GBSK: February 2011

2/26/11

PERFORMANCE + FUNDRAISER FOR BROOME STREET TEMPLE

Cover art for Soundwalk’s Death Must Die

Interior of Broome Street Temple

Places of tranquility — spaces where one can step off of the busy, chaotic streets and have a few moments of quiet, reflection or prayer — are few and far between in NYC. In South India, temples are called ‘Devasthanas’ or resting places for the Gods, and after Pattabhi Jois performed the installation of our temple’s Ganesha in 2001, he began referring to our school as a Ganapati Devasthana. This has been a lot to live up to, but for the past ten years, we have been trying to do just that.

We have now come to a point in time when we need to begin reaching out to a broader base of support — all of those who are in need for a temple in Manhattan — and to this end we have decided to hold our first fundraiser. Because we would like you all to come, there will be no admission charge for this event, which includes a one-night only turntable performance by award-winning, NYC-based sound artist, creator of the Soundwalk collective and fourteen-year student at AYNY Stephan Crasneanscki, and the debut of a short film that was made about the temple. Opportunities for making donations will be explained during the evening’s program.

Crasneanscki’s “Death Must Die” is set in Varanasi. It begins before sunrise and reproduces the cycle of a day in the sacred city of Shiva. Varanasi, known also as Benares or Kashi, is where Hindus gather by the river’s edge to watch the expressions of the lord Shiva’s wrath and grace. It is said that to die in Varanasi is to gain release from the sorrow of birth and death. Using sound as a metaphor to revisit the cycles of life and death, “Death Must Die” contrasts the extreme accumulation of the sound of bells ringing with the infernal trance of religious songs, the peculiar sound of bodies burning upon wood and the voice of a young nun coming from an ashram in the silence of the night. It’s the murmuring of the Ganges, and the power of silence. For this performance of his Varanasi India soundscape recordings, Crasneanscki will be joined by Dug Winningham and Kamran Sadeghi of Soundwalk.

Space for this event is limited to 100 people, so please RSVP promptly to nikki@ayny.org to reserve your place.

Audio clip + more info about the piece: click here

Tuesday 1 March 2011 7:30 PM

Broome Street Temple

430 Broome Street #2

New York NY 10013

Broome Street Temple’s website