Viji Prakash, virtuoso extraordinaire of India's Bharatanatyam style of dance, will star in "The Mahabharata" when it comes to Salt Lake City on Saturday, July 11.
Also performing the epic dance drama will be her Shakti Dance Company of nine dancers, along with vocalists and instrumental musicians playing flute, veena, violin and mridangam. The performance will be in the Judge Memorial High School auditorium at 7 p.m.Prakash has choreographed "The Mahabharata," based on the great epic of the Bharata dynasty - one of the two foremost epics of India. Together with the "Ramayana," it is one of the major source books of Hinduism.
For 30 centuries, "The Mahabharata" has been retold in countless ways by Hindu scholars and mystic poets and has found expression in the traditions of Indian theater, music, dance, sculpture and architecture, and in the rich diversity of folk arts. In classical Indian theater there is no differentiation between acting and dance.
The work's immortality relates to its gospel of Dharma, with its lesson that hatred breeds hatred, that jealousy and violence lead inevitably to ruin, that the only true conquest is the battle against one's lower nature. Anything that helps to unite all and develop pure divine love and universal brotherhood is Dharma, based on the four fundamental virtues of non-vi-olence, truthfulness, purity and self-control.
Contained in the book is the "Bhagavat Gita" (Song of the Lord), the noblest and single most important scripture of Hinduism. All this is told through the adventures of heroic men, women and divine beings.
India Forum of Utah is sponsor of this performance. Admission is $10, or $15 for preferred seating; for members of the India Forum, $8, or $6 for students. Tickets are available in advance at all Smith'sTix locations, or at the door.