Pentacle

Dakshina/Daniel Phoenix Singh Dance Company is one of the leading dance companies based in DC, performing the company’s trade mark program which includes Bharata Natyam, Modern dance and a syncretic fusion of the two forms. Artistic Director Singh has updated the classical dance form of Bharata Natyam with modern choreography and political purpose, and has initiated a multi-year, multi-project partnership with the Sokolow Dance Foundation. Dakshina has worked with Lorry May of the Sokolow Foundation to revive many of the modern dance icon’s signature works. The company has received four NEA awards in its 7 year history, an unparalleled achievement and validation of their artistic excellence.

The vision of Dakshina/Daniel Phoenix Singh Dance Company is to explore and present dance in its complexity and multiplicity, celebrating tradition while constantly creating new vocabularies in movement and dance, evolving to newer and higher standards.

Daniel Phoenix Singh is the Artistic Director and President of Dakshina/Daniel Phoenix Singh Dance Company. Singh holds an MFA in Dance and a Graduate Certificate in Women’s Studies from the University of Maryland. He also holds a Laban Movement Analyst Certificate from the Laban/Bartenieff Institute of Movement Studies in New York City. Singh trained in Bharata Natyam with Guru Meena Telikicherla of Nrityanjali, MD for several years.

Singh’s most recent explorations in dance include Cuban/Colombian variations of Salsa and Merengue with Javier Varela and Shawn Malone. He is currently on the faculty at Maryland Youth Ballet. He is also a member of the Board of the Maryland Youth Ballet. Singh is active in KhushDC, a Washington DC organization serving the South Asian LGBT community and its friends. His works have been the critic’s pick in Washington City Paper and The Washington Post, and Voice of America profiled his dance company in the fall of 2005. His piece, Songs of My Life, was a finalist in the Metro DC Dance Awards, and Singh was a finalist for the Mayor’s Emerging Artist award in 2006 and 2007. He was nominated for the Creative Communities Artist Fellowship in 2007. The company received the Founder’s Award for Innovation in Dance in 2007 and received the Emerging Group and Excellence in Costume Design in 2008 from the Metro DC Dance Awards. In 2009, Dakshina received a prestigious touring grant and performed Anna Sokolow’s work in India and also was the first US based dance company to visit Bangladesh since the country’s founding 40 years ago. In 2010, Singh became one of the youngest finalists for the DC Mayor’s Arts Awards in the Innovation in the Arts category. Dakshina is one of two US based dance companies that was invited to perform in the Kennedy Center Festival, Maximum India, in March of 2011.

R E P E R T O R Y

Modern Dance

Works by Anna Sokolow:

Dreams (The pivotal piece choreographed in 1961 as her outraged commentary on the Holocaust).

Rooms (Sokolow’s signature dance about urban isolation and loneliness, choreographed in 1955).

Frida (Sokolow’s powerful telling of her friend Frida Kahlo’s life with projections of the artist’s paintings in the background. One of the last dances Sokolow choreographed.)

September Sonnet (Known as the conscience of the Modern Dance Choreographers, Sokolow tellingly chose a love duet for the last dance she ever choreographed.)

As I remember (A suite of three solos from Sokolow’s earliest works: 1) Lament for the Death of a Bull Fighter, 2) Ballad, 3) Kaddish. In Kaddish, Sokolow wore the Jewish tefillin, as she mourned the loss of lives in the holocaust).

Works by Daniel Phoenix Singh:

Ghosts in our Bedroom (A dance exploring how past loves influence our current relationships).

Lullaby (A poignant duet set to Puccini’s famous aria O mio babbino caro).

Since You’ve Asked (A stirring duet that uses both Leonard Cohen’s reading of the poem and Jacques Brel’s Ne me quitte pas).

Songs of My Life (An evening length modern dance cabaret choreographed in the round and staged in a club, with several participatory sections where the audience members can get up and dance.)

Bharata Natyam

Anjali (A vivacious opening dance seeking the blessings of the gods and audience members as the dancers take the stage).

Karna (A narrative dance exploring the myth of Karna, born of the Sun god and Kunti, Karna is considered the prime example of following one’s “dharma” or duty)

Padam (Various narrative dances that use the poetry and literature in Indian mythology to portray the lover’s longing as he or she waits for their nightly tryst).

Tillana (A fast paced abstract dance that explores rhythm, space, gestures and statuesque poses strung together for a mesmerizing visual effect)

Ananyam (A narrative dance that advocates for peace, and care and concern for ones fellow beings even in the midst of all of our busy comings and goings.)

Fusion Works

Bell Song (The company’s signature fusion work that explores the concepts of an Bharata Natyam concepts of Anjali, Padam and Tillana in a modern dance framework of space and group choreography. By Daniel Phoenix Singh).

Lila (Singh’s retelling of Krishna’s story through the eyes of his birth mother Devaki. A vibrant fusion work that was critically acclaimed on our tour of India and Bangladesh).

Vasanth (Singh presented this work at the Kennedy Center’s Maximum India Festival in 2011, the dance explores the significance of Holi — The Festival of Colors, from both the North and South Indian perspectives).

W O R K S H O P S

The company teaches workshops in Bharata Natyam, the use of gestures in dance, the use of rhythm in dance, and has workshops that stage the company’s repertoire on dancers. Workshops are available for young K-12 audiences all the way to senior citizens. We’re also particularly interested in working with Universities across the Women’s Studies, Asian Studies, Jewish Studies, Latino Studies and Dance/Theatre programs on campuses. Advanced workshops with leading guest artists from India and the US are offered each year in Washington DC.

C A L E N D A R




Jan 9, 2011		Pentacle’s Gallery Showcase plus Guests Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis High School 120 West 46th St (just west of 6th Ave) 6:30 – 10:30 pm Dakshina/Daniel Phoenix Singh: 7:00 pm

Mar 9, 2011		Maximum India Festival Kennedy Center, Washington, DC

Apr 2-3 2011		Dakshina season – Modern and Fusion Dance Place, Washington, DC

Apr 6-10 2011		Asian Arts Alliance Painted Bride Philadelphia, PA

Apr 14-17 2011		Theater project – Bharata Natyam, Modern and Fusion Baltimore, MD

July 8-9 2011		Dakshina season GALA Hispanic Theatre Washington, DC

OCT 7-8 2011		Shared Performance Evenings Lincoln Theatre Washington, DC

DEC 8-10 2011		Dakshina in Concert Artisphere, VA

JAN 8, 2012		Pentacle’s Gallery Showcase The Theater at Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis High School 120 West 46th St (bet 6th and 7th Aves) 7:00 – 10:00 pm Dakshina/Daniel Phoenix Singh Dance Company: 8:00 pm

MAR 23-24, 2012		Ailey Citigroup Theater New York, NY

MAR 29-31, 2012		Baltimore Theatre Project Baltimore, MD http://www.theatreproject.org/

APR 28-29, 2012		Dakshina Season Modern & Fusion Dance Place Washington, DC http://www.danceplace.org/

MAY 5-6, 2012		GALA Theatre Washington, DC

MAY 19, 2012		BlackRock Center for the Arts Germantown, MD http://blackrockcenter.org/

SEP 2012		Dakshina in Concert U. Maryland, Baltimore Campus


PHOTOS Background: Isaac Oboka Insets from top left: Stephen Baranovics