January 5, Dance Art in woven Textiles of India: talk by Guru Ranjanaa Devi
Loomis Communities, South Hadley

January 11- 24, India Dance tour by Guru Ranjanaa Devi

March 6, International Culture Celebrations
Hartford University in Connecticut

March 9, Workshops on Indian Dance
Anne Dunphy School, Williamsburg, MA

March 10, Dance workshop for Guru Ranjanaa’s class
Mount Holyoke College

April 15, Darshan ( 2 performances)
Springfield technical Community College, Springfield, MA

May 16, Multicultural Day
Fort River school, Amherst, MA

May 24, Workshop for First Generation
Rebecca Johnson School, Springfield, MA

June 13, In studio Recital
Nataraj Studio, South Amherst, MA

July 12-22, 2010 Dance Intensive with Guru Ranjanaa Devi
currently underway with advanced and intermediate dancers

October 30, Flowers at the Altar: Temple dance tradition
Bennington College, Vermont

November 19, Festival of Lights & Darshan (2 performances)
Elms College, Chicopee, Massachusetts

December 6-10 at Rowe Elementary School, Rowe, MA

October and November - Tico and the Golden Wings
Eric Carle Picture Museum, Nataraj Dancers will join the Amherst Ballet Company in multiple performances of the children’s story Tico and the Golden Wings

Saturday, September 19 - Nataraj Dancers present “Darshan” for the Global Mala Project
Center of the Arts, Northampton, MA


Thursday, October 15 - Nataraj Dance Company and guests present Festival of Lights
Nataraj Studios, 7 Pomeroy Lane, Amherst

Friday, October 16 - Nataraj Dancers at Academy Hill School
Springfield, MA

Sunday, November 1 - Nataraj Dance Company presents Festival of Lights
Loomis Communities, South Hadley.

Saturday, November 14 - Nataraj Dancers present Odissi: Classical Indian Dance For Wide Horizons
Nessacus Middle School, Dalton, MA.

Nataraj Dancers performed in Tokyo, Japan in July 2009

Presenting two unique concerts “Dances from the East” Nataraj Dancers and the Kitanodai Gagakukai presented a selection of dances- Odissi and Bugaku reflecting their classical traditions at Nihon (Japanese University) in Tokyo and at Hiratsuka Central Hall.

Under the artistic direction of Guru Ranjanaa Devi, Nataraj Dancers (Abolee Montanari, Monica Bhowmik, Akshaya Tucker and Merli Guerra) presented her recent favorite choreographic works stretching the Odissi temple form from its folk roots to its present sculptural style.

Lighting design for the concerts was by UMass student Ayumi Mizuno. Japanese Performance Poster

October 22, Springfield College, Springfield MA
Ranjanaa Devi presented a talk on the "Tradition of classical dance in India" followed by a masterclass for students in the dance program.

October 24 at 6:30PM Yoga Sanctuary, Northampton, MA
Nataraj Dancers presented a Tara Blessing dance in conjunction with the Healing in Tibetan Buddhism seminar.



November 2 at 7PM Diwali Festival at Immanuel Lutheran Church, Amherst, MA
Celebration Dances by Nataraj Dancers at the Diwali festival presented by the Pioneer Valley India Association.

December 7 from 2- 4PM
There was an Open House at the new Nataraj Studio at Pomeroy Lane, Amherst, MA

Mudra:
Please Click here to see a video clip from the Mudra performance.
(Download Windows Media Player for Mac)

Celebrating their 25th anniversary On November 1, 2007 Nataraj Dance Company under the leadership of its founder and artistic director Ranjanaa Devi, premiered its newest dance theater production at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst.

Mudra is a spectacular work linking dance, live music and theater through a series of arresting scenes. Drawing upon ancient ritual, dialogue, poetry, and image, Devi creates a remarkable visual tapestry of ideas that are expressed through gestures -- (abstract and literal), movements and spoken words. Mudra will expose the audience to the sheer beauty, power and skill of the hand; it will highlight the importance of the hand as a part of the human body and will show how the fingers help to express thoughts and emotions in their fullest sense.

Mudra is the Sanskrit word for a hand gesture depicting a thought, an idea or a word in classical Indian dance. Used in narrative and poetic dance sequences, Mudras uniquely tell the story in a literal way making the words of the song almost inconsequential for those educated in Indian classical dance. Mudra is also contemporary, as simple and complex hand gestures are used by people as a tool for communication on a daily basis. Mudra includes Nataraj dancers, guest musicians, dancers and theater and video artists as in this production.

Telling Their Stories:
Ranjanaa Devi was recently awarded the Massachusetts Cultural Council Traditional Arts Finalist ‘08 award. Her company Nataraj Dancers performed at the Jacob’s Pillow Community Day on July 20, 2008 followed by a workshop. Nataraj Dancers explored the day’s theme - Telling Their Stories – by retelling classic stories of Hindu Gods and Goddesses from the temple prayers through Devi’s blend of traditional and contemporary choreography.

Southeast Asian Water Festival:
On August 16, 2008 Nataraj Dancers joined the Somapa Thai Dance Company and Angkor Dance Troupe to jointly perform the Hindu epic Ramayana for Lowell’s outdoors Southeast Asian Water Festival.

(Images 1-3) Ranjanaa, The Nataraj Dancers, Justine lemos and Jessica Marglin perform at Hosei University,Tokyo,Japan... (Image 4) Michelle Marroquin as Goddess Kali, Festival of Lights performance, Hampshire College... (Image 5) Nataraj Dancers in Concert... (Image 6) In Praise of Tara, Bowker Auditorium, University of Massachusetts, Amherst.