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SEYMOUR CENTRE IN ASSOCIATION WITH SYDNEY FESTIVAL PRESENTS

CHI UDAKA TAIKOZ AND LINGALAYAM AUSTRALIA | WORLD PREMIERE

SEYMOUR CENTRE IN ASSOCIATION WITH SYDNEY FESTIVAL PRESENTS

CHI UDAKA TAIKOZ AND LINGALAYAM YORK THEATRE SEYMOUR CENTRE 16–18 JANUARY 60MINS DIRECTORS Anandavalli & Ian Cleworth CHOREOGRAPHER Anandavalli LIGHTING DESIGNER Christopher Page MUSIC BY Ian Cleworth, Riley Lee, Aruna Parthiban & John Napier

LINGALAYAM DANCERS PERFORMERS Swati Padmanabhan, Nivedha Thiru, Ritika Ramaswamy, Vineetha Menon, Kavita Balendra, Medha Sengupta MUSICIANS Aruna Parthiban (voice) John Napier (cello)

TAIKOZ SHAKUHACHI & SHINOBUE Riley Lee ARTISTIC DIRECTOR Ian Cleworth PERFORMERS Graham Hilgendorf, Masae Ikegawa, Anton Lock, Tom Royce Hampton Photo: Roy McAuley (front) Filigree Films (top), Karen Steains (bottom)

ABOUT CHI UDAKA Chi-Earth and Udaka-Water are the traditional elements of solidity, fluidity and differentiation that shape and form the world, creating constant forces of movement. Taiko is commonly associated with earth, as the philosophy of Shintoism is associated with the natural forces of nature and the resonating tones of a matrix of vibrating sounds.

This philosophy binds the strong stances of taiko players to a low centre of gravity, reflecting a link to the earth. In a similar metaphor, Indian mythology portrays Apsaras – the celestial water nymphs – with the sensuous vibration of their ethereal movements as the epitome of the perfect dancer. Thus, earth and water fashion the core theme of this collaborative partnership, where separate entities are transformed, creating a kaleidoscope of aural-visual energy, which can be identified as moving configurations.

These constantly changing formations create lines and shapes of movement vocabulary that synthesise to produce music in dance or dance in music.

RILEY LEE Shakuhachi Soloist Riley Lee began playing the shakuhachi flute in Japan in 1971, under the guidance of Ichizan Hoshida II, Chikuho Sakai II and Katsuya Yokoyama. In the early 1970s, he became the first ever non-Japanese professional taiko player, as an original member of Sado no Kuni Ondekoza. In 1980, he also became the first non-Japanese to attain Grand Master (dai shihan) rank in shakuhachi.

Riley has a PhD in ethnomusicology from Sydney University, and a BA and MA in music from the University of Hawaii. He has made over 50 shakuhachi recordings, which are distributed worldwide. His most recent releases are on the Sounds True label (USA). He has composed numerous pieces for shakuhachi and other instruments.

Riley taught at the University of Hawaii for six years, and in 2007 started a shakuhachi program at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music.

He was a Research Fellow at Osaka University from 1988 to 1989, and was a Visiting Fellow at Princeton University in 2006 and again in 2009, when he lectured in the Comparative Literature Department.

In 1997, he co-founded TaikOz with Ian Cleworth and is its Artistic Administrator. He was the Artistic Director and Executive Producer of

the 2008 World Shakuhachi Festival (Sydney). He performed in the byinvitation-only “Masters Concert” during the 2012 World Shakuhachi Festival, in Kyoto.

Riley tours the world as a performer and teacher of the shakuhachi. This year, he is performing, teaching and recording in Australia, Kyoto, New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Hawaii, and at Princeton, Stanford and Sydney Universities.

ANANDAVALLI Lingalayam Artistic Director/ Choreographer Anandavalli, in pursuing her own artistic and professional development, has achieved world acclaim as a performer throughout her long and celebrated international career, spanning over 38 years. One of those privileged few who have had that rare opportunity to be taught and nurtured by the foremost Gurus in the field of Bharatha Natyam and Kuchipudi (two of the seven classical dance forms of India), Anandavalli migrated to Australia in 1984 and founded the Lingalayam Dance Academy in 1987. In 1989 she presented her first national tour of Australia. At the Sydney performance of this tour, Anandavalli was honoured and presented on stage with Australian Citizenship in recognition of her contribution to the arts in Australia.

Anandavalli owes a great debt of gratitude to her Gurus, who have nurtured her as a dancer, choreographer and musician, unstintingly sharing their accumulated knowledge of this ancient art form. In 2003, Anandavalli retired as a dancer but remains the Artistic Director of the Lingalayam Dance Company. In December 2007 Anandavalli was In 2002, Anandavalli was a recipient awarded the title of “Kala Seva of an Australia Council Fellowship Bharathi” from the Bharat Kalachar (Dance Board). The Fellowship institution in Chennai (South India) provided her with financial support during the Annual Music and for a two-year program of advanced Dance Festival, in recognition of research and study into the ancient her services to the arts, especially scripts and texts of India, the creation fostering Bharatha Natyam in and composing of rhythmical Australia. Under her direction, the configurations, developing an applied Lingalayam Dance Company has practice of Carnatic music. She emerged as arguably the most also undertook an apprenticeship in prolific Indian dance company lighting design with one of Australia’s in Australia. foremost lighting designers, John Rayment.

In 1996 she established the Lingalayam Dance Company as a permanent base for the graduates of the academy. Anandavalli’s opus includes an impressive repertoire of original dance dramas and ballets (conception, choreography and artistic direction). She favours strong feminine themes, and this is reflected in her productions.

Photo: R.R. Andrew

TAIKOZ Since 1997, TaikOz has established a unique performance aesthetic that reflects the group’s passionate dedication to the forms of wadaiko and a desire to create new music for today’s audiences. The group undertakes a year-round schedule of workshops, teaching and performances that have seen them appear on the stages of Australia’s finest concert halls, as well as those of Japan, Paris, Bangkok, Taiwan and most recently, Abu Dhabi. The group regularly appears in the theatres of regional Australia, having undertaken four Australia-wide tours.

TaikOz has composed over 25 original works for wadaiko, including several using instruments such as shakuhachi, koto, marimba, saxophone, cello and didgeridoo.

Distinguished composers Gerard Brophy, Andrea Molino, Michael Askill, David Pye, Philip South, Graeme Koehne and Timothy Constable have also written works for the ensemble.

TaikOz has collaborated with artists and companies as diverse as John Bell and the Bell Shakespeare Company, Eitetsu Hayashi and Eitetsu Fu-un no Kai, Meryl Tankard, Régis Lansac. In 2012, TaikOz collaborated with Kodo on a nation-wide tour of Australia. The group has also appeared in concerto works with the Sydney, Melbourne, West Australian and Queensland Symphony Orchestras, as well as the Dresden Sinfoniker in Europe. Awards include Limelight “Best New Composition Award” for Kaidan, Sidney Myer Performing Arts Award in recognition of TaikOz’s commitment to Australian music and a Drover Award for regional touring and education.

Lingalayam is an Australian arts organisation with a focus on nurturing and strengthening of the appreciation and knowledge of Indian culture through artworks of traditional genesis, presented in the context of our contemporary society’s cultural tapestry.

LINGALAYAM Strongly emotive and visually compelling, Lingalayam’s creative body of work incorporates dance, live music, text and design, and is created and performed by artists of world-class standing.

The Lingalayam repertoire draws from the ancient dance forms of Bharatha Natyam and Kuchipudi, and is directed by legendary guru – dancer, choreographer and teacher – Anandavalli.

Over the years, Lingalayam has been fortunate to collaborate with artists of international repute. These experiences have enhanced the artistic practice within the company, while expanding its horizons.

The work of Anandavalli and the artists of Lingalayam express the unique role of women and dance in ancient India. These feminine themes are explored through vibrant Indian mythology, to unveil both the universal and specific strengths of women. This is named and celebrated as Shakthi and is a vital basis for the content of many of Lingalayam’s creative works.

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