----------------------------------------- A s h a f o r E d u c a t i o n ----------------------------------------- Madison Chapter presents R I V E R R I T E S A dance drama which uniquely blends Indian classical dance, folk dance, yoga, world music and narration to explore the consequences of big dam projects like the Narmada Valley in India ***** FREE ADMISSION ***** Performed by Navarasa Dance Theater (Boston) Featuring APARNA SINDHOOR with Sharmila Gopinathan, Rosemary Candelario Christian Willauer & Bindu Panikkar Fri, Oct 5, 7:30 pm Mills Concert Hall 455 N Park St, Madison ***** FREE ADMISSION ***** For more information, please contact Manoj (plakal@cs.wisc.edu) About this piece ---------------- The theme of this dance theater piece is new for Indian classical dance tradition. Aparna believes that if art is far removed from people's reality it becomes stagnant, and therefore that art must be made relevant to people's lives. However, modern-day emotions and situations require innovative means of expression. Aparna's work with contemporary themes has resulted in the creation of a unique new style of performance that blends Indian classical dance, folk dance, yoga, world music and narration. The dance theater work is dedicated to the people of Narmada Bachao Andolan (Save Narmada Movement) and particularly to the women in the movement. See http://www.narmada.org for information on the NBA. About Aparna Sindhoor --------------------- APARNA SINDHOOR is a choreographer, dancer and an actor from Mysore, India, now living in Boston, USA. She trained in Bharatanatyam in India for 22 years, including 15 years with renowned Bharatanatyam dancer, Padmabhushan Dr.K.Venkatalakshamma. Aparna's creative works, Draupadi (based on a short story by Mahasweta Devi), The Incident and After (based on a story by Dr.Anupama Niranjana), The Man is Innocent (based on a poem by Martin Espada) have won rave reviews. Aparna's style reflects the Mysore school's emphasis on Abhinaya (facial expression) and graceful Jatis (abstract dance phrases). She also has training in Kathak, and Carnatic Vocal singing. She has performed in widely in India and in North America. She is the artistic director of Navarasa Dance Theater and Navarasa Arts Academy. She was invited to perform in Jacob's Pillow in 1998. She was invited to perform at the famous Dasara Festival (Mysore) from 1990-1995, a rare honor. In addition, she has performed twice at Subramanya, once at Lakshadeepa festival (Dharmasthala), and at the annual function of Sruthi foundation (Naradha Gana Sabha, Madras). Two of her dance features were produced by Bangalore Television. Critics have raved: "Aparna Sindhoor does not just dance. She becomes one with the stage." About Asha-Madison: ------------------- Asha-Madison is the Madison chapter of Asha for Education, a not-for-profit volunteer organization dedicated to socio-economic change in India. Asha focuses on the problem of basic education to underprivileged children in India. Asha has 35+ chapters and 300+ volunteers worldwide. Since its inception, Asha has supported more than 125 projects and disbursed close to $1,000,000 to these projects. Besides the monetary support, Asha has also been working to provide other non-monetary support to the projects (books, computers, guidance, networking with NGOs, holding conferences for the NGOs to share experiences and solutions). Within the US, besides fundraising, Asha-Madison also works towards raising awareness of social issues on campus. In the past, Asha-Madison has organized or co-sponsored the visits of a number of prominent social workers on campus. For more information, please visit us at http://www.ashanet.org/madison