Mahajanaka Dance Drama: Jacqueline du Pré Music Building 13th November 2019

A fascinating opportunity at the Jacqueline du Pré Music Building to see dance and story telling from a venerable tradition in a new international collaboration.  Oxford based composer/producer Sebastian Reynolds and Neon Dance Director Adrienne Hart collaborate with award winning Thai dance artist Pichet Klunchun to retell the story of Mahajanaka Jataka; one of the oldest surviving folk tales in the world.  Bringing together eastern and western dance and music performance traditions, this enchanting production fuses ancient and modern with animated scenes from Bristol’s Sun & Moon Studios.

Informed by research trips to Bangkok to explore Jataka mythology and Buddhism in contemporary Thailand, and subsequent studio time in the UK, Mahajanaka Dance Drama previewed at Wiltshire Music Centre with an excerpt presented as part of the sold out Neon Dance Wild Card at Sadler’s Wells in 2018.

Performance:  Wednesday, 13th November, 7.30pm; pre-show talk with Dr Sarah Shaw 7.00pm

Venue:  Jacqueline du Pre Music Building, St Hilda’s College, Cowley Place, Oxford OX4 1DY

Tickets:  £13 stalls, £18 gallery, £5 students  Book tickets online here

Find out more about Neon Dance projects here

 

 

 

Journey into Jatakas: Lunchtime Talk, Ashmolean Museum 15th February 2018

PinDrop Creative & Oxford University Buddhist Society present a fascinating forthcoming event, Journey into Jatakas.  Oxford based Composer/Producer Sebastian Reynolds will be joined by the curator of the Ashmolean Museum’s acclaimed Imagining the Divine exhibition Jas Elsner, Jataka scholar Dr Sarah Shaw and Oxford University Classics scholar Professor Fiona Macintosh for a lunchtime talk on new dance and music production Mahajanaka Dance Drama – a collaboration between internationally renowned artists from Bangkok, Thailand and the UK.  Join in with the discussion facilitated by dramaturg Miranda Laurence to discover Jataka mythology, and how one of the oldest surviving stories in the world has inspired a contemporary re-telling. In the forthcoming production Neon Dance Artistic Director and choreographer Adrienne Hart and composer Sebastian Reynolds collaborate with musicians and dance artists from Thailand and the UK to retell the story of Mahajanaka Jataka, a shipwrecked prince who survives alone at sea until the goddess of the ocean comes to his rescue. Bringing together eastern and western musical traditions, this beautiful show fuses ancient and modern, and will preview at Wiltshire Music Centre on 2nd April 2018.

Date:  15th February 12.00 – 1.00pm

Venue:  Headley Lecture Theatre, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford

Free Entrance

Facebook event page:
https://www.facebook.com/events/1953595548239167/

Tickets for the Mahajanaka Dance Drama preview at Wiltshire Music Centre can be bought here