The term "dhvani" means "echo" in sanskrit. But sanskrit is a slippery, inference-laden, nonliteral language -and dhvani is so much more than a mere echo. Rather, it is the reverberation of truth enveloped in artistic expression.
If you're lucky enough to be in the Montessori Auditorium next Friday, Oct. 8, taking in the beauty of Odissi dancing to the evocative sound of tambla and sarode, you'll understand why the group was drawn to the evocative, nuanced term. India's music and dance is regarded as a manifestation of the silent, ineluctable sacredness that permeates everyday life.
Dancer/choreographer Sarala Dandekar and acclaimed tambla player Ty Burhoe (of Tala Records) return for their third performance together - this time they're celebrating John Friend's Anusara Youga workshop and teacher training being held at The Studio Maui in Haiku. Dendekar's students Akari Oeoka and Malati Carano and popular sarode player Steve Oda will join Sarala and Ty on stage, creating a mesmerizing combination of melody and movement.
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Sarala Dandekar will perform Odissi dance with her students, Akari Oeoka and Malati Carano, when “Dhvani” inaugurates Montessori School’s new auditorium Oct. 8.
Odissi dance is considered the oldest surviving dance form. Named after the region of East India, Orissa, where it originated, Odissi dance was performed in temples; its movements and performers were considered sacred conduits to the gods themselves. The movements in Odissi seek to harmonize opposing elements and energies -masculine and feminine, light and dark, physical and ethereal. Like hula, Odissi incorporates very specific hand postures (mudras), along with delicate footwork, eye and torso movements. The dance form was also banned for more than a century by colonialist missionaries who regarded the movements as suggestive and mistook the deific dancers for prostitutes. Around the time of India's independence from Britain, Odissi experienced a resurgence. Soon, its vibrancy, pageantry and exoticism held the whole world in thrall. Odissi has been thriving ever since.
Sarala Dandekar's Odissi Dance Troupe will highlight the performance with originally choreographed sequences. Dandekar has performed and toured the globe for more than 20 years, performing and collaborating with dance troupes from the United States, Canada, Europe and India. She was trained by world-renowned gurus in Mumbai and Orissa before establishing Darshan Dance Project in 1999 to promote traditional Odissi dance while creating boundary-breaking modern interpretations to keep the tradition alive.
Ty Burhoe and Steve Oda have performed together in the Maui Arts & Cultural Center's Castle Theater and at The Studio Maui in previous years. This year's event - the inaugural public performance in the Montessori Auditorium - will be a feast for the senses. Maui's premier Indian restaurant, Monsoon India, will offer authentic Indian dinner entrees, desserts and chai before the performance. Bring your family and get swept away.
n Dhvani: Music & Dance of India comes to Montessori Auditorium, 2933 Baldwin Ave., Makawao, at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 8. Tickets, $15, may be purchased in advance at: www.TalaRecords.com or at the door the night of the performance (based on availability). For more information, call: 573-0374.
Mea culpa:
Kathy Collins' performance of "Chicken Skin Stories" at the Steppingstone Playhouse in Queen Ka'ahumanu Center on Sunday, Oct. 24, will be at 5 p.m. (the wrong time was reported in last week's column). My apologies to Maui Academy of Performing Arts, the divine Miss Collins, and, of course, Tita - for the error.
Announcements:
Maui Academy of Performing Arts (MAPA) is offering two fall break performing arts camps for elementary school students next week, Monday through Friday, at the MAPA studios in downtown Wailuku.
Students in the Fall Break Dance Camp taught by Rebecca Owen and Kathleen Schulz, will learn dance skills in ballet, tap, hip-hop, memorization, flexibility, coordination and teamwork. Geared for students ages 6-10, the dance camp runs 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Oct. 4 to 8. The camp culminates in a performance for family and friends at Steppingstone Playhouse in Queen Ka'ahumnau Center. Tuition for the dance camp is $175 for the week.
In the Fall Break Drama Camp, taught by veteran teaching artist Eva Sikes, students ages 5 to 9 will make new friends while learning the ins and outs of acting. The camp runs 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Oct. 4 to 8, and culminates in a performance for family and friends. Tuition for the drama camp is $175 for the week.
To download a registration form, go to www.mauiacademy.org, or call 244-8760 for more information. Space is limited.
Professional Artists of the Pacific (ProArts) presents "Kamp Krazy Tales," a drama and music camp for elementary students ages 5 to 8 during fall break, 9 a.m. to noon Oct. 4 to 8 at the ProArts Playhouse in the Azeka Shopping Center in Kihei. Drama instructor Kristi Scott and music instructor Marti Kluth have created three funny fractured fairy tales with original music to go with the stories that students will present in the camp's culminating production. Cost is $150 per child. To register, call Marti Kluth at 276-4847. Space is limited.
This weekend:
Do the Time Warp again at the Historic Iao Theater when Maui OnStage celebrates the kickoff "Son of Rocktober" with a FREE screening of the cult classic "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" during Wailuku's First Friday this week. Costumes are encouraged. Doors open at 8 and the film will roll at 9 p.m.. Party packs with squirt guns, bubbles, rubber gloves, noisemakers and other astounding doodads will be available for $10 while supplies last.
Attendance will be restricted to 375 people, so all you Frankie fans need to arrive early. The "Rocky Line" (always a scene unto itself) will form around the side of the theater.
"The Rocky Horror Picture Show" is rated "R" for language and adult situations, and its audience participation is not appropriate for children.
