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Lao Natasinh Troupe in Washington DC
It was an honor and a privilege to be able to coordinate the performances of the Iowa Lao Natasinh Dancers and Musicians, whose performances were sponsored by the Library of Congress, the Kennedy Center’s Millenium Stage, the Sackler Gallery’s ImaginAsia series, and the Meyer Auditorium at the Freer Gallery. The group performed at those national sites as well as for the Lao American Association in northern Virginia.
Besides the incredible hospitality and logistical miracles worked by our hosts (enabling the group to bring large musical instruments, four ceremonial swords, suitcases of traditional instruments, and more), several hundred Washingtonians braved record-setting temperatures to watch these wonderful artists play and perform a variety of pieces, including the masked drama of Hanuman, the monkey king; the traditional harvest dance; and the Rocket Festival, a Buddhist ceremony of thanks.
To see a video of the Kennedy Center performance from
Wednesday, July 26, 2006, click here.
The Lao Natasinh Dancers & Musicians came to Iowa in 1985, thanks to
Iowa’s Refugee Resettlement Program and a grant from the Folk Arts
Program of the National Endowment for the Arts, which enabled the group
to tour the region and the US. All of the 13 Master Artists of the group
studied at the Ecole National de Musique et Danse Laötien (the National
School of Fine Laotian Dance and Music), founded in the capital Vientiane
in 1956 to preserve hundreds of years of Lao music and dance traditions.
Also included in the Troupe are one student born in Laos and four American-born
students who have been studying for years with their Natasinh teachers.
The Natasinh style refers to the traditional forms, techniques, and character of the performing arts and includes court music for royal ceremonies, music and dance performed for social and ritual occasions, and, most important, the classical dance-drama based on the Buddhist Rammakian or the Hindu Ramayana, which recounts the life and struggles of Buddha.
Besides their recent performances in the nation’s capital, the Des
Moines Natasinh dancers and musicians appeared at the 2005 National Governors’
Conference in Des Moines as well as at regional folklife festivals throughout
the Midwest. Their main purpose, however, is to educate and entertain at
local Lao Buddhist religious celebrations and social events throughout central
Iowa and especially for the Lao New Year festivities in mid-April.
Contact information for the group:
Natasinh Dancers & Musicians
Khampheng Manirath
515-263-1654; cell/(515) 988-7734
khampheng.manirath@dmps.k12.ia.us
