LEWISBURG - The Nrityagram Dance Ensemble will perform at 8 p.m. Friday, March 1, at the Weis Center for the Performing Arts at Bucknell University. The event is sponsored, in part, by Gary and Sandy Sojka.
The Nrityagram Dance Ensemble is regarded worldwide as one of the foremost dance companies of India. The ensemble has earned national and international acclaim for its ability to redefine both dance and theatre, to create and communicate with powerful imagery and captivating dance.
Kathryn Maguet, executive director of the Weis Center, says, "This exquisite company performs with exceptional synchronicity, compelling physicality and emotional honesty. This overwhelmingly beautiful program will leave audiences in awe of the dancers' powerful imagery and captivating movement."
At Nrityagram dance village, dance is a way of life. The founder, Protima Gauri, converted 10 acres of farmland into an ideal setting for the study, practice and teaching of classical Indian dance. It is a creative space where dancers, musicians and choreographers live together, sharing their skills and developing their art. The Indian dance group incorporates mythology and the epics, Sanskrit, yoga, meditation and the martial arts, while also carrying Indian dance into the 21st century.
The outside world also is an integral part of Nrityagram. Choreographers, movement specialists, sculptors, painters, writers, musicians and theatre people from all over the world frequently visit the village to perform and give workshops and seminars on their art.
Since 1996, the year of their life-changing New York debut, they have toured the U.S. annually. They have performed at sold-out shows from New York to Hawaii and Bozeman, Mont., to Key West, Fla. In addition, the ensemble has performed in Denmark, Holland, Portugal, the Middle East, Singapore, Japan, and many other countries.
The New York Times says of their ensemble, "One of the most luminous dance events of the year! In addition to impressive technical expertise, they performed with a burnished grace, a selfless concentration and a depth that reflected their intensive training in dance, music, literature, language and philosophy."
Tickets for the performance are $20 for adults, $16 for seniors ages 62 and older and $10 for children under 18. Tickets can be purchased online at http://www.bucknell.edu/BoxOffice, in person at any box office location, or by calling the campus box office at 577-1000.