By SHARI KAPLAN
The Shri Krupa Dance Foundation, the Bay Area Baha'i Youth Dance Workshop and Baha'i Choir--whose members hail from throughout the Bay Area--will perform an evening of song, dance and music Sept. 8 at the Montgomery Theater in downtown San Jose.
"The Infinite and the Immortal" is the title of a classical Indian ballet in the traditional Bharatanatyam style, which the Shri Krupa dancers will perform to open the evening.
Also on the program is the Baha'i Choir, produced by Hugh Rowley of Sunnyvale. Rowley is an elected member of the Spiritual Assembly of Sunnyvale, the governing institution of the Baha'is of this community. He and the 28-member choir will sing themes composed by the Pandit Ravi Shankar, including "Hearken to the Delightsome Words" and "O My Servant," both taken from the Persian Hidden Words book by Baha'U'llah, the prophet of the Baha'i faith. Shankar wrote the latter for the dedication of the Lotus, a Baha'i house of worship in New Delhi, India.
According to Firooz Mohtadi, the ballet portrays young shishyas (students) who have gone to study with the Guru in search of purification and realization of everlasting truth.
Afterwards, the Baha'i dance group will perform the "Step Dance," which uses rhythm and movement to portray unit and to remember the lives and sufferings of various martyrs to humanity, including Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr.
Shamim Samadi, a Los Gatos resident and Leigh High School student, has been dancing with the Baha'i dance group since its inception nearly two years ago. He says he first got interested when the Los Angeles branch of the Baha'i Dance Workshop performed locally.
"I was so inspired by the unity and spirit they had that it really attracted me. I like to be up on stage, and I like sharing with the audience the teachings of Baha'U'llah," Samadi says.
With advisement from L.A. workshop member Quddus Sinclair, Samadi helped form the Bay Area workshop.
"To the adults, the Baha'i youth today are an inspiration. There is always positive energy and love for humanity," Mohtadi says of Samadi and the other dancers and choir members.
The Shri Krupa dancers will resume the stage for the finale, an abstract dance called the Thillana, composed by Shri Krupa president and musical director Ashook Subramaniam. The dancers are coached by Artistic Director Vishal Ramani; she was instrumental in starting the Shri Krupa Dance Foundation more than 15 years ago, with assistance from Mohtadi.
The relationship between the two dance groups, Mohtadi says, is filled with "the utmost joy, appreciation and welcoming," which is in keeping with the themes of oneness, life and positiveness.
"In the whole thing, there's a concept of unity that starts right at the rehearsal," Mohtadi says. The rehearsals take place at De Anza College and at the homes of members, who live in cities including San Jose, Sunnyvale, Cupertino, Saratoga, Los Gatos, Santa Cruz and Fremont.
"The Infinite and the Immortal" is the last of the San Jose Performing Arts Summer Series and takes place at 2 p.m. Sept. 8 at the Montgomery Theater, San Jose. Tickets range from $10-$15. For more information, call Firooz Mohtadi at 282-9033.
This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, August 28, 1996.
©1996 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.