Venue: Zellerbach Hall
Price: $22/$30/$42
Subscription Series: World Stage Series A
This 15-member troupe of vibrantly costumed male dancers and musicians recreates the magic, myth, and sacred drama of the theyyam, "possession ritual" dances from Kerala, India's southernmost state, renowned for its unique legacy of Hindu performance traditions. Theyyam (a word that derives from daivam, meaning "god") dancers undergo intense physical and spiritual training in preparation for performing this intricate 2,000-year-old ritual in which the artists invoke an extraordinary pantheon of gods and goddesses, deified ancestors, and warrior heroes. Accompanied by the pulsing rhythms of chenda (drums) and elathalam and kuzhal (horns), theyyam dancers don elaborate gilded headdresses and colorful full-body makeup in a highly stylized and powerfully hypnotic portrayal of man's personal connection with the divine.
Patron Information
Program Notes: Program notes are available online, click here.
Related Performances:
The Whirling Dervishes of Damascus
& Sheikh Hamza Shakkûr and Ensemble al-Kindî
Çudamani: Music & Dance from Bali
Seasons of Migration: Dance & Music from Cambodia
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