Ganesha Classical Ballet a Hit in Portland, Oregon

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OREGON, USA, Friday, September 10, 2004: Jayanthi Ramana’s operatic Indian classical ballet was highly appreciated among Portland Institute for Contemporary Art’s 10-day unorthodox international performance fare, the Time-Based Art Festivals. “Gajamukha,” Raman’s ballet devoted to elephant-headed Hindu deity Lord Ganesha, steeped in antiquity and ecstatic dance form Raman presented stretch back 2,000 years, all night temple rites with movements set to lyrics culled from the ancient texts of the Upanishads. Raman is tracing an arc of that lineage by presenting three strands of the classic dance traditions of Southern India. Bharata Natyam, whose curling sculptural poses seem carved from ancient temple friezes, originally was danced by the Devadasis as a moving worship of the pantheon of Hindu Gods and Goddesses.