Oct 24, 2011
Third Eye Dancers and Bharathakala Natya Academy in partnership with Sewa International and The Art of Living Foundation organized a Press briefing on its forthcoming presentation of ‘Enchanted Snow White’, a Fundraiser for ‘Bhutanese Refugees Children’s Education, at Heritage Center in the Global Mall, Norcross, Georgia, on Saturday, September 24.
The Meeting was attended by the media representatives, Bhutanese students and their parents, and representatives of Sewa International and The Art of Living Foundation.
The President of Third Eye Dancers, Sudarshan Srinivasan welcomed all and gave a brief introduction about Third Eye Dancers. “Third Eye Dancers is a Georgia not for profit organization with the goal of increasing awareness about social issues affecting children, including education, environmental, abuse and those related to health. The organization strongly believes that communicating social issues through dance not only enhances reception but also entices children and young adults to get involved in the remediation of such pressing issues. Third Eye Dancers has contributed to various causes over the years including Rising Star Outreach (children affected by Leprosy), Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, Akshaya Trust (CNN Hero Narayanan Krishnan) and Tamilnadu Kidney Research Foundation. Last year we also felicitated CNN Hero Narayanan Krishnan and helped him with a fund-raiser for Akshaya Trust. Our next fundraiser is for a very deserving and humanitarian cause of helping Atlanta’s Bhutanese Refugees Children’s education. Atlanta is home to over 4,000 refugees who sadly get very little financial help and support from the government and resettlement agencies. They need lot of support from our community to be self-sufficient and to integrate with the main stream society.”
After a short video clip of the Bhutanese people living in harsh conditions in Bhutan and Nepal,Sudarshan invited Ralph Parker, Narayan Katel,Rakesh Pathak and Swadesh Katoch,(Sewa International) to inform the gathering about the need for helping the Bhutanese refugees and what has been done so far in that direction. The gist of their comments was that these refugees have come to Atlanta in 2008. Having spent 18 years in camps they face a daunting task in settling down in a new environment. They feel disoriented,estranged and apprehensive .They have no credit, no health insurance, nil or very poor knowledge of English, no work knowhow or experience, among other pressing needs. Sewa International, The Art of Living Foundation, the Hindu Temple of Atlanta, HSS; and other Atlanta Associations have been lifelines for them. These Organizations have helped them with finding accommodation, paying rent, admissions in schools and colleges, job-training and jobs, health-fairs, basic necessities in homes, Yoga classes, Trauma Relief programs, etc. But more is needed to help them become good citizens. The students need help with SAT Classes, Science projects, culture appreciation programs, etc. A few students have already excelled in their studies and even won prizes and college scholarships.
Atlanta’s well known and respected Gastro-enterologist and GAPI Executive Committee member Dr.Indran Indrakrishnan reminded the audience specifically Bhutanese families to avail themselves of GAPI free clinic in Global mall which is available for financially deprived people. He also mentioned that it was laudable that GAPI had helped Bhutanese students with backpacks and school supplies.
Another video clip showed Bharathakala Natya Academy’s artistic Director Subathra Sudarshan with Bhutanese students sharing their stories in settling down in Atlanta schools and their aspirations and career goals in life.
A few senior students of Bharathakala Natya Academy including Sandhya Iyer, Harini Indrakrishnan, Shridha Abayanathan and Rakshni Kokilakumar lent their words of encouragement and support to the Bhutanese students. Atlanta community is strongly exhorted to watch ‘Enchanted Snow White’ and also donate generously through www.thirdeyedancers.org and also sponsor the Snow White event (Information available at www.thirdeyedancers.org and volunteer with SEWA/The Art of Living Foundation and provide assistance to Bhutanese kids/families.
Enchanted Snow White - Fundraiser for ‘Bhutanese Refugees Children’s Education’
Third Eye Dancers proudly present Bharathakala Natya Academy’s 'Enchanted Snow White' a thematic Natya presentation choreographed by Smt. Subathra Sudarshan at the Gwinnett Performing Arts Center on Saturday October 29th 2011. This event will be a charity fundraiser for ‘Bhutanese Refugees Children’s Education’ in Atlanta.
Enchanted Snow White – A thematic Bharatanatyam presentation
Concept and Choreography: Smt. Subathra Sudarshan
Performers: Students of Bharathakala Natya Academy, Smt. Subathra Sudarshan,
Length of the program: 80 minutes
Concept and Brief Story line: Conceptualized by Smt. Subathra Sudarshan, this is a Snow White story with a twist. In the traditional Snow White story the question was, “Who is the fairest? “, In this story, the question is “Who is the most beautiful?” The mirror answers, “Queen, no doubt you are beautiful, but the most beautiful person is Snow White as she has all the virtues that makes her a good human being. She has the virtues of Giving, Courage, Humility, Truth, Non-violence, Peace and Love and that makes her the most beautiful person”. The concept is: physical beauty alone is not that makes one beautiful.
In order to become the most beautiful person, the evil queen asks Snow White to give away all of her virtues to self (evil queen). Since Snow white is a generous person and is a giver, she gives away all her virtues to the evil queen. Then she travels to different virtue lands (courage, humility, truth, non-violence, peace and Love) to regain her virtues.
The underlying morals of the dance drama is: “No matter what your race (or color) is or how you look physically, to be truly beautiful you need to have noble virtues.
For Tickets/Donations: www.thirdeyedancers.org
By Mahadev Desai
