Dance as a 2nd Language:™ The 
Hindu-Buddhist Diaspora
Odissi Dance Workshop with Asako Takami

3:30-5:20pm Saturday September 20
The Old Town School of Folk Music
4544 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago

The Old Town School of Folk Music, in 
collaboration with The Kalapriya Foundation, is 
pleased to present the first in a series of five 
dance workshops exploring the "classical" court 
and temple dance traditions of the 
Hindu-Buddhist diaspora. Workshops in the 
series will introduce dance forms from India, 
Thailand, and Indonesia.

Register early; space is limited.

OPENING EVENT!: Odissi Dance Workshop 
with international performing and teaching artist 
Asako Takami
3:30-5:20pm Saturday, September 20
4544 N. Lincoln Ave.

The focus of the first workshop in our series of 
Asian classical and temple dance styles is 
Odissi — one of the main forms of Indian 
classical dance, reputed to be the most lyrical; 
emphasizing liquidity of movement and graceful 
expression. Rooted in the religion and customs 
of the eastern Indian state of Orissa, Odissi 
dance forms date back to the second century 
BCE.

Asako Takami was born in Niigata, Japan, and 
first saw an Indian dance performance while 
studying Japanese traditional design at the 
College of Fine Arts in Tokyo. It captured her 
heart — Takami then trained with Smt. Kumkum 
Lal and Padma Bibhusan Guru Kelucharan 
Mohapatra. In addition she has studied Packwaj 
(the drum accompanied with Odissi dance) with 
Guru Trinath Maharana in Delhi and Sanscrit 
with Dr. Masayuki Ohnishi.  Takami has also 
studied Kathakali and Manipuri dance forms 
with Smt. Kang Mina.  Takami has taught and 
performed extensively throughout the United 
States and Japan. Takami was nominated  by 
the Isadora Duncan Awards Committee as a 
finalist for the best performance in 2000. 
Currently she teaches Odissi dance in the San 
Francisco Bay Area.

Dance as a Second Language™ is a new 
umbrella for dance workshops at the Old Town 
School created to introduce beginning to 
intermediate and ethnic-dance-interested 
students to dance forms and traditions they 
might not be exposed to elsewhere, with 
Chicago-based and visiting professional artists 
who are masters in these specific forms. Each 
series of workshops, beginning with the 
Hindu-Buddhist Diaspora (in collaboration with 
The Kalapriya Foundation), will be centered 
around a geographic, ethnic, or artistic area and 
is a format to present and teach dance forms 
that are not regularly offered at the School. 
Students will learn about the form and actually 
dance — this is no lecture series! The 
knowledge and technique students take away 
from these exceptional workshops will inform 
and enhance whatever dance form they currently 
practice.

The first series of workshops: The 
Hindu-Buddhist Diaspora focuses on classical 
dances from the temple and court traditions of 
India, Indonesia, and Thailand. This series is 
presented  in cooperation with the Kalapriya 
Foundation, www.kalapriya.org.

* Series start concides with World Music 
Festival: Chicago 2003.* 

For details and registration: 773-728-6000. $18 
general public, $16 for members. Space is 
limited!