of Sitara Devi, widely considered the greatest female Kathak dancer of our time.
Twice a recipient of the Marin Arts Council Individual Artist Grants for Choreography, Ms. Minnecola began her training in Kathak with Pandit Chitresh Das, and also studied classical Hindustani music with Ustad Ali Akbar Khan. During this period, she undertook a serious study of taal, the rhythmic science of Indian performing arts, with Ustad Allarakha.
Ms. Minnecola has appeared internationally, and is married to to renowned percussionist Zakir Hussain.
Featured in Festival Opera's productionare dancers Richa Shukla and Gopi.
Richa Shukla is a Bay Area-bred Indian Classical dancer (Kathak) and actress. She has been a student of Srimati Anuradha Nag,
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| Richa Shukla
featured dancer and former Miss India USA
1st runner-up (2008) |
disciple of the legendary Pandit Birju Maharaj. She has performed on the international stage and as a featured dancer at the 2014 Bollywood Filmfare Awards. Ms. Shukla is the granddaughter of
Prabha and
Mysore Gopal, and says, "I feel extremely honored to be performing for this program [Savitri] which is being dedicated to my recently deceased and beloved grandfather."
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Weaving The Tale of Savitri
Principal artists of Savitri
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| Philip Skinner
in Otello 2013 |
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Jorge Garza
in About Face 2012
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Get your seat NOW for Festival Opera's presentation of Gustav Holst's Savitri and Jack Perla and Chitra Divakaruni's River of Light.
Click here for TICKET INFO.
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November 2015
November 14
2:00 pm Saturday
Oakland Asian Cultural Center
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Holst's Savitri
Perla & Divakaruni's
River of Light
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November 14
8:00 pm Saturday
Oakland Asian Cultural Center
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Holst's Savitri
Perla & Divakaruni's
River of Light
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November 15
4:00 pm Sunday
Oakland Asian Cultural Center
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Holst's Savitri
Perla & Divakaruni's
River of Light
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December 2015
December 10
6:30 pm
Round Hill Country Club, Alamo
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Holiday Gala
SAVE THE DATE!
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Summer 2016
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Todos Santos Plaza, Concord, CA
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Opera in the Park
| | Lesher Center for the Arts, Walnut Creek |
Mozart's Abduction from the Seraglio
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Fall 2016 |
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Workshop: Wang Jie's
From The Land Fallen
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| Contact Us | |
Festival Opera
1630 North Main Street, #61
Walnut Creek, California 94596
925.944.9610
www.festivalopera.org
Sara Nealy - General Director
Dick Brundage, CBC - Marketing Director
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Board of Directors
Susie Hanson, Chair
Peter Johnson, Vice Chair
David Baer, Secretary
Nina Bancroft Dickerson
Jennifer Kwock-Lau
Diane Heald
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