down jersey folklife center at Wheatonarts PRESENTS “fESTIVAL OF INDIA! A MULTITUDE OF EXPRESSIONS”

MILLVILLE, NJ – The Down Jersey Folklife Center (DJFC) at WheatonArts presents, Festival of India! A Multitude of Expressions, September 12 and 13.

This event is one of the highlights of the third biennial Creative Community Connections Project, a series of programs inaugurated in 2004 to raise awareness of cultural heritage and create a welcoming community setting for appreciating, preserving and perpetuating the folk and traditional arts of the region’s rich and diverse multicultural population. This year’s project, Old Ways in a New Place: Celebrating Indian Traditions and Culture in New Jersey, organized by the DJFC, reflects a commitment to programming that celebrates, educates and unites communities to promote tolerance and deep respect for artistic and cultural diversity.

The Festival of India opens September 12 with interactive activities for students during the day. Teachers are asked to call WheatonArts for more information. The evening program takes place in the Event Center and features Bala Devi Chandrashekar, Bharatanatyam Classical Dance from 7 p.m. to 7:40 p.m. followed by the Yakshagana Folk Theater from 8 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Advance ticket prices:  $10.00 Adults and $8.00 for Senior Adults and Students. At the door: Adults $15.00 and $10.00 for Senior Adults and Students. Children 12 and under are free. A “Tomorrow Pass,” which is available upon request Friday evening, provides half price admission for individuals who would like to attend Saturday’s program.

On Saturday, artists, craftspeople, musicians, dancers, storytellers, Indian food vendors and merchants will create a dynamic backdrop for visitors to immerse themselves in a multi-sensory introduction to Indian and Indian-American culture. Visitors are invited and encouraged to wear traditional dress and to share and experience Indian dialects in performance and conversation. Program guides will help interpret activities and provide information related to classical music forms, instruments, dances and stories related to specific legends, geographical locations and symbolic motifs.

Selected activities include the classical music and dance styles of Bharatanatyam, Kathak, Manipuri, and Odissi plus performances by Bala Devi Chandrashekar, Ramya Ramnarayan, Rimli Roy and the Surati Dance Group, Beauty Ghosh and the Nupur Dance Group, Rupal Patel and the Arya Dance Academy.

There will also be performances and workshops in folk dances including: Garba, Tipni and Beda (Gujarat), Bhangra, Gidda and Lodi (Punjab), Lavani and Fishermen dance (Maharashtra), Tribal dance, Bamboo, Peacock and Snake dances (Assam), Mangira, Thali, Gumar and Holy dances (Rajasthan), Kolaata (Karnataka), Mariyatha and Tribal Dance (Tamil Nadu) and Kummi Kuttu (Kerala), Kashmiri dance, Dia and Tagore folk dance (West Bengal) and Gypsy dances. Performances will feature artists including: Shilpa and Pooja Mehta (Payal Dancing School), Mayuri and Meghna Reddy, Kajal Mehta and Priya Pandya, Suba Parmar and the Shubanjali Dance School.

The special presentation of Yakshagana Folk Theater includes a variety of musical performances on traditional instruments such as the dholak, tabla, sitar and veena. Performers will include Kamal Sheth (sitar), Bhavani and Prakash Rao (veena, flute and mridangam), Maitrayee Patel (vocal), and Sejal Kukadia (tabla).

Several arts and crafts demonstrations and displays of mehendi, rangoli, batik painting, embroidery, toren making, knotting and beadwork will be located throughout the grounds during the festival.

Hours for Saturday, September 13: 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. The Festival of India is included in the price of admission to WheatonArts. Adults $10.00, Senior Adults $9.00 and Students $7.00. Children five and under are free. For more information about the Festival of India, call 800-998-4552 or 856-825-6800, extension 131, or visit www.wheatonarts.org.

WheatonArts strives to ensure the accessibility of its exhibitions, events and programs to all persons with disabilities. Provide two weeks notice for special accommodations. Patrons with hearing and speech disabilities may contact WheatonArts through the New Jersey Relay Service (TRS) 800-852-7899 or by dialing 711.

Funding for the Festival of India has been made possible in part by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a Partner Agency of the National Endowment for the Arts, by the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, by grant support from the NJ Historical Commission, a division of Cultural Affairs in the Department of State and from the NJ Division of Travel and Tourism/Department of State. Major funding for this project has also been provided by the National Endowment for the Arts, by the Bank of America Foundation, the Center for Diagnostic Imaging, Colonial Bank, South Jersey Healthcare and numerous other generous businesses, corporations and individuals.

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A complete schedule of Saturday’s program is available upon request.

Photography available upon request.