Prana: Breath, a Journey through the Rasas
By
Noga Cabo, Rekha Iyer, & Asha Rowland
A multidisciplinary work illustrating the duality between the present experience of this pandemic and the Black Lives Matter movement. Using the framework of the navarasas (emotional states of being in Indian classical dance), we explore the American emotional psychology surrounding these two transformative events. This work was premiered on July 18th, 2020 as a fundraiser event for The Okra Project, an American grassroots collective providing support to Black trans, non-binary, and gender-non conforming individuals.
About the artists
Noga Cabo
is a composer, musician, and creator of interdisciplinary art. Born and raised in Beacon, NY, she grew up surrounded by a vibrant community of musicians and activists. During her time there, she performed at a wide variety of venues and festivals and released two albums of original music with the Solar Sound Band as their lead singer, guitarist, and song-writer. She is a graduate of the renowned Laguardia Highschool of Music & Art and Performing Arts, as well as a two-time national YoungArts Award recipient and a recipient of the BMI Foundation 2019 Theodora Zavin Scholarship for outstanding achievement in composition. She participated in the Future Music Project at Carnegie Hall, where her original solo works were featured. More recently, she has focused on collaborative interdisciplinary works(MOSAIC , The Calling, Prana:Breath, a movement through the rasas) and is currently taking a gap year from getting a BM degree in Contemporary Improvisation at New England Conservatory. Coming from a multicultural background, she continues to explore and be influenced by a wide variety of musical genres. These influences are reflected in her latest collaborative work, an album that will be released soon with her newfound family collective The Cabo Project. Website: https://www.instagram.com/noga.cabo/
Asha Rowland
is a multi-faceted artist focusing on several idioms of dance as well as other mediums. A disciple of Smt. Hema Rajagopalan and Smt. Krithika Rajagopalan and company member of Natya Dance Theatre, she has been training and specializing in Bharatanatyam since the age of 8. She has performed internationally at renowned venues and teaches Bharatanatyam to the youth of Chicago. Co-Lead Choreographer and Executive Board Member of Loyola University's Afro Descent, she fostered a discipline and respect for dance and helped grow the organization into a widely known and respected dance troupe within the University. Her multi-cultural heritage has also exposed her to other idioms such as Middle Eastern Raks Sharqi, Fusion BellyDance, Afro Fusion, Hip Hop, Contemporary and Ballet. Her solo projects draw from her foundation and influences to bring to you a wide vocabulary of movement rooted in fluidity and harmony. For upcoming events and more information please visit asharowland.com or her Instagram profile @asharowland16 Website: https://ashadance.weebly.com/
Rekha Iyer
has trained in classical Indian dance under the guidance of Hema Rajagopalan and Krithika Rajagopalan, the artistic directors of Natya Dance Theatre, an Emmy award winning dance company based out of Chicago, Illinois. Rekha is a company dancer and has had the opportunity to perform in India during the Music and Dance festival and at several stages across the United States. Rekha is also a 2018 YoungArts awardee and an active member in the alumni community. Website: https://www.instagram.com/rekha.iyerr/