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FALL 2008

Lectures & Workshops

August 28
Scientific Spirituality: A Lecture and Workshop by Dr. Marella Sri Ramakrishna
Dr. Marella Sri Ramakrishna, disciple of Pandit Sri Ramasharma Acharya, is an advocate of the philosophy of "Scientific Spirituality" which bridges the material progress of the West with the wisdom of the East. He has given workshops on innumerable topics and performed thousands of yajnas, Vedic auspicious rituals, which enable us to lead this life in a more purposeful way and develop our spirit. An expert on Sanatana Dharma, or the way of life enjoined by the Vedas and their relevance today, as well as a Professor emeritus in Biochemistry, Dr. Ramakrishna has dedicated the rest of his life to propagate his message to the world. Refreshments will be served. Sponsored by All World Gayatri Pariwar. For more information, call (732) 605-1049.
Lecture: 6:30 pm   Practical Session: 7:30 pm   Q&A: 8:00 pm
Thursday August 28, 6:30 to 8:30 pm, Wang Center, Room 301

October 19
Herstory Writers Workshop
12th Anniversary Benefit Reading & Gala Buffet
Join us as we honor Diane Cohen and the Long Island Fund for Women and Girls. Listen to readings by Herstory's newest writers from our community and prison workshops, as well as our emerging teen writers and members of our Latina homemakers group. Walk among the Chinese zodiac fountains. Enjoy an elegant buffet. For more information, call (631) 676-7395 or visit www.herstorywriters.org.

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Performances

September 21
Angraag: Songs of the Body
Rudrakshya, an all-male Odissi dance ensemble from the East Indian state of Orissa, passionately convey the rarely seen Purush Ang, the male stylization of Odissi, the oldest classical dance. Using expressive eye movements, precise hand positions, complex rhythms and sculpturesque poses, Rudrakshya has wowed audiences in India and America through their renditions of a number of classical compositions celebrating the masculine divine and other Hindu sagas. These electrifying reinterpretations of classical stories in Hindu culture preserve the integrity of Odissi while innovating new pieces for the Purash Ang form and were choreographed by their mentor Guru Sri Bichitrananda Swain, one of the leading exponents in the next generation of Odissi dance. Co-sponsored with Indian Performing Arts Promotions Inc.

"The dancers' vigor and precision came to the fore as the choreography
focused intensely on footwork and form, culminating in a series of windmilling arm movements that used the upper body...accentuating the virtues of the male pectoral anatomy in classical dance."–Samskriti: Society for Indian Performing Arts

"Gifted with natural grace, a fluid body language and passion for perfection"–The Hindu

Tickets: $10 for students & seniors; $15 general admission; $25 VIP
(reserved first front rows seating)
Sunday, September 21, 6:00 pm, Wang Theatre

October 23
Hunger
In an intimate quartet, legendary contemporary choreographers and Butoh dancers Eiko and Koma reunite with their protégés Charian and Peace, two Cambodian visual artists-turned-performers, to explore the theme of hunger. This new piece revisits the theme a generation after Eiko and Koma's first groundbreaking and controversial performance at the American Dance Festival, Grain. Charian and Peace's serene movements and tragic innocence complement the wrenching, weathered, and sometimes violent movements of their mentors in this performance that incorporates Japanese, Tibetan, and Indonesian folk music as the quartet use contemplative movements and stunning real-time "action painting" to explore the visceral subject of Hunger. Hunger is a Joyce Theater 25th anniversary commission. Co-commissioned by the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis. Produced by Inta, Inc. in association with the Asia Society.

"As much of a tour de force as we have come to expect of these distinguished artists, who remain in the forefront of contemporary dance by virtue of their daring, imagination and originality... The power of their work derives, aside from the prodigious muscular and rhythmic control of the performances, from the uncompromising purity of their vision"–The Washington Post

Tickets: $10 for students & seniors; $15 general admission; $25 VIP
(reserved first front rows seating).
Thursday, October 23, 7:00 pm, Wang Theatre

November 16
Music and Dance from Myanmar/Burma
Discover Burma in an enriching night with Kyaw Kyaw Naing and friends. Naing, a master of the pat waing, a traditional Burmese drum-circle instrument comprised of 21 separately tuned drums surrounded by a horseshoe-shaped shell made of elaborately carved wood and decorated with gold leaf, perfected his art and improvisational skills in exhausting hours-long Burmese ceremonies for days on end. The son of U Sein Chit Tee, who led a Burmese orchestra in New York in 1975, Naing's has continued his father's legacy a generation later and is be accompanied by his wife, who performs Burmese dance, and other experts. Reception of traditional Burmese food to follow. In collaboration with Tun Noville.

"Myanmar, the Southeast Asian nation formerly known as Burma, is home to a
vibrant and cosmopolitan musical tradition...Overshadowed by India and
Indonesia, and long hidden by a repressive military dictatorship, it remains one of world music's final frontiers"–New York Times

"An exhilarating tease, defying expectations of symmetry or steady tempo. A phrase might be repeated like a big-band riff or never heard again; a terse line is followed by one that just keeps on going. Tunes that start out as stately as fanfares wind up scampering at top speed, while melodic lines may be staggered between instruments, bounced around like question-answer exchanges or suddenly played in precise unison, accelerating as they go. Instead of marking the beginning of a phrase, as Western percussion often does, the Burmese percussionists often kicked in at the end of a melody"–New York Times

Tickets: $10 for students & seniors; $15 general admission; $25 VIP
(reserved first front rows seating).
Sunday, November 16, 6:00 pm, Wang Theatre

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Films

Port Jefferson Documentary Series
September 8
Operation Filmmaker
Guest Speaker: Nina Davenport, Director
Do-gooder intentions go disastrously wrong when Hollywood gives a young Iraqi film student the chance of a lifetime. Operation Filmmaker tells the fascinating and riveting story of Muthana Mohmed's odyssey in the West, with uncanny parallels to America's recent misadventures abroad. Download flier.
Monday, September 8, 7:00 pm, Wang Theatre

October 27
Baghdad High
Guest Speaker: Haider Hamza, Iraqi Reporter for ABC News
Directed and produced by Ivan O’Mahoney and Laura Winter, Baghdad High chronicles the lives of four seniors at Tariq bin-Ziad High School for Boys, located in a mixed middle-class Iraqi suburb. Ali the Kurd, Anmar the Catholic, Hayder the Shia, and half-Sunni, half-Shia Mohammad began filming their senior year in October 2006, the bloodiest month since the start of the war. Their studies hampered by power outages and the disappearances of their peers, the boys’ teen dreams are fractured during an academic year that saw Saddam Hussein’s execution and President Bush’s American troop surge. Download flier. Co-sponsored with Greater Port Jefferson-Northern Brookhaven Arts Council.
Monday, October 27, 7:00 pm, Wang Theatre

The Apu Trilogy
Satyajit Ray’s world renowned and critically acclaimed Apu Trilogy comes to the Wang Center. Profoundly influenced by Jean Renoir and Italian neo-realism, this cinematic masterpiece considered by critics around the globe to rank among the greatest achievements of film. Ray, with a limited budget and non-professional actors chronicled the story of Apu, a destitute child growing up in rural Bengal, Benares, and Calcutta. Ray’s first films won top awards at Cannes, Venice, and London by enrapturing audiences in magical cinematic moments that emphasize the nuances of Bengali life and appeal to universal themes inherent in human relationships. The sensual and melancholic soundtrack is by Maestro Ravi Shankar.

“The great, sad, gentle sweep of The Apu Trilogy remains in the mind of
the moviegoer as a promise of what film can be. Standing above fashion, it
creates a world so convincing that it becomes, for a time, another life we
might have lived”–Roger Ebert

"Not to have seen the cinema of Ray means existing in the world without
seeing the sun or the moon"–Akira Kurosawa

Directed by Satyajit Ray. (In Bengali with English subtitles). Followed by discussion with Thora Wagner. Free Admission. All are welcome. Co-sponsored with the Osher Lifelong Learning Center and in collaboration with the Consulate General of India, NY.

September 25
Film: Pathar Panchali ("Song of the Little Road," 1955)
Apu is born in rural Bengal to a Brahmin family in the 1920s. Living with his father, the impoverished priest Harihar, mother and homemaker, Sarbajaya, an elderly hunchbacked aunt, and his sister, the mischievous Durga, Apu grows up in bitter poverty sharing simple joys with his sister until tragedy strikes and Apu’s family leaves Bengal for the holy city of Benares on the Ganges.
Thursday, September 25, 1:00 pm, Wang Theatre

October 30
Film: Aparajito ("The Unvanquished," 1956)
Shortly after arriving at Beneras, Apu’s father Harihar works himself to death against his wife’s advice. Apu and his mother return to her ancestral village of Mansapota where Apu’s success at school pits mother against son and tradition against modernity in several unresolved conflicts. Apu has to decide whether to remain with his family and follow his father’s profession or be educated in Calcutta and face the consequences for his choice.
Thursday, October 30, 1:00 pm, Wang Theatre

Thursday November 6
Film: Apu Sansar ("World of Apu," 1959)
Penniless and alone, Apu struggles as a recent graduate to fulfill his teacher’s wishes and his own goal of writing a novel until he marries. Apu and his new wife Aparna fall in love in Calcutta when catastrophe again strikes causing Apu to abandon his new family until an old friend convinces Apu to reconsider his decisions.
Thursday, November 6, 1:00 pm, Wang Theatre

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Previous seasons' programming

The Wang Center is open to the public Monday to Friday, 9:00 am to 5:00 pm. Guided Tours for schoolgroups and groups of 10 and more are available by appointment.