Samskriti Presents DASHAVATAR A Spectacular Dance Theater Production

Photo: Krishna Giri

Photo: Krishna Giri

HOUSTON: Inspired by the timeless tale of ‘Good triumphing over Evil’, Rathna Kumar, Founder-Director of the Anjali Center for Performing Arts and Artistic Director, Samskriti, has embarked on the ambitious journey of bringing to the stage the stories of Dashavatar, in a grand and spectacular production that will have its world premiere on Sunday, April 6, at the prestigious Wortham Center (Downtown Theater District).
An ensemble of 40 dancers will weave together the awe-inspiring stories of the ten incarnations of Lord Vishnu. The production has an original musical score by Rajkumar Bharathi, recorded by Sai Shravanam of “Life of Pi” fame, and further enhanced by a team of extraordinary musicians.
Jayadeva, the 13th century poet, extolled the glory of Lord Vishnu as the Preserver in the first song of his “Gita Govindam”, based on the ancient stories of the Dashavatar. Amazingly enough, these stories are relevant even in the 21st century. The universality of this theme and its significance in today’s world are the factors that have given Rathna Kumar the impetus to take on the challenging task of creating a full length theatrical dance presentation from a song. The Artistic Consultant for this production is Seetha Ratnakar, former Assistant Station Director, Chennai Doordarshan; Lighting Design is by Krishna Giri, and Anil Kumar is the Production Manager.
Dashavatar will be presented under the aegis of Samskriti on Sunday, April 6, at the Wortham Center, Downtown Theater District. This program is funded in part by the Texas Commission on the Arts and the City of Houston through the Houston Arts Alliance.
For information and tickets: www.sulekha.com, www.explorehouston.org/ticketing, www.samskritihouston.org, or call 832 487 7041, 832 275 9656, 832 275 9658