NEW YORK, July 9: Indian arts and culture will be front and centre at an iconic New York City landmark that will host week-long festivities showcasing the country’s music, dance, art, cuisine and literary talents.
Lincoln Centre, the city’s hub for global artistic and cultural performances, will host the ‘India Week’ July 10-14, which will “celebrate the beauty and vibrancy of Indian culture” with a week-long “extravaganza of events showcasing the country’s music, dance, art, cuisine, and more”.
The “series immerses audiences in a range of festivities that highlight the depth of India’s cultural landscape”, the centre said on its website.
The highlight of the week will include recital by legendary percussionist Padma Bhushan awardee Vidwan T. H. Vinayakram, Grammy-nominated singer Priya Darshini, a comedy night featuring Peabody Award-winning actor and writer Aasif Mandvi, comedian Hari Kondabolu, Emmy-nominated writer and comedian Nimesh Patel, and Aparna Nancherla, named one of ‘The 50 Funniest People Right Now’ by Rolling Stone.
The week will also screen the Oscar-winning action blockbuster ‘RRR’ directed by S.S. Rajamouli.
Music composer M.M. Keeravani became the first Indian artist to win the Academy Award for Best Original Song for the film’s chartbuster dance number ‘Naatu Naatu’.
The week will also host silent discos curated by renowned DJ Rekha, a social dance party celebrating Garba, recitals and performances showcasing traditional Indian music and art forms and a literary event.
A highlight of the week-long celebrations will be Rajasthani folk group SAZ featuring Sumitra Das Goswami presenting ‘Rang-e-Thar’, a “journey through the myriad flavours of traditional music from the deserts of western Rajasthan in a unique narrative performance”.
Led by the legendary percussionist, the Vinayakram family will present ‘Parampara’, a percussive and highly meditative and trance-like Carnatic music set.
“Ghatam or the clay pot, one of the most ancient percussion instruments of India, takes centre stage as ‘Vikku ji’ performs with his sons and grandchildren, exemplifying the remarkable, continuing legacy of masterful musicianship,” the centre said.
The week-long extravaganza will include a stand-up comedy showcase produced by comedy performing arts nonprofit NYLaughs that will feature up-and-coming New York City comedians, performance by acclaimed Ragamala Dance Company titled ‘Avimukta: Where the Seeker Meets the Sacred’ and a special ‘Garba360′ event where New Yorkers will get a chance to learn the traditional Gujarati dance and also enjoy live folk music.
India Week will also include the US premiere of Samsara (inspired by the classic Chinese novel Journey to the West), “a dance piece that traces the steps we take, both forward and backwards, in search of our higher selves. Drawing from the heart of Buddhist philosophy, Samsara explores some of the 81 obstacles and 6 states of mind that can hold us back”.
The Lincoln Centre for the Performing Arts will present the literary event ‘A Celebration of Literature From the Indian Diaspora’ featuring author and television host Padma Lakshmi, Indian-American bestselling author of several cookbooks Priya Krishna, writer Yashica Dutt and curator in charge of the Department of Islamic Art at The Metropolitan Museum of Art Navina Haidar Haykel. (PTI)
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