Well, now we’re just flabbergasted. 3 shows and 3 standing room only sellouts. Not bad for a fringe festival, eh? EINSTEIN/TAGORE: SEASHORE OF ENDLESS WORLDS has only 3 shows left starting this Thursday. $10 through the Philly Fringe Festival website. Get a ticket before they’re gone, no joke. Thanks so much for your time and consideration.
Well, now we’re just flabbergasted. 3 shows and 3 standing-room-only sellouts. Not bad for a fringe festival, eh? EINSTEIN/TAGORE: SEASHORE OF ENDLESS WORLDS has only 3 shows left starting this Thursday. $10 through the Philly Fringe Festival website. Get a ticket before they’re gone, no joke. Thanks so much for your time and support.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Philadelphia, PA – Shiva3 and Mangalam Dance are proud to announce the world premiere of the Indian classical dance concert EINSTEIN/TAGORE: SEASHORE OF ENDLESS WORLDS at the 2012 Philly Fringe. The 45-minute show will be performed at Twelve Gates Arts at 51 N. 2nd Street in Olde City for a total of 6 performances.
The show is a collection of original dance works that draws inspiration from Albert Einstein and Rabindranath Tagore‘s profound conversations in the late 1920s. By combining a movement-based interpretation of their musings with inspiration from Tagore’s poetry and songs, her choreography explores human ties to the cosmos. Her performance fuses the Bharatanatyam style of Indian classical dance with Tagore’s own Rabindra Nritya dance style, as well as modern dance. The concert features collaborative performances with modern dancers Leslie Elkins and Jodi Aleen Obeid.
Bharatanatyam is one of the oldest dance forms in the world, originating in southern India some 3,000 years ago. Originally performed in Hindu temples as a form of worship, this ancient dance style is celebrated today for its rhythmic, sculpturesque movements and use of hand gestures and facial expressions to convey a narrative.
Tagore was the greatest poet of modern Indian literature and one of India’s most influential thinkers. In 1913 he became the first Asian to win the Nobel Prize for his poetry book Gitanjali. This prolific Bengali writer authored over one thousand poems, a dozen plays and novels, and numerous essays on philosophy, education and religion. Tagore was a celebrated composer, and set many of his poems to his own original tunes resulting in the music style known as Rabindra Sangeet, or “Rabindranath songs.” He also created an entirely new dance form known as Rabindra Nritya, or “Rabindranath dance,” which broke away from traditional Indian classical forms, focusing instead on a more naturalized expression of emotions. Tagore was highly educated, widely traveled, and well-versed in both Western and Eastern thought. He took a great interest in science, particularly biology.
In 1926, Tagore met with Einstein in Berlin. They began a years-long series of intellectually and spiritually riveting dialogues about science and spirituality. Their meetings spanned continents and garnered considerable press. A New York Times photo of the two featured the caption A Mathematician and a Mystic Meet in Manhattan. The accompanying article described Tagore as “the poet with the head of a thinker” and Einstein as “the thinker with the head of a poet.” The transcripts of their conversations portray a fascinating discourse on the purpose of existence and humanity’s connection to the Universe.
Their meetings were immortalized in Tel Aviv in 1961 on the 100th anniversary of Tagore’s birth, when a Tagore Street was named. It intersects with Einstein Street so that their conversation can continue.
A Unique Location
Twelve Gates Arts (which refers to the fortified gates that walled many ancient cities such as Delhi, Lahore, Jerusalem, and Rhodes – inside of which lay the heart of each city’s art and culture, and which today offer perspectives on history and possibilities), established in 2011, is a non-profit organization based in Philadelphia. Through a unique and thought-provoking atmosphere, Twelve Gates Arts (12G) aims to showcase international arts bound by the sensibilities of a diaspora identity, including the South Asian identity, to create and promote projects crossing cultural and geographical boundaries, and to educate the community about diaspora culture.
Listings Information
What: EINSTEIN/TAGORE: SEASHORE OF ENDLESS WORLDS
When: Friday 9/14/12 @6:30pm SOLD OUT, Saturday 9/15/12 @6:30pm SOLD OUT, Sunday 9/16/12 @2pm SOLD OUT, Thursday 9/20/12 @6:30pm, Friday 9/21/12 @6:30pm and Saturday 9/22/12 @2pm
Where: Twelve Gates Arts, 51 N. 2nd Street, Philadelphia, PA.
Tickets: $10, purchased only in advance through the Fringe Festival website. No tickets will be sold in person at the door.
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