FESTIVAL GALA in Sydney on 18th Sept 2016

The Confluence Festival Gala featuring The Raghu Dixit Project and a unique collaboration blending Indo – Australian fusion music and dance.

FEATURED ARTISTES INCLUDES:

The Raghu Dixit Project | Pung Cholum dance group | Nrityagram Dance EnsembleLisa Young and Sam Evans | Sonam Kalra and the Sufi Gospel Project | Madhuram Academy of Performing Arts | Gilles Chuyen | Durva Gandhi, Heather Lee and Babu | Nunukul yugerra Dance troupe | Ruchi Sanghi Dance Company | Choir

The Raghu Dixit Project – One of the India’s biggest cultural & musical export, Raghu Dixit’s unique brand of infectious, happy music transcends age, genre, and even language. His music is strongly rooted in Indian traditions and culture and is presented with a very contemporary, global sound.

Sriyah (Nrityagram Dance Ensemble) – Ancient dance in a modern era – exquisite Indian dance from the Nrityagram Dance Ensemble, whose vibrant costumes and lively yet fluid movements depict an ornately carved Hindu temple springing into life and colour.

Pung Cholam by The Jawaharlal Nehru Manipur Dance Academy-Pung Cholom is a highly refined classical dance form characterised by sound modulation from a soft whisper which builds up to a thunderous climax. The dancers play the pung and dance while playing in complex acrobatic feats involving jumps and leaps to the changing rhythms.

Sonam Kalra and The Sufi Gospel Project – The Sufi Gospel Project is an effort to blend all the voices of faith. Traditional Western gospel melds with Indian classical sounds, and Indian spiritual texts are enriched by elements of western poetry to create a sound that touches every soul. Revealing that no matter what the language of the lyrics, or the ethnicity of the sounds, there is but one language, the language of faith. And that is the universal truth.

Gilles Chuyen – Trained in France in Folk, Modern Jazz, Ballet and Contemporary dance styles, Gilles Chuyen has been working in India since 1994 with various dance forms such as Chhau Mayurbhanj, Kathak and Bharatnatyam. He has been teaching Bollywood dance style extensively in India, the U.K and South Africa.

Ruchi Sanghi (Ruchi Sanghi Dance Company– Ruchi Sanghi started training in Kathak since she was 7. In the year 2000, she founded The Ruchi Sanghi Dance Academy for the education and promotion of Kathak in Sydney and has now become synonymous with Kathak dance training in Australia.

Lisa Young – Lisa Young is well known to World and Jazz Music listeners as a creative vocal stylist and improviser, incorporating Indian and African elements in her work. Lisa specialises in Konnakol (South Indian vocal percussion). Lisa Young and her quartet harmoniously fuse Indian Ragas with Jazz music and have performed all over Australia.

Nunukul Yuggera Dance Troupe – The Nunukul Yuggera Dance Troupe is an Aboriginal dance group that has existed for more than 10 years travelling extensively showcasing traditional aboriginal culture through song & dance.

Durva Gandhi and Heather Lee – Durva Gandhi is about to release a series of albums which blends her own unique sacred musical tradition with that of other spiritual musicians. Spiritually inclined since the age of 19 and trained in classical music by Shashikala Kaikini, she has actively practised Vipassana, Vedanta, Yoga, Jain and Buddhist philosophies.

Heather Lee, a practitioner of Yoga and meditation, winner of the National Aria Award, is one of Australia’s foremost singers. She has sung at the White House, the United Nations, the Olympic Games and been an associate of sacred music specialist Dr Kim Cunio. Her repertoire is rich and varied from opera to medieval music, from Mozart to the Bhagavad Gita and even albums with Tibetan Gyuto monks.

KALPANA SRIRAM (THE MADHURAM ACADEMY OF PERFORMING ARTS)-  Madhuram Academy of Performing Arts, founded by Kalpana Sriram in 2013 with the aim of promoting classical Indian dance forms in Australia, invites local and overseas dancers to promote their talent and art.  A network for dancers has been formed, through the academy, to collaborate and interact through workshops held at festivals.

Confluence- A Festival of India in Australia 2016 presents the Festival Gala at the iconic Sydney Opera House with an exciting and unique coming together of Australian and Indian performing art forms showcasing distinct movements, rhythms and inherent similarities.

Sufi gospel music and aboriginal tunes interlace with Jazz rhythms and classical and folk dances exhilarate as heady beats and energetic leaps culminate in a stimulating climax.

The collaboration focuses on highlighting the unique aspects of each distinct genre while using the universality of dance and music to create a seamless performance.