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Celebrating Divine Passion in Silicon Valley

R S Shankar in San Jose

The Abhinaya Dance Company will present songs of love from ancient Vaishnavite times to contemporary poetry about the yearning for the divine, and classical dances, on October 16.

Mythili Kumar is the artistic director for the event, Love Exquisite, produced by the dance company and presented by the City of San Jose at the Montgomery Theater at 8 pm.

The program is choreographed by Asha Ramesh, with M Narayanan providing the vocals. Shanthi Narayanan will be on the violin and Vidya Ramakrishnan on the nattubvangam.

Tickets cost $ 25, $ 15 and $ 12. The charge for students, senior citizens and children is $ 12. The event is funded by the Arts Commission of City of San Jose, the Arts Council of Silicon Valley, California Arts Council, and the William & Flora Hewlett Foundation.

The Abhinaya Dance Company celebrates and teaches the dance forms of south India in the Bay Area. Founded in 1981, it produces two full-length annual concerts and frequently appears in San Francisco Bay Area festivals, and premieres Mythili Kumar's original works.

Kumar frequently conducts performances/demonstrations for youth and adult audiences that explain the meaning of the hundreds of gestures and movements that are characteristic features of South Indian dance forms.

Abhinaya provides instructions in Bharatanatyam, Kuchipudi and Odissi dances.

In the last ten years Abhinaya has produced 14 full-length dance events choreographed by Kumar. These include: Shiva: The Cosmic Dancer (1986), The Rhythm of Life (1987); The Splendor of the Infinite (1987), Epic Emotions (1990), The Guru (1991); Life of Annamacharya (1994), Gandhi - The Mahatma (1995), and Ramayana (1996).

The Abhinaya Dance Company publishes a newsletter four times a year with news, press reviews, calendar of events and other important events.

The company is based at 476 Park Avenue, Suite 226, San Jose, CA. (408) 993-9231. For more information, check www.abhinaya.com or e-mail mythili@abhinaya.com or Abhinaya_Dance@vval.com.

Discourse on Divinity

NEW YORK

Prema Pandurang, author and religious scholar, offers insights into divine nature on October 15 and 16.

Called Bhagavad Bhakthi, the program also features devotional songs. Organized by the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, it will be held at the Bhavan's Romanti Auditorium, 305 7th Avenue, 17th floor, Manhattan.

On October 15, it will be held from 6.30 to 8 pm and, the next day, from 5 to 8 pm.

If you would like to post any information about forthcoming events or community happenings, please email the details to bettypais@aol.com

Information and photographs can also be mailed to Betty Pais at 87-52 108th Street, 2nd Floor, Richmond Hill, NY 11418-2229, USA.

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