Punyakoti (2004)
Premiered August 1, 2004
Julia Morgan Theatre, Berkeley, California
Music Composition – Rajkumar Bharathi
Musicians – Praveen Kumar – Nattuvangam (Dance Conductor), Balasubramanyam Sharma – Vocal, Gurumurthy G.- Percussion – A. P. Sarvotham – Flute, Sankar Subramanian – Violin
Lighting Design – Lakshmi Iyengar
Stage Manager – Lakshmi Iyengar
Make Up Artist for the Tiger – Suresh Iyengar
Costume Design – Malathi Iyengar & K. Murali Mohan (Punyakoti)
Cast – Shivani Aysola, Ranjith Babu, Lakshmi Iyengar, Malathi Iyengar, Hema Iyer, Mary Khetani, Praveen Kumar, K. Murali Mohan, Shyamala Moorty, & Sudarsan Sibi
Punyakoti, a dance theatre is designed specially for families and children. Inspired by a folk tale called “Govina Haadu” (The song of the cow), from Karnataka, India. The story is about Punyakoti a pious and truthful cow. This simple and moving folk song ends with a moral about the triumph of truth-telling.
Arbhuda, the hungry tiger, chances upon the gentle cow Punyakoti. The tiger is delighted and gets ready to devour Punyakoti, who pleads for an hour’s reprieve so that she can bid goodbye to her little calf. Arbudha is sure Punyakoti will never return, but on good faith lets her go. Punyakoti feeds her calf, asks her sister-cows to treat her little one as their own, and dutifully returns to the tiger’s place. Arbudha is stunned by this act of honesty, and, stricken by guilt, chooses to jump off a cliff rather than eat Punyakoti.
Other Punyakoti performances
September 15, 2007 (2 shows), World City, W. M. Keck Foundation Children’s Amphitheatre. Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Music Center, Performing Arts Center of Los Angeles County. www.musiccenter.org
Dancers from India: Ranjith Babu, Neewin Hershall, & Murali Mohan Kalvakalva.
Rangoli Dancers ; Sheila Aula, Shivani Aysola, Vyshnavi Aysola, Shayan Chalan, Anjali Gopalan, Lakshmi Iyengar, Malathi Iyengar, Hema Iyer, Sarah Mathew, Karisma Nagarkatti, Sandhya Rajan, Shaheen Sheik, Soumya Sundaresh, Kalpa Viswanadhan, & Katya Viswanadhan
August 4, 2007, Family Festival. J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles.
Dancers from India: Ranjith Babu, Neewin Hershall, and Murali Mohan Kalvakalva
Rangoli Dancers: Sheila Aula, Shivani Aysola, Vyshnavi Aysola, Shayan Chalan, Anjali Gopalan, Lakshmi Iyengar, Malathi Iyengar, Hema Iyer, Karisma Nagarkatti, Sandhya Rajan, Aarti Rao, Kalpa Viswanadhan, & Katya Viswanadhan
August 6, 2005 Big!World!Fun! Performance Series, Ford Amphitheatre, Hollywood, California.
Cast: Shivani Aysola, Dimple Bhasin, Shayan Chalan, Ranjith Babu, Neewin Hershall, Lakshmi Iyengar, Malathi Iyengar, Hema Iyer, Murali Mohan K. & Aarti Ra
June 26, 2005, Madrid Theatre, Canoga Park, California
Rangoli Dance Festival – 20th Anniversary CelebrationsCast: Shivani Aysola, Ranjith Babu, Shayan Chalan, Neewin Hershall, Lashmi Iyengar, Malathi Iyengar, Hema Iyer, Sheel Jagani, Mary Khetani, Aarti Rao, Shaheen Sheik
June 25, 2005, Madrid Theatre, Canoga Park, California
Rangoli Dance Festival – 20th Anniversary Celebrations
Cast: Shivani Aysola, Ranjith Babu, Shayan Chalan, Neewin Hershall, Lashmi Iyengar, Malathi Iyengar, Hema Iyer, Sheel Jagani, Mary Khetani, Aarti Rao, Shaheen Sheik
December 26, 2004, ADA Kalamandira, Bangalore, India
Presented by Nadam Music and Dance Academy
Cast: Ranjith Babu, Fahil Bikmoulline, Lakshmi Iyengar, Malathi Iyengar, Hema Iyer, Praveen Kumar, K. Murali Mohan, Deepa Narayan Narendra, Kirti Ramgopal, Swarna R., Padmini Upadhya
December 22, 2004, Chennai, India
Hamsadhwani Music and Dance Festival
Cast: Ranjith Babu, Fahil Bikmoulline, Lakshmi Iyengar, Malathi Iyengar, Hema Iyer, K. Murali Mohan, Deepa Narayan Narendra, Kirti Ramgopal, Swarna R., Padmini Upadhya
August 9, 2004, Madrid Theatre, Canoga Park, California.
Monday Morning Concerts for Children and Families