1,001 Buddhas: Journey of the Gods

World Premiere: March 22-24, 2013, The Cowles Center for Dance and Performing Arts

Ragamala’s co-Artistic Directors Ranee and Aparna Ramaswamy’s evocative choreography defies chronology. Ranee and Aparna – mother and daughter – create visceral, universal experiences that use Indian art forms to express their contemporary point of view.

1,001 Buddhas: Journey of the Gods is inspired by twenty-eight Hindu deities that guard the 1,001 Buddhist statues of the Sanjusangendo temple in Kyoto, Japan. The myriad histories and energies of these gods and goddesses bring to the modern stage a vision that traverses the scope of spiritual experience, from the intimate to the infinite.

A dynamic score by commissioned artists Wadaiko Ensemble Tokara of Nagano, Japan (taiko drums), Kalamandalam Unnikrishnan of New Dehli, India (chenda drum), Rajna Swaminathan (mridangam drum), Lalit Subramanian (vocal) and Anjna Swaminathan (violin) conjures a mythic world where dance, music, and ceremony converge.