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LEICESTER Fri 23rd, 7-9pm. Concert
- no charge, donations appreciated. Sri Sanatan Mandir, Weymouth
St., LE4 6FP (Catherine St) 0116 266 1402. Early arrival is recommended because,
although the Community Hall is large, the seating is not raked.
BIRMINGHAM Sat 24th, 1.30-2.30pm. Concert
- no charge, donations appreciated. Balaji Temple, Oldbury, B69
3DU (Dudley Rd East) 0121 544 2256/ 4476. This Shri Venkateswara Temple has
recently been completed and is the largest temple in the UK after Neasden.
Lunch is available at the Temple before the performance in the Community
Hall. The website www.venkateswara.org.uk gives
further information, including a route map and pooja times.
LIVERPOOL Sat 24th, 7-9pm. Concert
- Tickets: £8 (£6 concessions).
Unity Theatre, 1 Hope Place, L1 9BG (0151 709 4988). Presented by Milapfest,
the UK's premier year-round South Asian Arts Festival & Development Agency
and which manages Samyo, Tarang, Sambuzz.com & Sangeet Sabha www.milapfest.com. The
Unity is a relatively small theatre, so early booking is advisable.
BIRMINGHAM Sun 25th, 11am. Parish Eucharist
- no charge, donations appreciated.
St Catherine RC Church, Bristol St, B5 7BE 0121 622 4049. This is the only
occasion during Fr Saju's UK tour where he will be dancing during and after
the liturgy. Although this is a large church, it is also the regular Sunday
Eucharist of this parish (which has recently been taken over by the Columban
Fathers) so early arrival is recommended. There is also a gallery with seating.
LONDON Tues 27th, 7-8pm. Concert (free
- doors open 6.30pm).
Nehru Centre, 8 South Audley St (southern end), W1K 1HF. Located in a magnificent
18th century town house in the heart of Mayfair, with a recently refurbished
150 seat auditorium, it is the Cultural Wing of the High Commission of India.
Tube: Green Park is nearest but Hyde Park Corner, Bond Street and Marble
Arch are not much further. Earlier arrival secures the better seats although
the seating is raked. www.nehrucentre.org has
a map and information about the regular cultural programme, including regular
exhibitions of paintings on the ground floor.
LONDON Wed 28th, 6.30-8.30pm. Seminar/Workshop
(to discuss and share Dance as Prayer).
Jesuit Centre, 114 Mount St, W1K 3AH - no charge, donations appreciated.
Chaired by Mrs YOGI SUTTON, President, National Board of Catholic Women.
This is an opportunity to meet Fr Saju, have him demonstrate some of the
features of his dance and discuss its underlying soul and purpose and perhaps
to try for ourselves some of its gestures. Fr Saju will be assuming that
many participants will have attended the Nehru Centre on the previous evening.
No doubt some of the themes which will be aired will be the place of dance
in worship; the use of a form of dance whose origins are the Hindu temples;
what dance as a medium adds to music; the role of dance to give messages
of hope about human values (especially in relation to the disadvantaged as
Fr Saju's dance often does); whether such dance promotes the feminine in
worship; the use of the body in worship.
Yogi's chairing is significant. As a South African Indian, she brings an
extra dimension of experience to her understanding of what dance can be and
in her present office an extra dimension about the feminine both in society
and in the Church.
If you have any questions that you would like to send us before the meeting,
please email Kalai Kaviri Collegiate
Arts (UK) .
GILLINGHAM, Kent Sat 1st July, 5-7pm*.
Concert - Tickets 07795 575 065 and 07812 581 933.
Natya Kendra Dance Academy, Rainham Girls School, Derwent Way ME8 0BX. See
also www.kentmalayalee.org.uk.
Early booking is advisable because the local Malayalee community is very
active.
*Please note the change to an earlier time than previously advertised.
Further Information on Fr Saju and a range of illustrations: http://nationalcatholicreporter.org/globalpers/gp032905.htm.
A search on Google gives several sites.
Alongside the important development of secular and romantic ballet at at
the French court of Louis XIV (r.1643-1714) sacred ballet underwent a comparable
development in many Jesuit institutions of higher learning. Suzanne Youngerman
writes that 'In Paris the students were joined by the most famous dancers
of the Paris Opéra, and the ballets were choreographed by the same prominent
dance masters, such as Pierre Beauchamps and Louis Pécour, who created the
masterpieces of the secular theatre'.
Youngerman writes that the Jesuit ballets 'differed from their secularly
sponsored counterparts in having no female performers or romantic plots and
in always having a moral point'. 'They performed plays at different times
throughout the year, but the principal event was during graduation. They
generally staged a five-act tragedy with a biblical, classical, or national
theme. A four-act ballet was performed between the acts of the play. The
ballets were sometimes loosely connected to the play, but they did not deal
overtly with religious themes, favouring the Greek mythological or allegorical
plots prevalent also in the court and opera ballets. They were performed
in the colleges throughout Europe and were immensely popular.'
'The ballets were often veiled social and political commentaries couched
in mythological terms. Themes ranged from 'Crowns', a depiction of methods
of royal succession, to 'The History of Dance', an apologia for dance, to
'The Empire of Fate', a critique of the doctrine of predestination. Dancing
was compatible with the Christian humanist, this-worldly orientation of the
Jesuit order'.
Extract from the article by Suzanne Youngerman 'Theatrical
and Liturgical Dance', part of the Dance section of Eliade, Mircea Encyclopaedia
of Religion Vol 4, Macmillan, New York 1987 ISBN 0-02-90730-4 (Vol.
4) 0-02-909480-1 (set).