November 7- 9, 2008 
At La MaMa Annex Theatre, 66 East 4th Street, New York, NY 10003

APPAN Artistic Director, Dr. SunOck Lee stated, "All the artistes participating and  performing in this festival and Symposium, be it China, Japan, India, Indonesia, Australia, United States or Korea  have specialized in using the tool of meditation for adding to and growing in their unique art forms.  The performing arts of Asia and Pacific region draw from the quantum power of the healing aspects of music and dance and create an extraordinary experience for the audience that is unlike any other.  La MaMa is the perfect home for us and adds to the magic of this special event." 

This remarkable event has no need for hyperbole; The artists, their unique experiences and their coming together in one space in time speaks for itself.

SYMPOSIUM: November 7, 2008 
9am - 1:30pm
"Meditation-Healing Dance & Music"
Keynote Presentation: Shanta Serbjeet Singh
"Meditation and Healing"

PRESENTERS
- Dr. Sachio Ito and Dr. Ruth K. Abrahams: 
Meditative and Healing Aspects of Noh Dance
- Dr. So Inhwa: 
Choreographic and Therapeutic Aspects of Zendance 
- Didik Nini Thowok: 
Comic Walangkekek as Contemporary Healing Dance
- Guru Venu (presented by Sudarshan Belsare) :
Kudiyattam: Oldest Dance-Theatre form of world, Heals from within and without 
- Eleanor Yung: 
The Healing Aspects of Qi in Peking Opera Dance Movements
- Annie Greig: 
Healing Aspects of Contemporary Dance Creation

"Meditation-Healing Dance & Music"
November 8 & 9, 2008 at 7:30pm - La MaMa Annex Theatre

India:  'Kudiyattam' by Kalamandalam Sivan Nambootri
Japan: Noh: 'Kazuraki-YamatoMai (Goddess dance)' by Fusao Okamoto
Korea: '2008 Form is Emptiness' ZenDance Company with Sonmudo, by SunOck Lee
Taipei: 'Peking Opera: Lady General,' excerpts "at the Hu Village" by Shu-ching Yang
Australia: 'Divine Harmonies' by Malcolm McMillan and James Shannon
USA: 'Healing Daekum: Hann' by Grandmaster Sung Baek (Jiang Jing) and 'Healing Bansuri' by Steve Gorn 
Indonesia: 'Topeng Walangkekek' by Didik Nini Thowok

ARTIST BIOGRAPHIES

Australia: 
Tasdance explores spirituality and the wisdom of aging in two excerpts from Divine Harmonies.
Malcolm McMillan performed with Opera Australia and Australian Dance Theatre before joining Tasdance in 2001 for the first Ten Days on the Island cultural festival.  Since then he has performed in all the company's major seasons and choreographed work for the Amalgamation Festival and for One for Sorrow, Two for Joy.
James Shannon joined Tasdance in 2006 after graduating from the Victorian College of the Arts.  James has worked with numerous choreographers since joining the company, including Raewyn Hill, Anna Smith, Natalie Weir and Kate Denborough.

India:  
Kudiyattam: by Kalamandalam Sivan Nambootri
1st drummer: Kalamandalam Ravi Kumar; 2nd drummer: Kalamandalam Vineesh
Thalam: Indira Nambootri; Chiutti Kalanilayam Sankaran (special make up)
Kalamandalam Sivan Nambootri is the senior instructor of the Kudiyattam style at the prestigious Kerala Kalamandalam dance institute in Palakkad, Kerala. In March he was honored by India's premier official cultural body, the Sangeet Natak Akademi, for his artistry in updating the world's oldest dance form. 
'Thorana Yudham' portrays the state of mind of King Ravana as he reflects on the irony of being asked by the gods to withdraw from battle after conquering the three worlds (the earth, the heavens, and the underworld), while the excerpt from "Parvathee Viraham" features Lord Shiva trying to assuage the jealousy of his consort, the goddess Parvathi, in an amusing display of solo acting.

Indonesia: 
Diwimuka Jepindo Topeng Walangkekek Dance: by Didik Nini Thowok
Dwimuka Jepindo is a dance portraying two different characters and is a fusion of Japanese and Indonesian traditions. Topeng Walangkekek expresses several different female characters through the employment of various masks and comedic movements.
Didik Nini Thowok, performance artist, choreographer, dancer, teacher, mime, actor, make-up artist, comedian, singer, appears regularly on National Television. His unique style of traditional cross-gender dance combines classical, folk, modern, and comedic dance forms ranging from Topeng (mask dance), Sundance, Cirebon, Balinese, and Central Javanese.

Japan: 
Noh: 'Kazuraki-YamatoMai (Goddess dance)' by Fusao Okamoto
Noh combines elements of dance, drama, music and poetry into one highly aesthetic stage art. This particular piece portrays a beautiful mountain goddess who was made ugly by a deity; but, after providing food and comfort to some monks who were lost in a snow storm, she became beautiful again, like a mountain goddess. 
Prof. Fusao Okamoto started studying Noh at the age of ten, eventually studying under  Kanze Motoaki and Kanze Yashuhide, the leaders of the Kanze-ryu school of Noh. He was officially recognized as an "important intangible cultural treasure keeper in Japan" in 2001.

Korea: 
'2008 Form is Emptiness'-  ZenDance Company with Sonmudo
Choreography and Artistic Director: SunOck Lee
Dancers: Youngbin Lee and Doheui Lim,  Sonmudo (Zen martial arts): Jaeduk Kim
New York Times said "Zen Inspired…totally creative and theatrical" by Anna Kisselgoff.
Zendance is not only an aesthetically beautiful art form. It is a form of "Dance meditation" since 1974 in NYC and it has developed multimedia piece that combines the elements of Korean ritual dance, modern dance techniques with Sonmudo (Korean Buddhist Zen martial art).
SunOck Lee has been honored internationally for her extraordinary dances, performances, based on Zen philosophy and Zen dance technique. Dr. Lee received a DA from NYU and is the author of 'Zen Dance: Meditation in Movement,' 'ZenDance Technique and Therapy' and 'Healing Zendance.' She won the Choreographer's Award by the National Endowment for the Arts. Her work has been commissioned for performances in Seoul, Biennale Dance Festival in Paris, New Delhi, Kolkata, Assam in India, APCD Festival in NYC, China, Assisi, Florence and Rome Festival in Italy. 

Taipei: 
'Peking Opera: Lady General,' excerpts "at the Hu Village" by Shu-ching Yang, Peking Opera is a composite of poetry, music, singing, dancing, speaking, miming, acting, kung-fu, and acrobatics, renowned for its multicolored and embroidered costumes and multi-patterned face paint.
Shu-Ching Yang is a leading Tan (Female role) dancer and a designer of the Peking Opera website at Taipei Li-Yuan Peking Opera Theatre. She has performed in Seoul, Beijing, and NYC. Since 2002, she has been an administrator-actress at Taipei Li-yuan Peking Opera Theatre.
 
USA: 
'Healing Daekum: Hann' by Grandmaster Sung Baek (Jiang Jing)
The Daegeum was part of Korea's court music for nearly 2,000 years and is considered to be the most difficult bamboo wind instrument to play. However, once mastered, its sound is pure and able to touch the human spirit over long distances.

"Hann" is a unique Korean spiritual term with many profound meanings. An emotional desire and need of fulfillment, and the happiness we just cannot give up. This deep hidden human desire of fulfillment is "Haan" while we accept that it cannot be fulfilled ever.

Sung Baek is a teacher, also a master in three areas: medicine, martial arts, and music. In 1989, Grandmaster Baek released the famous Automatic Meditation music CD of unaccompanied Daegum called 'Close Your Eyes' and 'Ek Ong Kar.' His unique ability to throw life force (Kundalini, or Qi) into sound has never been imitated. Grandmaster Baek is also a research physician specializing in development of natural medicines and proteomic biomarker cancer diagnostics through JBNI-Biodrux in Washington State. 'Healing Bansuri' by Steve Gorn, renowned Bansuri-Indian bamboo flute player.

Steve Gorn, whose flute is featured on the 2004 Academy Award winning documentary film, 'Born into Brothels,' has performed Indian classical music and new American music on the bansuri bamboo flute, soprano saxophone and clarinet in concerts and festivals throughout the world. His teachers include Gour Goswami of Kolkata, and Pandit Raghunath Seth, and he performs regularly with Pandit Samir Chatterjee and Pandit Barun Kumar Pal. Well known to audiences in India and the west, he has been praised by critics and leading Indian musicians as one of the few westerners recognized to have captured the subtlety and beauty of Indian music.

About APPAN:
Asia-Pacific Performing Arts Network (APPAN) is a worldwide network to promote cooperation and development in the performing arts of the Asia Pacific region, seeking the creation of worldwide platform for this unique cultural identity. It promotes cross-cultural and inter-disciplinary understanding, develops rigorous strategies for making, reflecting the nuances of cultural differences and fostering new ways to experiment, collaborate and interpret artistic expressions.

APPAN's first conference 'A New Challenge for the Continuation of Traditional and Contemporary Creation of the Performing Arts in the Asia-Pacific Region' was held in Jan 2000, in Seoul, Korea with 17 countries participating. The Second International Conference 'Journey to the East' was held in New Delhi, India in Oct. 2000. The Third International Conference 'Into the Sacred Waters: Symposium on the 'Body' and 'Mind' Traditions of the Asia-Pacific Region' was held in Sept. 2001 in Banikhet, India. The APPAN 4th International Festival and Symposium on 'The Role of Healing in Asia Pacific Performing Arts' was held in Seoul in May, 2002. The APPAN 5th Conference: 'The Sacred & the Profane: Male-Female Role in Asian Performance Arts' was held in Rishikesh, India. The APPAN 6th International Festival and Symposium: 'The Role of Healing in Asia-Pacific Performing Arts' was held at PoSung JunNam, Korea from Nov25 - 29, 2003. The APPAN 7th International Festival - Symposium on 'Meditation and Healing in Asia Pacific Performing Arts' was held from May 1-4, 2006 in Seoul. The APPAN 8th International Festival-Symposium 2007: 'Meditation and Healing Dance & Music' was held from April 27-30, 2007 at Insadong Festival in Seoul. The NY APPAN First International Festival-Symposium: 'Meditation-Healing Dance & Music" will be held from Nov7 - 9, 2008 at La MaMa E.T.C. NYC.
 

La MaMa e.t.c is located at 74A East 4th St. between 2nd Avenue and The Bowery 
(F/V to 2nd Avenue, 6 to Astor Place, N/R to 8th St)  
Box Office (212) 475-7710   
online tickets at www.lamama.org