*Performances were only part of the 2007-2008
program schedule
Orchid Ensemble
The Winged Horses of Heaven
An Evening of Silk Road-Inspired Music by
the Orchid Ensemble. The famed Silk Road is
said have begun with a diplomatic mission to
the west by Chinese General Zhang Qian in
138 BCE. In the centuries that followed,
merchants, diplomats, musicians, artists,
missionaries, princesses, and others
traveled back and forth from China across
the Silk Road trade routes.
Different cultures came into contact with
one another, resulting at times in conflict
and at others in a cross-cultural flowering
of trade, music, ideas, religion, and art.
Even today, China’s music bears the mark of
this cross-cultural exchange.
You are invited to join the UW East Asia
Resource Center, East Asia Center, and
Ethnic Cultural Center/Theatre for a public
concert of Silk Road-inspired music by the
acclaimed Orchid Ensemble.
November 3, 2007
at 7pm-9pm @ Ethnic Cultural Center
3940 Brooklyn Ave, Seattle, WA
Gamelan Cudamani
(GAM-eh-lawn soo-deh-MAH-nee)
“[Çudamani] brought us closer to the essence
of a culture than most touring productions
can.” Los Angeles Times
This 25-member music and dance company from
Bali transports the audience into the life,
rituals, and celebrations of an Indonesian
village. Employing a rare semarandana
orchestra, the gamelan musicians use seven
tones instead of the traditional five to
create rich and varied sounds and rhythms.
The music, colorful costumes (including a
spectacular dragon), and thoroughly engaging
performers make Gamelan Çudamani a
captivating experience for audiences of all
ages.
“Always on the point of explosion... like a
purification.” L’Humanite
Since 1995, choreographer Ea Sola has been
on a journey of discovery and reflection,
creating dance works that have explored the
experiences, memories, and identities of the
people who fought and lived through the
horrors of the Viet Nam War. In Drought and
Rain, Vol. 2, the company of 13 dancers and
six musicians from the National Ballet of
Vietnam-Hanoi continues that exploration,
examining how the memory of war travels
across generations. A serious work for
serious times.
“Syncopated sound across musical borders,
from classical Arabic compositions to
contemporary jazz fusion.” New York Times
A dazzling, virtuoso performer on both the
oud and the violin, Palestinian-born Shaheen
effortlessly leaps from intricate Arabic
sounds to jazz, Latin American music, and
Western classical styles. He and his band
Qantara transcend the boundaries of genre
and geography, and their album, Blue Flame,
was nominated for eleven Grammy Awards. Join
us for a truly spellbinding and glorious
performance.
“Staggering mastery... a veritable symphony
of sounds.” Newsday
The pipa is an ancient Chinese lute-like
instrument, and Wu Man is its undisputed
contemporary master. Her extraordinary
skills have taken her to concert halls
worldwide and she has collaborated with
musicians such as Yo-Yo Ma, Philip Glass,
and the Kronos Quartet, to name just a few.
For her UW World Series appearance, she
brings with her the Hua Family Shawm Band.
Rarely seen outside of China, the band
performs a style of gypsy music that has its
roots in the customs and traditions of
16th-century imperial China.
Sultan Memet performs the Music of the
Uyghur Nation
February 27 at 9pm @ Ethnic Cultural
Center
3940 Brooklyn Ave, Seattle, WA
*There will be a lecture at 6:00pm
Iklhol Theatre Festival at ACT Theatre
Renowned for both its classical and
innovative stagings, The Ilkhom Theatre
Company of Tashkent, Uzbekistan is one of
the first professional theatres in the
history of the former USSR not dependent on
any state money. It was founded in 1976 by
director Mark Weil (1952-2007), who served
as Ilkhom's artistic director. The theatre's
vision, created by and upheld for Weil,
focuses on artistic excellence and social
vision, producing works that spark
meaningful dialogue and explore with
tenderness and unabashed truth the cultural,
religious, and political interactions and
conflicts between East and West.
Wayang Golek:
The Ghostly Goddess and the Sinner Saint
Wayang
Golek
puppet theatre and dance of Southeast
Asia/West Java features Gamelan
Pacifica led by Jarrad
Powell, puppet master Kathy
Foley, drummer Undang
Sumarna, singer Jessika Kenney
and dancer Tikka Sears. A
traditional form of puppetry from Sunda,
West Java, wayang golek employs
ornate wood puppets, colorful costumes,
lively banter, sound effects, is accompanied
by a full Gamelan Orchestra, and is
performed in English. Traditional Sundanese
dance with its glittering costumes, masks
and colorful scarves accompanied by the
exciting syncopated rhythms of the drum and
Gamelan orchestra, offer an exciting
prologue to the puppet performance that
follows. The puppet-like dance movement is
inspired by the angular rod puppet form and
helps the audience to bridge the gap between
the human and puppet worlds. This
performance is being presented by
Bainbridge Performing Arts
. Co-sponsorship of
this performance was made possible by the
Southeast Asia Center
of the Jackson School of International
Studies at the University of Washington.
The philosophy,
wisdom, and humor of the Sundanese -
influenced equally by traditional animistic
beliefs, India’s great Hindu epic (the
Mahabharata), and the teachings of Islam
- are presented in English, lending access
to the rich art of wayang golek cepak.
In times of cultural, religious, and
political unrest, the rod puppet theatre of
Indonesia, illustrates how artist-thinkers
use puppets, masks, clowning, beautiful
music, and dance to draw disparate groups
together with performance.
“A travelogue of Asian rhythms... music
fueled by its own jubilation.” - New York
Times
Characterized by strong voices, explosive
hand-clapping and intricate rhythms
performed by all-male ensembles, qawwali is
devotional music based on the mystic poetry
of the Sufi masters. Pakistani-born brothers
Mehr and Sher Ali, who lead the ensemble,
received their early musical training from
their father, a court classical singer in
India. They believe that qawwali transcends
the limitations of orthodox religion and
that the music can bring harmony and peace
to the soul, while projecting a message of
unity and love for all.
