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Middle East and India Tour February 25 to March 14, 2013 | ||||||||
On February 25th 2013, members of Janak Khendry Dance Company left Toronto for a Middle East and India dance tour, to present two very important dance works, GANGA and KAAL-TIME. In Kuwait and Muscat, Oman, we were sponsored by the Embassy of India, His Excellency, Mr. Satish Mehta and Mrs. Preeti Mehta. We were presented by the Al Mulla Financial Services Group under Director, Mr. Hormuzda Davar. In Muscat – Oman we were presented by Modern Exchange C. LLC. In Kuwait we presented GANGA on February 28th and KAAL-TIME on March 2nd at the Safi r International Hotel. On March 1st His Excellency Mr. Satish Mehta and Mrs. Preeti Mehta arranged a dinner-reception for us and more than one hundred other important guests at the Indian Embassy, which is one of the most beautiful buildings in Kuwait. On March 4th we presented KAAL-TIME in Muscat at the Hotel Muscat Holiday, Al Khuwair, Sultanate of Oman. In Muscat, the India Ambassador, His Excellency J.S. Mukul was the chief guest. We travelled with a group of fourteen members, 12 dancers: Ishwaria Chandru, Kieran Heralall, Seshadri Iyenger, Biplob Kar, Janak Khendry, Rebecca Philip, Sajee Puvaneshbaran, Meera Rajah, Harinnya Rajasekeran, Keerthika Ravinthiran, Rugsha Sivanandan, Kala Vageesan and our 2 crew members Edward Kastrau and Bradley Trenaman. | ||||||||
Middle East Photos | ||||||||
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| The following day we drove back the same route to Guwhati, where we took a flight to Patna. In Patna, in the afternoon, before the performance of GANGA, the dancers were able to visit the GANGA, pay their homage to it and revere in its vastness and majesty. It made for a very inspiring and hypnotic performance that evening, at the Rivindra Bhaven Auditorium for 950 people. The entire audience was mesmerized. Many remarked “HOW DID YOU HYPNOTIZE US?” For us this was the greatest compliment. The next day, on March 11th we flew back to Delhi where we performed KAAL – TIME on March 12th at the Kamani Auditorium, the most significant theatre in the capital, for 850 people. It was another outstanding performance. We received many accolades about how our dance works touched the hearts of people. At all performances we had packed houses and in some cases the presenters had to arrange extra seating to accommodate the overflow. The dancers were able to meet with the artistic community and have dialogues about Indian Dance in Canada, and the arts in general in Canada. | ||||||||
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| The Ladies of Janak Khendry Dance Company in Kuwait: At the Embassy Of India Reception | ||||||||
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| Our dancers were the perfect Indo-Canadian Cultural Ambassadors. The entire tour was very successful. All our dancers performed exceedingly well and were greatly admired and appreciated. The audience reaction was overwhelming and highly congratulatory regarding the caliber of the two extraordinary Indo-Canadian dance works GANGA and KAAL-TIME. I would very sincerely like to thank the Indian Embassy in Kuwait, His Excellency Mr. Satish Mehta and Mrs. Preeti Mehta for their very gracious hospitality. Our special thanks to Mr. Hormuzda Davar and the entire staff of Al Mulla Financial Services for taking care of our every need and requirement in Kuwait, and especially Mr. Simon for his months of planning and implementation. We thank Mr. Philip Koshy and the staff¬ of Modern Exchange Co. LLC in Muscat for being our hosts. The hospitality of Mr. Ashok Kalra for arranging two special dinners at the Mughal Mahal for the Janak Khendry Dance Company in Kuwait is cherished by us. In India, for all three performances in Shillong, Patna and New Delhi, we were very elegantly and graciously invited and presented by Indian Council for Cultural Relation and the Director General Mr. Suresh K. Goel. THANK YOU. For working out the details of the entire India tour Mr. Y. Lakshmaji Rao and Mr. Sanjay K. Sharma, Programme Directors , are very much appreciated. Our thanks to Mr. N. Munish Singh, Regional O cer, Indian Council for Cultural Relations - Shillong; Mr. Chanchal Kumar, Secretary – Art, Culture and Youth Department – Patna; Mr. Vinay Kumar, Regional Director – Indian Council for Cultural Relations – Patna. | ||||||||
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| India Photos | ||||||||
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My thanks and love to all the dancers for performing exceptionally in every performance. My special thanks to Bradley Trenaman and Edward Kastrau for the glorification of the performances from behind and on the stage. Mr. Sadath Kahn deserves the gratitude and thanks of the whole company for arranging our very difficult travel plans. We would very much like to thank Mr. Avinash Pasricha for talking beautiful photographs at the Delhi performance. And finally thanks go to Dr. Tulsiram Sharma for his research assistance and Mr. Ashit Desai for his astonishing music. We thank Ontario Arts Council, Toronto and Canada Council for the Arts, Ottawa, for providing the International Travel Grants which made this wonderful tour possible.
Photo Credits: Avinash Pasricha, Janak Khendry, Edward Kastrau | ||||||||
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