Seen.By.Ice.Queen: coming to my senses

As they say, better late than never. Not that my timely POSTing would make a difference to you since there is only ONE performance and if you are reading about my POSTing, you're too late for it anyway. Just to make you cry a little bit more, YTL's MD, Dr. Tan Sri Francis Yeoh alluded to the possibility that this may be Maestro Bocelli's last Asian concert. So bite me.

Moving on...

Internationally renowned tenor Andrea Bocelli sang to a large audience of over 10,000 people on 8 May 2010 at the Singapore Botanical Gardens. Amongst them were Singapore's President Nathan and the First Lady, as well as, Minister Mah Bow Tan and his Missus.


The wet weather did nothing to dampen the mood and the performance was, for the lack of a better description, AMAZINGLY CAPTIVATING.

Accompanied by Singapore's Philharmonic Orchestra and the Philharmonic Chamber Choir, fellow Italian, flutist, Andrea Griminelli (OMG I LURVE HIM), Slovenian soprano, Sabina Cvilak and Australian pop sensation, the beautiful Delta Goodrem made appearances and enchanted the enthusiastic crowd who just could not get enough of the whole performance.



As if that were not magnificent enough, the concert wrapped with a good 5 minutes worth of fireworks while the Philharmonic Orchestra played in the background (the TPO was very good but it's understandable that the fireworks stole the thunder)


True to it's DNA, YTL's community give back effort does not stray from it's motto. Serving the best on a silver platter.

With good music and performance, beautiful set ups and people (invitees included), palatable food (from the good people at TOAST) and thoughtful goodie packs (water, poncho, mozzie patches, mints, DVD of past YTL-driven performance), the event pleasured all our senses and more.

Two Thumbs Up!!

Interesting performance that's coming to town. Watch out for it if you're into 'Artsy' performances

About IN MIRA
A dance production by Raka Maitra, in collaboration with folk musicians from Rajasthan

Mira was a 15th Century Rajput princess born into the ruling clan in Kudki, near Jodhpur in present-day Rajasthan. During her lifetime she was renowned for her beauty, intelligence, pride, wilfulness and great devotion to her god Shyam, the one she called “the dark one”.

Mira was entered into an arranged marriage at the age 20 but her husband was soon killed in battle. She however rejected widowhood and continued to sing, dance and compose songs and poetry for her beloved Shyam. It is said that she traversed Rajasthan and Gujarat on foot singing the praises of her lord.

Today Mirabai, her life and work is veiled by the mysteries and awe of legend, spirituality and religiosity, which are as obscurantist as they are revealing. Mira’s poetry seems to be most alive in the folk traditions of Rajasthan - in the courtyard, along highways, through markets and temples with a few finger cymbals, a harmonium and a drum. The folk musicians have been passing on the tradition across the generations.

In Mira seeks to express the life and work of this brave, single-minded, remarkable woman contextualised in performance, dance and movement, mediated by folk music, text and history. This is not a religious homage; it is an attempt to celebrate the exceptional, exemplary and intense humanity which Mirabai’s life and work epitomises.

About Raka Maitra
Raka Maitra is a classically trained Indian dancer who pushes boundaries to create contemporary Indian dance productions. Specialized in Odissi under Padmashree Madhavi Mudgal and legendary Guru - the late Kelucharan Mahapatra, she also went through an Intensive training in Serraikella Chhau under Guru Sashadhar Acharya, at the Triveni Kala Sangam.

Her current initiatives include exploring the different dimensions of Indian contemporary dance and developing her own dance vocabulary, drawing from training in Odissi and Chhau. She is also the Director of the first Indian contemporary dance festival in Singapore, “The Grey Festival.”

In 2008, Raka embarked on a journey to Rajasthan to visit, learn and understand Mira further. With the assistance of Chan Man Loon, they visited a small village to document the folk singers Mukhtiar and others from the Maan community, who has kept Mira’s poems alive till today.

The result is In Mira.

For this production, Raka will be working in collaboration with the Folk (musicians from Rajasthan), the post modern (Philip Tan) and the abstract, which is her dance. With visuals by Chan Man Loon, lights by Tommy Wong and text by T. Sasitharan, In Mira seeks to push the boundaries further to celebrate Mira in dance.

Dance & Choreography: Raka Maitra
Music: Philip Tan
Voice over: T.Sasitharan
Folk Musicians from Rajasthan: Mana Ram, Jetha Ram, Mane Khan.
Visuals: Chan Man Loon.
Lights: Tommy Wong.

Date: 16th & 17th January 2009
Time: 8pm
Tickets: $28
$22 concession for students, senior citizens and NSF available. Tickets on sale now through SISTIC Website, Hotline & Authorised Agents (www.sistic.com.sg).

www.inmira.wordpress.com

This production is supported by NAC, Arts Fund and The Substation.