Tibetan Mandalas: Traditional & Contemporary interpretations side-by-side
In a stroke of pure programming genius, Syracuse University campus will host both the construction of a traditional sand mandala and SWDA’s staged interpretation of a Tibetan mandala (Re: I, a.k.a. Re: Tibet) in the same week. The Tibetan monks who have been invited to perform this ceremonial construction will painstakingly pour lines of sand to create the Chenrezig mandala during business hours all week (September 21-25). Once they have completed the mandala, they will ritually destroy the piece to represent the impermanence of life. (Check out the live video feed of the monks working on the mandala!)
Shen Wei’s has taken this idea of the creation and destruction of the mandala and set it for the stage. In Re: I, as the audience enters, dancers are seen on stage building the mandala out of colorful paper shards; slowly over the course of the piece their movements smudge and mix the colors together until the mandala is no longer decipherable.
Photo: Alex Pines
If you are in the area, please join us for these exciting events!
More information about the visit of the Tibetan monks here.
Live feed of mandala construction, and information about the mandala and the monks themselves here.
View video excerpts of Re:I here.
September 26, 2009 at 9:55 pm
Beautiful performance. I enjoyed the images in the background to enhance the meaning and communication bandwidth of the dance and music.
September 26, 2009 at 10:48 pm
I missed the doctor/patient movements that were in the performance in March but not in September. The linear form was in March. I also thought it might be interesting in a triangular form (1 person standing at apex; 3 people kneeling in middle; 5 people sitting at base).
Marching in III was great!