WOMAD

Tanusree Shankar & Dreamcatcher

From India, United Kingdom

A rare chance to catch a collaboration between Tanusree Shankar and DreamcatcherTanusree Shankar:Tanusree Shankar and her troupe practice a modern dance style that blends the best of classical Indian dance with more contemporary international choreography and theatre. She learnt her art from Amala, wife of the late great Uday Shankar, a legend in 20th century Indian dance circles and pioneer of the creative outward looking approach which Tanusree now champions. Tanusree’s skills have adorned many festivals, conferences and cultural events including the Asian Games of 1982 and Cricket World Cup of 1996. She has been commissioned by the likes of Motorola and VISA Cards to create special choreography for product launches and she has given master classes at the prestigious Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance in America. This is a rare chance to witness the cutting edge of contemporary Asian dance.Dreamcatcher:Since its release in 1997, the Dreamcatcher album has steadily picked up influential admirers. Created by the Malvern-based composer David Lowe, the album includes contributions from Wasis Diop (from Senegal) and Miriam Stockley (from South Africa) in addition to its ingenious use of samples from many sources, notably Sheila Chandra. Early supporters included Andy Kershaw on BBC Radio 1 and Bob Harris on BBC Radio 2, and several television producers subsequently picked up various tracks for their title music. The single ‘In a Ocean of Joy’ was used in the TV commercial for New Covent Garden Soup. In September 1997, Dreamcatcher’s debut live appearance was in front of an audience of over 30,000 people who lined up on both sides of the Thames between Waterloo and Blackfriars bridges to watch the record-breaking High Wire Walk at the Thames Festival, with accompaniment by Dreamcatcher. For the past fifteen years, David Lowe has made his living from writing specially commissioned music for film and television, and in the first week of November1998 he achieved a lifetime ambition when ‘Would You…?’ by Touch and Go went to number 3 on the UK chart. David was both writer and producer of the record, which went onto success throughout Europe as audiences everywhere reacted to its cheeky lines: ‘I’ve noticed you around….I find you very attractive….would you…um…go to bed with me?’ While he completed the first Touch and Go album, I Find You Very Attractive (due for release on Oval later this year), David also found time to compose the music for revamped Six o’Clock and Nine o’Clock News on BBC-TV in the UK.Charlie Gillet, June 2000DreamcatcherOval/Mango CIDM 1118 distribution by Universal and Changing World