Gods, hermits, hunters, enchanted forests, and star-crossed lovers - it could only be opera (or Tolkien!) And unlike in European versions, it all ends well because the Buddhist ethos of this entertainment defeats evil and rewards the steadfast.
Tibet has kept the colourful, fascinating art form of Lhamo very much to itself over the last few hundred years, enjoying it in the summer months in the public parks in Lhasa or in the compounds of the monasteries. The brilliant costumes of the ache Lhamo ('sister goddesses'), who gave their name to the genre, are joined on stage by groups of hunters (ngonpo, with huge dark masks and white beards) and other sundry characters: deities, priests, story-tellers, high-born ladies and gentlemen, and some more rustic characters. The latter are there to make fun of everyone, satirising the entire society, and criticising social matters which are on everyone's minds: taxation used to be a firm favourite! Lhamo stories are well known by the audience, so there is a good deal of interaction, with shouts of warning for the goodies and boo for the bad guys. The songs are sung to a sparse accompaniment of cymbals and drums, and these instruments also give the tempo to all the action and miming.
A rich combination of stories told with music, mime, acrobatics and glorious costumes, and unlike anything else you have experienced before!

"Les Dangereuses" | Proposed dates: 19 - 31 May 2004

A project developed jointly with Bath Festival Trust & a world premiere tour
Proposed tour dates:

In India the tradition of "thumri" had its origins in the expression of love for the deity KRISHNA when it was linked with mime of KATHAK dancers and storytellers. This developed into a form of expression of love between human beings but with spiritual undertones. This style reached its height in the royal courts and the "music rooms "of the wealthy landed gentry developing into a more popular form of entertainment. Mali had the Manding court tradition of praise historians or griots who sang topical lyrics about betrayal, conflict, and love. Jazz comes out of deeply emotional experiences of people displaced from their roots and has an intensity and ambience not too different from the other two styles in this unique collaboration; jazz has its intimate atmosphere of the club, songs of love, separation and story telling. All three styles are full of improvisation.

Three powerful females meet and interact to produce a ground breaking new direction in contemporary vocal music.

Shubha Mudgal who has classical training is bestowed with a powerful and resonant voice with - like Kandia Kouyate and Juliet Roberts - an equally powerful stage presence. A versatile singer, her involvement with Bollywood and experimental work with the likes of Nikki Yeoh has endeared her to the younger Asian audiences.
Juliet Roberts is one of the most powerful voices in contemporary British music and has the great ability to embellish the words of a song with her own character. Jazz is often said to be nearest to Indian music when it comes to improvisation and the intimacy of the performance.

Kandia Kouyate is one of Mali's most enigmatic singers whose album BIRIKO (Sterns) has been called one of the most important recordings of traditional African music in the new millennium. Her personality, power and music led to her being referred to as "la dangeureuse" - from which the title of this project came.

Instrumental accompaniment TBC but will include tabla, kora, keyboards.
A world class collaboration not to be missed!

SUPPORTED BY "VISITING ARTS"   and " ESMEE FAIRBAIRN FOUNDATION"

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