DRE (three)

REVIEW FROM PULSE THE PREMIERE AT THE NORWEGIAN NATIONAL OPERA & BALLET, OCT 12th 2010.

"While the female dancer Aditi Mangaldas spins across the floor with sprightly grace, the male dancer Sudesh Adhana explodes through the space with angular and valiant execution. Adhana's performance resembles a forever intermission time bomb, yet at the same time soft on his feet and rapid as a cheetah — really quite gripping.

At a point we forget we are in a conventional theatre space in the Norwegian National Opera House and feel as if we were watching a quirky aerial artist at a circus in Delhi, a genius moment!"

PULSE Asian Music and Dance Magazine Dec 2010 Issue, Review by Sarah da Fonseca

GUEST PERFORMANCE AND PREMIERE 2010

GUEST PERFORMANCE AT THE TOPIC INTERNATIONAL CENTRE IN TOLOSA, SPAIN OCTOBER 9TH 2010. NORWEGIAN PREMIERE AT THE NORWEGIAN NATIONAL OPERA & BALLET OCTOBER 12TH AND 13TH 2010.

Damini House of Culture in collaboration with choreographer and dancer Sudesh Adhana (who lives and works in Oslo) and two high-profile dance- and puppet artists from India, is behind an innovative, contemporary production that opened ISHARA International Puppet Festival in New Delhi in January 2010. The show will have a two week residency and performance at the TOPIC, International Puppet Center of Tolosa in Spain on th 9th of October, before a Norwegian premiere on the 12th of October at The Norwegian National Opera & Ballet in Oslo.

Premiere on October 12th, 2010, at 19.30 o clock (8:30PM)

School performance on October 13th at 13.00 o clock (1 PM)

Performance on October 13th, at 19.30 o clock (8:30PM)

For tickets link to The Norwegian National Opera & Ballet

For school performance send mail to damini@damini.org, or link to Damini House of Culture

Episode from Mahabharata and the relevance of todays time

Gandhari is a woman in the Mahabharata, who marries a blind king. In order to be a good wife, she ties a blindfold in front of the eyes in sympathy for her husband. She is the mother of the 100 sons, who in the Great War are portrayed as villains, the evil. In the episode used as a source for DRE, we meet Gandhari who comes to the battlefield, where all her 100 sons are killed. The god Krishna, who is pulling the strings, who has consulted the victorious, arrives at the battlefield. Gandhari curses Krishna. In the general perception in India Gandhari is conceived as a woman of high moral standards, as she puts her husband ahead of herselves. But in today's India a number of authors and writers have questioned this. By choosing not to see, she may have missed the development and upbringing of their sons. Should she have seen and avoided the sons choices and mistakes?

Historically the figure Gandhari is from Kandahar, which is now the second largest city and capital of Kandahar province in Afghanistan. In a parallel to present time, we are dealing with a historical and mythical figure who could have been the mother of any terrorist.

The figure of the mythical Krishna is seen as a political reformer and the political key figure in the Mahabharata. The third figure in the performance of DRE is the protagonist of the war: the son, the husband, the soldier, the one who carries out orders, and or the fallen.

Thursday, October 7, 2010

The Flyer Design for the performances at The Norwegian National Opera & Ballet

The whole team in Tolosa, Spain

The whole team has arrived Spain, and we are working at the stage at the Topic Theater. It is located at Topic International Puppet Center, and it is a beautiful space in a beautiful city in the Basque Region, not far from Bilbao.

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

DRE premiere and residency

DRE will have its Oslo premiere at at The Norwegian National Opera & Ballet on October 12th and 13th, 2010. The performance will be a part of the guest program.

The TOPIC, International Puppet Center of Tolosa, Spain, has invited the production DRE for a two weeks Residency period prior to the Oslo premiere. The Residency will conclude with a performance at the TOPIC Theatre on the 9th of October.