UCLA, California

Featuring ‘Narasimha’, Music – Jahnavi Jayaprakash, ‘Creation Myth’, Music – Rajkumar Bharati

Cast – Shiva Rae Bailey, Ron Brown, Ron Burton, Ronnie Cavaluzzi, Yoon Mi Choi, Lela Higginson, Eugene Hutchins, Lakshmi Iyengar, Malathi Iyengar, Prasanna Kasthuri, Anuradha Kishore, Tali Magal, Shyamala Moorthy, Lauren Munar, Pallavi Naidu, Sunarno Purwolelono, Dorcas Roman, Laria Saunders & Amita Sheth.

Narasimha (man – lion, a divine metamorphosis), the ten incarnations of Vishnu are a perennial theme for Indian performing and visual arts. Narasimha, a Bharata Natyam dance drama depicts the story of the fourth incarnation (Narasimha) of Lord Vishnu. The Lord is born age after age for the protection of the good, for the destruction of the wicked and for the establishment of righteousness.

Creation Myth depicts images of beginning of time, chaos, evolution of nature and the life cycle. This is based on philosophies of various creation myth stories told around the world. In Particular, the inspiration is drawn from the Darwin’s theory of evolution, Hindu philosophy of the creation myth (Vedic interpretation of Brahma as the creator and the Samkhya interpretation of ‘Prakriti as female and Purusha as male).