From the Mahabharata - The Great Dance-Off

From the Mahabharata – The Great Dance-Off

A World Premiere and the first performance of

San Antonio International Festival of Performance. June 4 – 14, 2015

Created and directed by Roberto Prestigiacomo

Choreography by Kausi Subramaniam and Seme Jatib

Original Music Composed by Reena Esmail

Music recorded and performed by SOLI Chamber Ensemble

Performances Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays at 8 PM and Sundays at 2:30 PM

This dance-theatre production of From The Mahabharata – The Great Dance-Off tells the story of a dance company internal struggle in staging a dance version of the Indian epic story of the Mahabharata. The main conflict arises when the artistic director cannot choose between a classical and a contemporary style of dance. The company splits in two factions that confront each other in a final dance-off. From The Mahabharata – The Great Dance-Off is a combination of original music, theatre, Indian and contemporary dance into a dynamic fusion which delivers an entertaining and poetic evening of dance theatre.

This production is inspired by the main storyline of the Mahabharata, and creates a parallel story, but while in the Mahabharata the main conflict is an ethical/political one, in our rendering, the main conflict is an aesthetic/generational one. Tradition vs. contemporary style? Old vs. New? The audience will decide.

From The Mahabharata – The Great Dance-Off is a combination of original music, theatre, Indian and contemporary western dance into a dynamic fusion that delivers an entertaining and poetic evening of dance theatre.