A List
3/1/04

INDIAN DANCE SERIES PRESENTED AT ST. LAWRENCE

CANTON – A series of performances, lectures and demonstrations showcasing a 
major classical dance tradition of India will be presented in March and 
April at St. Lawrence University. All events in the series are open to the 
public, free of charge.
	The series includes:
	- Tuesday, March 9, 7 p.m., Eben Holden – A lecture-demonstration 
on Bharatanatyam by religious studies department Jeffrey Campbell Fellow 
Archana Venkatesan. Trained in the theory and practice of Bharatanatyam 
under the Dhananjayans in Madras, South India, Vekatesan was a member of 
Kalanjali: Dances of India in Berkeley, California, touring and performing 
with them for over 10 years. She came to St. Lawrence in the fall of 2003.
	- Tuesday, March 23, 7 p.m., Carnegie Room 10 – A lecture by Devesh 
Soneji, assistant professor of South Indian religions at McGill University 
in Montreal on the appropriation and adaptation of the repertoire of the 
devadasi women of Andra Pradesh in contemporary India. He has researched 
contemporary bhagavatulu (smarta Brahmin men) and kalavantulu (devadasi 
women) in central and coastal Andhra Pradesh, South India.  Soneji is the 
director of The Mangala Initiative, a non-profit, non-governmental 
organization that provides economic assistance to disenfranchised hereditary 
performing artists of South India.
	- Tuesday, April 6, 7 p.m., Eben Holden – A lecture/demonstration 
on Kathak dance by Joanna de Souza. Named one of Canada's top 10 dance 
performers in 1997 by the Toronto Globe & Mail, de Souza has been a musician 
and dancer with the internationally acclaimed Toronto Tabla Ensemble since 
1993.  Kathak is among the six major classical dances of India and one of 
the most dynamic theatre arts in the world. The word Kathak is derived from 
katha, meaning "the art of storytelling."
	- Saturday, April 10, 5 p.m., Gulick Theatre, Griffiths Arts 
Center – Wesleyan University artist-in-residence Hari Krishnan will present a 
live performance of traditional Bharatanatyam pieces, accompanied by a live 
orchestra. He is the artistic director of inDANCE, a Toronto-based cutting-edge 
dance company spanning a broad spectrum of his artistic vision.
	- Saturday, April 17, 5 p.m., Gulick Theatre, Griffiths Arts 
Center – A lecture/demonstration on Odissi will be presented by Durga Bor, who 
teaches classical Indian dance and South Asian dance history and theory at 
Cornell University, Syracuse University and in Corning, New York. For 14 years, 
she taught dance at ISTAR School for Indian Music and Dance, De Nieuw Amsterdam 
Theatre School and Muziekschool Amsterdam's Wereld Muziekschool.
	For more information on the series, contact Venkatesan at 
315-229- 5125.

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