saturday 6th march at 6.30 pm

  "A Sacred Musical Journey Through India"  Carnatic vocal recital by Aruna Sairam

Aruna Sairam sings in the Carnatic style but in this evenings performance she takes us on a sacred journey through India, reflecting the languages, culture and people of the country. She adapts her style to the various local forms and traditions in supplication to the many deities and temples – from the morning prayer to the Goddess Kali in Kolkata to the songs of boat people of the river Ganga, from Mira Bhajans to Krishna kirtans in Brindavan.
Aruna Sairam has taken Carnatic music to all parts of the world. She has collaborated with internationally acclaimed artistes, including Dominique Vellard, the French master of Gregorian chant, and Christian Bollmann of Germany, as well as with A Grade North Indian musicians. Her appearances throughout the world include Carnegie Hall in New York, Le Theatre de la Ville in Paris, the Festival of World Sacred Music in Morocco, and the Music Academy in Chennai.

Her mother, the singer Smt. Rajalakshmi Sethuraman, was her first teacher in the art of Carnatic music of South India and later Sangita Kalanidhi Smt. T. Brinda, (who trained her in the style of her own mentor, the great Veena Dhanammal). Ms. Sairam also studied with Veena Vidwan Sri. K. S. Narayanaswamy.

She has been awarded one of the highest honours of the Government of India- the Padma Shri and has been appointed by the Chief Minister of the Indian State of Tamil Nadu as adviser to the Department of Culture, Tamil Nadu, on Musical Education.

saturday 6th march at 8.00 pm
"Al Darawish -The Sufi Dance" by  Al Tannoura

This spiritual aspect is common to the whirling dervishes of Turkey, Syria and Egypt. However in Egypt the dance has been enriched by the colourful variations of its folk music, traditions and costumes. The well known Egyptian musical rhythms that flutter from slow, moderate to accelerated, the rich and multi coloured costumes and the Tannoura folk dance are authentic reflections of the life of the people and make this dance very different in feeling to the more austere and classical version performed by the Mevlanas of Turkey. The verses that accompany this dance echo a distinctly Egyptian understanding of life and the universe around them making the Tannoura an interesting mixture of religious ritual and popular folk.
The folk songs and the dance reflect not only the physical, emotional and mental skills of the dancers but the praise to the Prophet and the Muslim saints (Mawlawia) depict the values of friendship, generosity, wisdom and mercy.



Musicians:
Sajat - Hazem Sayed Abu Serie Abou Arab,
Dof - Mahmoud Aly Abdellatif Shaaba, Ibrahim El- Sayed Ibrahim Ali Farag, Mohamed Reda Ahmed Aly Salem
Hanna - Alaa Sayed Abou Serie Abou Arab
Drum - Hany Ibrahim Hassan Mohamed Morgan
Flute (Salamia) - Fares Gamal Abdelkhalek Eissa
Rababa - Hussein Metwally Mohamed Genidy
Muzmar - Nageh Abdelsamie Mohamed Mohamedin
Singer - Adel Hussein Abdelmagid Elkholousy

Dancers:
(Lafife) Ahmed Elwan Atwa Elwan, Tamer Elsaid Barakat Mohamed
(Hanati) Hazem Sayed Abu Serie Abou Arab, Mohamed Reda Ahmed Aly Salem, Ibrahim El- Sayed Ibrahim Ali
            Farag, Mahmoud Aly Abdellatif Shaaban
 

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