SENSATIONAL INDIA! FESTIVAL RETURNS TO PEM

SATURDAY, APRIL 2 – SUNDAY, APRIL 3

BOLLYWOOD DANCE PARTY WITH DJ REKHA

CROWNS CELEBRATION OF INDIAN ART & CULTURE

SALEM, MA–– Join us for an action-packed weekend of Indian music, dance, storytelling, art-making and more as PEM celebrates its 2011 Sensational India! festival on Saturday, April 2 and Sunday, April 3. This year’s star-studded festival features performances by New York’s acclaimed Sa Dance Company, sitar virtuoso Kartik Seshadri, and internationally-renowned DJ Rekha spinning a special Saturday night Bollywood dance party! All daytime activities are FREE with museum admission and program reservations may be made at pem.org/calendar or by calling 978-745-9500 x3011. Sensational India! is made possible in part by Samir and Nilima Desai; The Desai Family Foundation.

SATURDAY, APRIL 2

10 am - noon | Food and Memory Art Activity

Krina Patel, founder of a community food and art project called Stir a Memory, leads this drop-in art activity.

10 am - 3 pm | Rangoli Demonstration and Community Art Project

Gowri Savoor creates a rangoli, or traditional decorative design, on the floor of the Atrium. Help fill it in.

10:30 am - 1 pm | Paisley Patterns Drop-in Art Activity

Explore paisley patterns and their origins, then design your own.

Noon - 12:45 pm| Garba and Dandiya Folk Dance Performance and Workshop

The Sa Dance Company incorporates Indian and contemporary dance movements and music from Bollywood and America. After the performance, join the dancers in an interactive Garba workshop.

1 - 1:30 pm | Interactive Gallery Tour: The Salem-India Story

Author Vanita Shashtri leads a tour focusing on works of art that are featured in her book The Salem-India Story: Maritime Trade between Salem, Massachusetts, and India, 1788–1845. For ages 10 and up.

1 - 2 pm | Indian Classical Music Demonstration

Sitar virtuoso Kartik Seshadri talks about the history, theory, performance and practice of Indian classical music. He demonstrates instruments and welcomes questions.For adults and teens.

1:30 - 3:30 pm | Indian Peacock Drop-in Art Activity

Create you own work of art referencing a real peacock, the national bird of India.

2 - 2:30 pm | Story Time: Mama’s Saris

A mother and daughter talk about each of the mother’s saris won for special occasions, including the little girl’s seventh birthday party, in Mama’s Saris by Pooja Makhijani.

2 - 2:45 pm |Spice Blends Workshop

Krina Patel talks about dry spice blends used in the cuisine of Bengal and Gujurat. Create your own blend to take home.

3 - 4 pm | Sitar Concert with Kartik Seshadri

Kartik Seshadriis a world-renowned force as a composer, educator and performer in the field of Indian classical music. The sitar prodigy blossomed into an “amazingly accomplished” musical powerhouse, praised the Washington Post.

4:15 - 5 pm| Dance Performance with the Sa Dance Company

Sa Dance Company performs its five-part signature piece, combining traditional Indian folk, classical, and Bollywood-inspired dance forms with ballet, jazz and contemporary styles.

8:30 pm - midnight | Bollywood Dance Party | 21+ | $10

New York’s hottest Indian dance group transforms the Atrium into a nightclub with the latest in Indian dance fusion. Critically acclaimed DJ Rekha spins ‘Basement Bhangra’, merging traditional Bhangra music of South Asia with Hip-Hop beats of today. Bollywood movies, lounge areas and a cash bar set the stage so you can join the party on the dance floor. Advance tickets available at pem.org/bollywood

SUNDAY, APRIL 3

10 am - noon | Food and Memory Art Activity

10 am - 3 pm | Rangoli Demonstration and Community Art Project

10:30 am - 1 pm | Paisley Patterns Drop-in Art Activity

11:30 am - noon | Interactive Gallery Tour: The Salem-India Story

Noon - 12:45 pm| Garba and Dandiya Folk Dance Performance and Workshop

1 - 2 pm | Sitar Concert with Kartik Seshadri

2 - 2:30 pm | Story Time: Mama’s Saris

2 - 4 pm | Indian Peacock Drop-in Art Activity

2:30 - 3:15 pm|Spice Blends Workshop

2:30 - 4 pm | Author Presentation: Bharati Mukherjee

Bharati Mukherjee, a distinguished and prolific author and social commentator, has established herself as a powerful constituent of the American literary scene. Mukherjee considers herself a writer of the Indian diaspora who cherishes the “melting pot” of America. Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction and recipient of a National Endowment of the Arts grant. Her twelfth novel, Miss New India, is due in May. Made possible by the George Swinnerton Parker Memorial Lecture Fund.

4:15 - 5 pm| Dance Performance with the Sa Dance Company

ABOUT THE PEABODY ESSEX MUSEUM

The Peabody Essex Museum presents art and culture from New England and around the world. The museum's collections are among the finest of their kind, showcasing an unrivaled spectrum of American art and architecture (including four National Historic Landmark buildings) and outstanding Asian, Asian Export, Native American, African, Oceanic, Maritime and Photography collections. In addition to its vast collections, the museum offers a vibrant schedule of changing exhibitions and a hands‐on education center. The museum campus features numerous parks, period gardens and 22 historic properties, including Yin Yu Tang, a 200‐year‐old house that is the only example of Chinese domestic architecture on display in the United States.

HOURS: Open Tuesday‐Sunday and holiday Mondays, 10 am‐5 pm. Closed Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day.

ADMISSION: Adults $15; seniors $13; students $11. Additional admission to Yin Yu Tang: $5. Members, youth 16 and under and residents of Salem enjoy free general admission and free admission to Yin Yu Tang.  

INFO: Call 866‐745‐1876 or visit our Web site at www.pem.org.

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