The Kalakriti School of Bharatanatyam Dance and AID-NM - the New Mexico Chapter of the Association for India's Development - present a one-time opportunity to see world renowned East Indian classical dancers G. Narendra, Mahalakshmi and Lonika Majithia performing at Rodey Theatre this Saturday as a fundraiser to aid rural communities in India.
Bharatanatyam is one of the oldest dance traditions in the world and remains one of the most popular dances in India today. Devotional in origin, the Bharatanatyam was first a religious dance, then a dance of the higher courts of the Indian aristocracy.
"The dance is very firm but it's very expressive," said Lonika Majithia, a UNM Biology student and performer in Saturday's show.
Majithia is the director of the Kalakriti school of Bharatanatyam in Albuquerque. She received her training from Priya Venkataraman in Rockford, Ill. She also took classes from Narendra and Mahalakshmi. She has been teaching dance in New Mexico since November 2000 and offers classes in the art form for all levels and ethnicities.
G. Narendra and Mahalakshmi are renowned Bharatanatyam dancers from Chennai, India, trained at the Kalakshetra School of Fine Arts.
Narendra is currently the artistic director of the Cleveland Cultural Alliance, dedicated to exposing the fine art traditions of India to American audiences. Narendra choreographed "The Living Tree" a full-length dance drama based on Shel Silverstein's The Giving Tree. The show received many accolades when it toured India and the United States last year.
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Mahalakshmi is Narendra's partner in his dance institute, Avigna, and they have taught Bharatanatyam in Cleveland over the last decade. Narendra's compositions will be the principal choreography used for the show.
"Many people in the U.S., both non-Indian and Indian people, have the notion that this dance is more religious, but I beg to differ," Narendra said. "We use the dance form for our religion and not the other way around. Dance is a universal language and it has no restrictions. The music we are dancing to may be praising Ganesha or Shiva, but no one says ballet is a Catholic dance. Some Bharatanatyam dancers are more traditional and they will argue with me, but for me, the dance is universal."
Narendra has written many essays on accessible choreographing on the Internet, and has been an outspoken force on reaching a wider audience for Bharatanatyam in the past 10 years.
"[Bharatanatyam] is not what it was 50 years back and my style is more for the present," he said. "I hope someday we will hit the mainstream. It just has to go beyond the temples and the Indian community here in the States."
AID-NM, a chartered student organization at UNM, organized this show as a fundraiser for many diverse projects. AID-NM is a nonprofit organization working with grassroots developmental projects in India. Its primary objectives are to raise awareness about poverty and related issues and to raise funds to encourage literacy, education, rural development, family planning, health care, social welfare and the empowerment of people.
Students and recent graduates of UNM started the New Mexico chapter of AID in March of 2003. AID-NM may be reached through their New Mexico Chapter Coordinator, Mohit Adhikari at mohit@unm.edu.
"The idea behind organizing this concert is to take this well-nurtured art form of ancient India toward a better life for the poor and underprivileged in today's India," Adhikari said.
"Samarpan - A Holy Tribute" will be performed this Saturday, July 19 at 6 p.m. in Rodey Theatre. Tickets are available at the UNM box office and through tickets.com. General admission is $10 and $8 for students.
