Toronto’s premiere contemporary Indian dance company presents Canadian premiere of

StarBuzz Weekly, Toronto-Under the artistic direction of Hari Krishnan, Toronto’s inDANCE is proud to present the Canadian premiere of Fallen Rain, a one-of –a-kind evening of courtesan inspired dance from South India. With original dance and music based on traditional material from South India, presented through a contemporary vein, Fallen Rain premiered to rave reviews in India in December 2010 and January 2011. The 60-minute full-length work will be presented October 1 and 2 at the Robert Gill Theatre as part of the company’s fall home season in Toronto.

Initially choreographed as a series of solos and duets, the Canadian premiere of Fallen Rain is a work for seven dancers and 6 musicians in a dynamic evening of high-energy and lyrical dance with pulsating live music and English spoken text. Animated by the poetic and kinetic world of dance in courtesan communities, the repertoire is drawn largely from nineteenth-century Tanjavur, South India. Tanjavur is historically the royal city of South India, nurturing the arts and is the birthplace of Bharatanatyam dance.

On January 4, 2011, inDANCE became the first Canadian dance company to have ever been commissioned by the current prince of Tanjavur, His Highness Babaji Bhosale to present Fallen Rain at the ancient Tanjavur palace where these dances were traditionally performed in the 19th century. This was a huge honour for inDANCE and the kind of excellent work the company is fostering in Canada.

Fallen Rain is a metaphor for erotic experience, and the choreography of this work weaves lyric poetry into a dynamic, movement-based interpretation. Fallen Rain includes rare genres of dance, which have never been presented on the Canadian stage.

Performers: Nalin Bisnath, Sreyashi Chakraborti, Hari Krishnan, Hiroshi Miyamoto, Srividya Natarajan, Shobana Raveendran and Vinod Shankar.
Musicians: Davesh Soneji (conductor), Sheela Bharath (vocals), Gowri Shankar (percussion), Thanathevy Mithratheva (violin), Ajanthie Madanakaran (flute).

Narration: Katherine Duncanson (English spoken text) | Lighting Design: Arun Srinivasan | Costumes & Design: Rex

The premiere performance on Oct 1 is presented as part of the Festival of South Asian Literature and the Arts and the University of Toronto’s The Centre for South Asian Studies.
For more information, please visit http://www.indance.ca/
To view excerpts from the premiere performances of Fallen Rain in India, please visit:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMaerujdRwc (Tanjavur Palace)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bK3-iL7P4E (Spaces, Chennai)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlbLf1e61q0&feature=related (ADA Ranga Mandia, Bangalore)
Fallen Rain
October 1 and 2, 2011
Presented by inDANCE | Choreographed by Hari Krishnan
Robert Gill Theatre | 214 College St. (use St. George St. Entrance only — 3rd floor), University of Toronto
Performances: Friday, October 1 at 7PM | Saturday, October 2 at 3PM | Tickets: $25 | Info & Reservations: http://www.indance.ca/