March 16, 2007 | Arts

March 30 Concert to Feature Dancer and Musicians from India

EVANSTON, Ill. --- A classical Indian dance concert with award-winning traditional Bharata Natyam dancer and choreographer Chitra Visweswaran and her renowned composer and musician husband Pandit (“Viswes”) Visweswaran, will feature a presentation of Eastern arts not regularly seen in the Midwest. The program will include live Indian chamber orchestra accompaniment.

The concert, at 8 p.m. Friday, March 30, is open to the public and will be held on Northwestern University's Evanston campus, in the Ballroom Studio of the Marjorie Ward Marshall Dance Center, 10 Arts Circle Drive. Admission is free. Seating will be on a first-come, first-seated basis.

The concert, which will provide a rare look into traditional Indian dancing and the music that accompanies its presentation, is part of the ensemble's five-day Evanston campus residency.

Chitra Visweswaran has received international awards and honors for her dancing expertise in the Bharata Natyam traditions and her work in this dance medium. This popular classical dance form, originating from Tamil Nadu, a state in Southern India, is a version of Cathir, the art of sacred temple dancing.

Pandit (“Viswes”) Visweswaran has received wide acclaim among critics and connoisseurs for his understanding of Hindustani and Carnatic music forms and his ability to play many of the instruments associated with these music traditions.

The combined talents of this couple have influenced audiences around the world and offered an education in Bharata Natyam, which holds significant historical and aesthetic value in an art form often by-passed by western cultures. Their repertoire is built upon years of intense research and has been personified by Chitra in an effective language of movement helped by the acute and perfected musical works of her husband.

The couple established the Chidambaram Academy of Performing Arts in Chennai, India in 1975. The main thrust of the institution is to instill an awareness of India's rich art and culture in all their students. (For more information on Chitra and Pandit Visweswaran visit <http://www.chitra-visweswaran.com>.)

The residency is sponsored by the Northwestern University's Dance Program and co-sponsored by the University's Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences Asian and Middle Eastern Studies Program, the Alice Kaplan Institute for the Humanities, the School of Communication's performance studies department and Center for Global Culture and Communication, and the School of Music's Ethnomusicology Program.

For more information about the March 30 public dance concert or events related to the Indian dancer and musicians March 27 to April 1 campus residency, call the Dance Program at (847) 491-3147 or e-mail <nu-dance@northwestern.edu>.