What's Up - Your guide to what's happening in Fayetteville, AR this week!
Issue link: http://www.epageflip.net/i/1495137
38 What's up! March 19-25, 2023 growing. And I was seeing more and more Indian American children in schools here in Bentonville." After hearing about a children's theater company in Portland, Ore., that partnered with a local Indian dance company, Misiewicz reached out to them to learn more. They suggested "The Jungle Book." "We settled on 'Jungle Book' as our first of many collaborations that we're going to be doing because we knew that it would be a title that would bring audiences in who may not know anything about theater or classical Indian dance [together], and we wanted to make it a real easy, welcoming title for folks to be able to come in and see the production." Venkatasubramanya saw the collaboration as a chance to educate through exposure. "The first step in education is exposure," says Venkatasubramanya. "Nothing can be learned theoretically all the time. We have to experience things, we have to see things, we have to hear things. So I think this collaboration between Trike, Dhirana and Ra-Ve brings together very good exposure for a lot of people here in this area." She adds that she thinks the production will help people see that "Indian music and dance is not something that is outside of their point of reference." "The rehearsals have been so inspiring and creative. We have multiple leaders of this rehearsal process," says Misiewicz. In addition to dance instruction led by Rao, "we have a fight choreographer who is also taking the lead. And then we also have a co-director with me, NaTosha DeVon, who has been also weighing in on the scene work and things like that. So it's been incredibly collaborative, not top-down at all. Even the kids are offering suggestions of what we could do and how we can improve the storytelling." While the cast is mostly young actors, there are a few adults who will join them on stage. "We also have local students that were interested in dance and theater that got selected through the audition process. And so it's not just our organizations, it's [people from all over] Northwest Arkansas taking part in it," Rao adds. "We have one who's a full-time staff member at Trike Theatre, but the other three are local, two of whom are professional actors. Seetha [Karuppiah], who is playing Shere Jungle Book Continued From Page 4 Fyi 'Jungle Book' Cast "The Jungle Book" cast includes Adhana Rajku- mar, Dancer; Adin Jacob George as Veer; Aksharaa Luxman, Dancer; A'Mya Hayes as Kal; Anna Joieas Bagheera; Anjali Nambiar as Mowgli; Audrey Romero as Kelia; Avery Valdez as Vik; Darshika Kathir- velu, Dancer; Dharshine Ponnuswamy Rajadurai, Dancer and Kaa; Jonah Clupny as Baloo; Jordan Bailey as Kiara; MaKenna Davis as Kash; NaTo- sha DeVon as Akela; Sakshi Jayaprakaash, Dancer; Seetha Karup- piah as Shere Khan; and Sinchana Nataraj, Dancer and Val. FAyeTTeViLLe "The Jungle Book," presented by trike theatre, ra-Ve cultural Foundation and Dhirana Dance, will be on stage at 4 p.m. March 25 at Baum Walker hall at Walton arts center. tickets are $15. (courtesy photos) Khan, showed up at auditions. She was a professional actress in India and is here working with her family. This is her first show in Northwest Arkansas," Misiewicz adds. Also joining the adult cast are assistant director DeVon as Akela, Audrey Romero as Kelia and Anna Joie as Bagheera. Anjali Nambiar, a seventh grade actor with Trike Theatre, plays Mowgli. "I honestly feel every child in the community and every adult in the community need to watch because it's an overwhelming feeling," Rao says. "It's a joyful play, and it connects everybody's emotions together." "We hope that this production inspires our community to create more opportunities for cultural exchange and creative partnerships," Misiewicz says. "T he strength of the jungle is us, and the strength of us is the jungle."