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What: Transcendent Arts of Tibet and India Where: Brookfield Place - Winter Garden

230 Vesey St., New York Date: Monday, April 4 to Friday, April 15, 2016 Time: Times vary Presenters: Arts Brookfield Website: artsbrookfield.com/transcendentarts Cost: FREE, no tickets or reservations required

Arts Brookfield presents Transcendent Arts of Tibet and India

Tibetan mandala sand painting and South Indian Bharatanatyam dance among

performances at the Winter Garden at Brookfield Place, April 4 - 15

New York, NY, March 10, 2016 —Experience Asia’s sacred artistic traditions in the Winter Garden at Brookfield

Place (230 Vesey St., New York). Presented by Arts Brookfield, Transcendent Arts of Tibet and India is a two-

week series of events highlighting the spiritual nature and ancient origins of South Asian art, music and dance.

Running from Monday, April 4 through Friday, April 15, 2016, the events are free and open to the public. The

series is curated by Isabel Soffer of Live Sounds. Week one of Transcendent Arts of Tibet and India features the renowned Tibetan monks of the Drepung Loseling

Monastery staging exquisite rituals: the spiritual art of mandala sand painting and ceremonial music, dance and

multiphonic chanting. Week two highlights one of India’s oldest dance forms, Bharatanatyam, as curated by

Malini Srinivasan, in addition to various instrumental and vocal performers showcasing the country’s classical

music traditions.

“It’s an honor to host the monks from Drepung Loseling Monastery and Malini Srinivasan, among the number of

talented artists who will be performing at Brookfield Place as a part of our Transcendent Arts of Tibet and India,”

said Debra Simon, vice president and artistic director of Arts Brookfield. “Each of the performances sheds a

unique light on these ancient societies, presenting beautiful and inspiring art, music and dance as rituals.”

Transcendent Arts of Tibet featuring the monks of the Drepung Loseling Monastery: Sacred Music, Sacred Dance and Mandala Sand Painting

Of all the artistic traditions of Tantric Buddhism, painting with colored sand ranks as one of the most unique and

exquisite. Millions of grains of sand are painstakingly laid into place over a period of days or weeks. As a

metaphor of the impermanence of life and to fulfill the function of healing shortly after completion, the sand

mandala is deconstructed and distributed to the audience at a closing ceremony, while the remainder is carried to

a nearby body of water where it is deposited. Equally as awe inspiring, Tibetans are the only culture on earth to cultivate the extraordinary vocal ability of

multiphonic chanting known as zokkay (complete chord). Monks robed in magnificent costumes play traditional

Tibetan instruments while chant masters simultaneously intonate three notes, each individually creating a

complete chord. The ancient temple music and dance is believed to generate energies conducive to world peace

and healing. The monks of the Deprung Loseling Monastery are well-known for their recent appearance on the Netflix hit

House of Cards.

Visitors to Brookfield Place will be able to enjoy the artistry of the monks daily through sand mandala creation

and chant beginning April 4. The first week of Transcendent Arts of Tibet and India culminates with a fascinating

performance of Sacred Music, Sacred Dance on the night of Friday, April 8, and the closing ceremony for the

sand mandala including a procession to the Hudson River on Saturday, April 9, 2016.

Transcendent Arts of India: Bharatanatyam temple dances of South India and North and South Indian classical music A tradition that grew in the temples and courts of South India, the classical Bharatanatyam dance form combines

subtle movements and themes closely connected to Indian mythology. Its key features are nritta (pure movement

or technique), notable for complex rhythmic patterns, and the abhinayas (mime or expression), which revolves

around a heroine in a state of anticipation of union with her beloved, also a metaphor for human waiting for union

with the Unseen. The Arts Brookfield presentation features a number of group and solo works that will be

performed throughout the Winter Garden, choreographed by Malini Srinivasan, who began studying

Bharatanatyam at a young age with her mother and grandmother. Hindustani (North Indian) classical music performances include a vocal trio with Samarth Nagarkar, Bansuri

(flute) duet with Jay Gandhi, and a Sarod duet with Anupam Shobhakar. Carnatic (South Indian) performances

include a vocal trio with Roopa Mahadevan and violin duet with Arun Ramamurthy, curated by Malini Srinivasan. Arts Brookfield is well-known for presenting diversity in the arts and making world-class cultural experiences

accessible. For more information about Transcendent Arts of Tibet and India and the full schedule, visit:

artsbrookfield.com/transcendentarts

Schedule: Week 1 Monday, April 4 12:00 noon – 1:00 p.m. Opening ceremony at Winter Garden

1:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. Monks create the Sand Mandala 5:00 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. Performance: Multiphonic chanting Tuesday, April 5 11:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m. Monks create the Sand Mandala 12:30 p.m. – 1:00 p.m. Performance: Multiphonic chanting Wednesday , April 6 11:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m. Monks create the Sand Mandala 12:30 p.m. – 1:00 p.m. Performance: Multiphonic chanting Thursday, April 7 11:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m. Monks create the Sand Mandala 12:30 p.m. – 1:00 p.m. Performance: Multiphonic chanting Friday, April 8 11:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. Monks create the Sand Mandala 12:30 p.m. – 1:00 p.m. Performance: Multiphonic chanting 7:30 p.m. – 8:45 p.m. Performance: Sacred Music, Sacred Dance Saturday, April 9 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Monks create the Sand Mandala 1:00 p.m. Closing ceremony Schedule: Week 2 Monday, April 11 12:30 p.m. – 1:30 p.m. North Indian Vocal Concert: Samarth Nagarkar 5:00 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. Bharatanatyam Dance Performance: Krishna Dances and the Gopis Watch Tuesday, April 12 12:30 p.m. – 1:30 p.m. North Indian Bansuri Flute Concert: Jay Gandhi 5:00 p.m. – 5:25 p.m. Bharatanatyam Dance Performance: Jathiswaram and Padam Wednesday , April 13 12:30 p.m. – 1:30 p.m. North Indian Vocal Concert: Roopa Mahadevan 5:00 p.m. – 5:20 p.m. Bharatanatyam Dance Performance: Stealing The Queen’s Royal Jelly

Thursday, April 14 12:30 p.m. – 1:30 p.m. North Indian Sarod Concert: Anupam Shobhakar

5:00 p.m. – 5:20 p.m. Bharatanatyam Dance Performance: Dusk and Evening Friday, April 15 8:45 a.m. – 9:15 a.m. Bharatanatyam Performance: Dawn and Morning

12:30 p.m. – 1:30 p.m. South Indian Violin Concert: Arun Ramamurthy 5:30 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. Artist creates traditional Flower Kolam 7:30 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. Solo Bharatanatyam Margham with live music: Rasa in the Round

About Arts Brookfield Arts Brookfield presents exciting, world-class cultural experiences to hundreds of thousands of people for free

each year in both indoor and outdoor public spaces at Brookfield’s premier office properties in New York, Los

Angeles, Denver, Houston, Toronto, Perth and Sydney. From concerts, theater and dance to film screenings and

art exhibitions, Arts Brookfield brings public spaces to life through art. Visit www.ArtsBrookfield.com for a

complete schedule of events. Website: ArtsBrookfield.com Facebook: Arts Brookfield Twitter: @ArtsBrookfield Instagram: @artsbrookfield About Brookfield Place Brookfield Place NY is the apotheosis of luxury shopping, dining and cultural arts in downtown Manhattan. The

complex is uniquely positioned just south of Tribeca along the Hudson River waterfront. International fashion

houses including Hermès, Bottega Veneta, Salvatore Ferragamo, Burberry, Omega, Ermenegildo Zegna, and

contemporary fashion brands such as Diane von Furstenberg, Theory, Michael Kors, Vince, Paul Smith, and

Lululemon make Brookfield Place Downtown Manhattan’s most sought-after shopping destination. An 85,000-

square-foot Saks Fifth Avenue department store will open in June 2016, revolutionizing the luxury shopping

experience in the area. Best-in-class dining options include Hudson Eats, a curated collection of 14 chef-driven

fast-casual eateries; Le District, a 30,000-square-foot French-inspired marketplace and eight signature

restaurants including Amada, and Parm. Complemented by the renowned cultural programming of Arts

Brookfield, Brookfield Place is leading the transformation of the area as the premier destination for residents and

visitors alike. For more information, please visit: www.brookfieldplaceny.com. Website: brookfieldplaceny.com Facebook: Brookfield Place New York Twitter: @BrookfieldPLNY

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