18
SEPTEMBER 22–29, 2021
CULTURE & HERITAGE
Jayanthi Raman
Dance presents live,
online performance
‘Navarasa Kalinga Nardana’
can only be seen Sept. 25
By Lisa Britton
Go! Magazine
B
AKER CITY — Jayanthi
Raman aims to provide a
chance to experience authentic
Indian dances, and this week-
end she’s doing just that, thanks
to support by Crossroads Carn-
egie Art Center.
Raman, who has performed
since she was 8, teaches
dance classes at Jayanthi Ra-
man Dance in Hillsboro. This
Saturday, Sept. 25, she and
her dancers will provide a live
performance streamed through
Crossroads’ Facebook page.
“I want to give people the
experience of a very authentic
concert,” she said.
A Facebook account is not
necessary — simply go to www.
facebook.com/bakerxrds. The
show begins at 6 p.m. and lasts
for one hour and 15 minutes.
While viewers can log on at any
time during the show, it will not
be available afterward.
The performance is called
“Navarasa Kalinga Nardana.”
“The story is simple, and
passed down through genera-
tions,” Raman said.
She said the dance is accom-
panied by “all kinds of percus-
sion.”
She gave a choreographer’s
talk on Sept. 18, which is avail-
able on Crossroads’ Facebook
page. She said that talk, in ad-
dition to the narration provided
before each dance sequence,
will help the audience under-
stand the story.
A full range of emotions is
woven into the plot — “there’s
love, romance, courage, wonder
and astonishment,” she said.
“During the pandemic we’ve
gone through every emotion
imaginable,” Raman said. “Our
final thing is to get to the peace-
ful point.”
She’d hoped to go on tour
this year, but those plans were
thwarted by the pandemic. So
they moved to an online format.
“We’re really excited. It’s
something different,” said
Ginger Savage, Crossroads
executive director. “We really,
really wanted them to be able
to come.”
‘NAVARASA
KALINGA
NARDANA’
Presented by Jayanthi
Raman Dance Company
6 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 25
Live on Facebook
www.facebook.com/
bakerxrds
Those who have questions
about accessing the perfor-
mance can email ginger@
crossroads-arts.org.
HISTORY
Although this performance is
presented virtually, it’s not the
first time Raman has brought In-
dian dance to Baker City. In 2018,
she toured a show titled “Dual-
ity: An Immigration Experience”
across rural Oregon thanks to a
Creative Heights grant from the
Oregon Community Foundation.
Raman belongs to the
Oregon Folklife Network and
is described as a “practitioner,
teacher, and choreographer of
Bharatha Natyam, a style of clas-
sical Indian Dance.”
CELEBRATING THE HISTORY
OF EASTERN OREGON
Ravi/Contributed
photo
Jayanthi Raman
will present a
live performance
via Facebook
Saturday, Sept. 25,
in conjunction with
Crossroads Carnegie
Art Center.