Sutra Dance Theatre presents Spellbound - Odissi Live!

Sutra Dance Theatre presents Spellbound - Odissi Live! ( Malaysia / Singapore Tour) Ramli Ibrahim & The Sutra Dancers feat. Guru Durga Charan Ranbir Live Music from Orissa 11 February -5 March 2005. Dates: Langkawi (Tanjung Rhu) 11/12 February Kuala Lumpur (Istana Budaya) 16 – 20 February Penang (Dewan Sri Pinang) 25 February Ipoh (Dewan Bandaran) 26 February Seremban (Dewan Bandaran) 2 March Johor Bahru (Dewan Mawar) 4 March Singapore 5 March Everything else changes, Only Beauty remains… Sutra Dance Theatre proudly presents its major production for a Malaysia Tour – Spellbound - an extravaganza Odissi production for 2005 under the artistic direction of Ramli Ibrahim. The best of Sutra dancers and Ramli will perform, accompanied by master musicians from Orissa , India in their first ever Odissi Gala Premiere Kuala Lumpur performance at the Istana Budaya on 16 th February 2005. Presented in Sutra's inimitable theatrical style, Spellbound is an international production not to be missed. Spellbound will be the fourth time Sutra would be touring Odissi in Malaysia , and second time in Singapore , fulfilling a demand by Malaysian audience to experience one of the most beautiful classical dances in the world accompanied by live music. Sutra's last Odissi tour (2003), the highly successful A Kind of Radiance , took on major cities of Malaysia and India , culminating with a performance at the Khajuraho Dance Festival . This tour was captured by India 's film director, Sunil Mehra, in his highly acclaimed documentary film - Sutra in India . With subsequent such tours, not only Odissi gained a firm footing in Malaysia, but Sutra and it's Indian collaborators, the Orissan musicians, have become identified as cross-cultural ambassadors of the two countries – Malaysia and India. The Spellbound tour hopes to sustain, nationally and internationally, Sutra Dance Theatre's creative impulse in projecting further this ancient classical tradition to the forefront and affirm Odissi new roots in the Malaysian soil - a rare and unique phenomenon indeed! New works are being commissioned for Spellbound in the effort to pioneer and forge a unique Odissi tradition with identifiable ‘Malaysian' characteristics. Sutra continues its collaboration with Guru Durga Charan Ranbir , an outstanding guru of the late Guru Deba Prasad Das style. The latter was Ramli's Odissi guru, who took Odissi in the late fifties, to the outside world, for the first time. It has been eighteen years since the first generation of Malaysia-trained Odissi dancers were unleashed on stage. Sutra has since then produced an outstanding bevy of ‘home-trained' Odissi dancers who have gained international recognition. Sutra can boast a multi-racial cast of not only Indian and Malay, but also Chinese. Not surprisingly, a Malaysian Odissi parampara (school with identifiable style) is presently being created by Sutra. With artistic director Ramli Ibrahim presently recognised as world best Odissi exponent, the tour hopes to sustain this reputation and subsequently extend this accolade to these talented young dancers. Spellbound will feature new stage design by well known set and lighting designer, Sivarajah Natarajan and will also be performed in aid of several charitable organisations in Malaysia. Major Sponsors HSBC, ASTRO and Malaysia Airlines (Official Carrier) In association with Ministry of Culture, Arts and Heritage Malaysia Contact details: Sutra Dance Theatre T: 03-40211092/03-40229669 F: 03-40232548 sutradancetheatre@yahoo.com http://www.sutradancetheatre.com/