Saturday June 8, 2019 at 8pm

Sunday June 9, 2019 at 4pm

Repertoire will feature Singh’s Vasanth and Anna Sokolow’s Lyric Suite, along with guest artist Aniruddhan Vasudevan

Dakshina is celebrating its 15 anniversary of pioneering dance innovation in the region with a series of performances in 2019. The company will be performing Vasanth, the company’s signature hybrid work combining Bharata Natyam and Modern dance and Lyric Suite (choreographed by Anna Sokolow in 1953) with artistic direction and reconstruction by Lorry May of the Sokolow Foundation.

In Vasanth, Singh combines his love of Modern Dance and Bharata Natyam to create a movement that is built on group dynamics and use of space while layering in the finely filigreed detail of hand gestures, rhythmic variations, and facial mime for which Indian dance is known.

Sarah Kaufman, the Pulitzer prize winning chief critic at the Washington Post writes: “Few dance artists have practiced the creativity of subtraction as successfully as Anna Sokolow. The power in her works from the mid-20th century stems from a mix of space, absence, anticipation — and the sudden move that changes everything…Thanks to Singh’s efforts, and the staging by former Sokolow dancer Lorry May, we’ve seen a good handful of Sokolow pieces on local stages. Although they have all offered a testimonial to the aesthetics of simplicity, none delivers it more pungently than Lyric Suite.”

Tickets:

• Adults: $30

• Students, Seniors, Veterans & Artists: $20

• Children 16 & Under: $15

Dakshina/Daniel Phoenix Singh Dance Company offers artists and audiences the unique opportunity to experience dance as a movement that links the arts, cultures, and social causes.

Dakshina means “offering” in Sanskrit. Our company explores the definition of dance within the United States and connects it to Indian and Modern dance forms. We hope to provide participatory opportunities in which audiences can experience dance as a system of communication, one that transcends boundaries, cultures, and time. We are particularly committed to engaging in dance not only as a means for aesthetic and artistic growth but also as a vehicle for social change and community development.

Daniel Phoenix Singh is the Founding Artistic Director of Dakshina/Daniel Phoenix Singh Dance Company in DC and Curator of DC’s signature Fall Festival of South Asian Arts, which brings dancers, actors, and musicians to the nation’s capital in a one-of-a-kind cultural diplomacy project. Singh is also instrumental in keeping alive the works of modern dance choreographer Anna Sokolow with a multi-year, multi-project partnership that reconstructed the American icon’s dance and theater works and tours internationally with her repertoire. Singh holds a bachelor’s degree in dance from University of Maryland Baltimore County, a master’s in dance from University of Maryland College Park, and a master’s in business administration from Georgetown University. Singh has been recognized by the National Endowment for the Arts with nine grants for his dance company’s projects. In 2013 he received the Pola Nirenska Award for Leadership in Dance, and in 2015 he was recognized with the Innovate Arts Award by the Mayor of Washington, DC. Daniel is grateful to the company dancers for their hard work and dedication to develop the Dakshina.