US dancer presents lec-dem in Chennai

Malathi Iyengar presents 'Dreams & Visions', a lecture / seminar at the 'Dakshinachitra', a heritage centre of south India, Chennai, on December 18 at 2pm followed by a Bharatanatyam dance performance by Malathi and her disciples, Lakshmi Iyengar and Shaheen Sheik.

Venue: Dakshinachitra, East Coast Road, Mutthukadu, Chengelput District, Chennai, Phone: 44 2491 8943 Information: Madras Craft Foundation www.dakshinachitra.org Malathi Iyengar / www.rangoli.org

On December 23, Malathi and her Rangoli Dance Company (based in Los Angeles, USA) along with dancers and musicians from India present a music and dance feature, 'Dwadasha Stotra' on December 23, 2003,evening. Venue: Hamsadhwani Sabha, Indira Nagar, Adyar, Chennai. Phone: 44 2491 5555.

Dwadasha Stotra', a literary text extolling 'Sri Hari' is penned by the saint philosopher, Sri Ananda Tirtha (Madhvacharya 1238 - 1317 A.D.). Though the central piece of the evening focuses on 'Dashavatara' (excerpts from Dwadasha Stotra), the performance will include other works by traditional and contemporary composers glorifying 'Sri Hari'.

Musicians: Malathi Iyengar - Nattuvangam, Latha Ramchand - Vocal,Ganesh Desai - Vocal, Gurumurthy - Mridangam, Praveen D. Rao - Tabla,Mysore Chandan Kumar - Flute and Kalaiarasan - Violin.

Dancers: Malathi Iyengar (disciple of guru Narmada, Bangalore, India) Lakshmi Iyengar (disciple of Malathi Iyengar & guru Narmada) Shaheen Sheik (disciple of Malathi Iyengar) Deepa Narayan (disciple of Dhananjayans) Neewin Hershall and T. B. Unnikrishnan (Kalakshetra) Renjith Kumar (Kalakshetra & disciple of C. V. Chandrasekhar) Kirti Ramgopal (disciple of Padmini Ramachandran) K. Murali Mohan ( disciple of Dharamshi Shah and Kumudini Lakhia)Jayanthi Eshwarputthi (disciple of Birju Maharaj).

Lighting - Venkatram (Bangalore)'Dwadasha Stotra' premiered in Los Angeles, USA (Sept 2001) and Bangalore, India (Dec 2001) under the title 'Love Lyrics'