Dances of India ~ Sharing the power and beauty of dance through performances, education, cultural presentations and outreach activities

33RD ANNUAL PREMIERE PERFORMANCE--FRI & SAT, OCT 8-9TH, 2010, EDISON THEATRE, WASHINGTON U. SCROLL DOWN FOR MORE INO ON THIS AND OTHER EVENTS.

Thank you for participating in our first Cultural Connections Series. Rashmi, Madhavan, Radhika Jain, and Shamaita Muzumdar were excellent dancers. The St. Louis County Library community was fortunate to have your group share Indian culture with them.

Bianca Roberts
Manager, Youth Services,
St. Louis County Library

The level of technical expertise and personal style was magical. Everyone was mesmerized with the dancer's subtle movements and brilliant smiles. I especially appreciated the pose at the end which depicted the deities currently in our Asian galleries. It was a lovely touch and connected so well with what we do here at the Museum.

Catherine Cathers
Associate Educator,
St. Louis Art Museum

Dances of India participating artists are professionals (8) and dance graduates (10) from various schools. In addition, there are 40 students with varying talents and skills.

In 2010 Dances of India will celebrate its 33rd season, a significant milestone for any arts organization. Celebrating more than 30 years of performing, Dances of India has four principal activities:

Dances of India has an eclectic collection of works in its repertoire; in addition to traditional solos, duets, and dance dramas, such as The Ramayana, The Magic Swan (based on a classic Indian myth) and the classic Narasimha, (performed for the company's 30th Anniversary in 2007, this piece details the treasured myth of the half-man, half-lion incarnation of the Hindu deity Vishnu), the company has pushed the boundaries of traditional Indian dance with the following pieces:

The Nutcracker and Swan Lake—traditional Indian dance done to Tchaikovsky’s original score. (Swan Lake was performed in collaboration with Dance St. Louis)
Cinderella, The Wizard of Oz, A Midsummer’s Night Dream—all these pieces incorporated traditional Indian dance to a “fusion” music—i.e., music which mingles both Western and Indian beats and melodies.
Tara—a Tibetan Buddhist dance drama, using the chanting of Buddhist monks in music fused with both Indian and Tibetan melodies.
Rhapsody for the Blue Gods—a truly unique confection of American melodies and Indian rhythms! A script narrating episodes from the life of Rama and Krishna, Hinduism’s blue deities, was recorded over George Gershwin’s beloved classics An American in Paris and Rhapsody in Blue. Indian dance was performed to the music.
An Incantation of Incarnation—the Ten Wondrous Lives of Vishnu—this piece narrated the ancient myth of the ten wondrous lives of Vishnu to Strauss' Tales of the Vienna Woods and Ravel's Bolero---a truly eclectic, enchantic concoction of Indian myth and Western music.
Akbar's Magic Trunk--Possibly the first time classical Indian dance was fused with live magic! Keith Jozsef, a professional illusionist, dazzled the audience with impossible-to-believe illusion in this suspensful, humorous dance drama that took place in Akbar the Great's court. Kiran Rajagopalan, a rising star in the world of classical Indian dance, played the part of Akbar.

Dances of India partners with the St. Louis Public Schools, the Vaughn Cultural Center and the University of Missouri at St. Louis (UMSL) to present Indian arts in a educational curriculum each spring and fall to more than 2500 area students (ages 6-13) a large proportion of whom are African-American. The purpose for these presentations is to promote arts education and encourage children at an early age to be more open and receptive to foreign traditions.

Dances of India has performed in several regional cultural institutions such as the International Institute, the St. Louis Art Museum, the St. Louis Public Library, and the St. Louis County Library system. Other public and private venues for artistic demonstrations include senior citizen centers and high schools, both in the city and county of St. Louis. Approximately 3000 children and adults participate in our outreach activities annually. In addition, Dances of India has performed in dozens of corporations in the St. Louis metropolitan area, such as Anheuser-Busch, Enterprise Rental, Citi Mortage, American Family Insurance, and At & t , among many others.

Dances of India sponsors and coordinates an annual dance showcase--the St. Louis Dance Festival Showcase--representing various dance styles in the spring of each year (ballet, modern, jazz, tap, hip-hop, folk, flamenco, African, middle Eastern, Indian, and others). In 2009, for the 10th Annual St. Louis Dance Festival Showcase, more than 25 companies participated. Please see the Events page for more information.