Manganiyar musicians to spellbind Auckland Arts Festival

Tickets are on sale for one of the biggest acts from India to ever visit New Zealand - a headline event at the 2011 Auckland Arts Festival.

The Manganiyar Seduction, an incredible concert of music from the deserts of northern India, comes to Auckland after acclaimed, sell-out performances around the world – including New York, London, Sydney, Dublin, Paris and Barcelona.

Performed in the Civic Theatre on March 10th,11th and 12th, The Manganiyar Seduction features 43 musicians from the Rajasthan, seated in a ‘magic box’ of 36 red-curtained cubicles, arranged in four horizontal rows – a set inspired by the Hawa Mahal, the ‘Palace of the Winds’ in Jaipur.

The concert begins when a single cubicle lights up and the first singer begins his song. Soon another cubicle lights up and then another thus creating a dramatic and astounding build-up of musical instruments and voice, which has been described as having an effect “like that of a gospel Mass or a slow-building rave: a joyous, communal experience of the seductive power of music” (Irish Independent).

Auckland Arts Festival Artistic Director, David Malacari, describes The Manganiyar Seduction as “one of the hottest tickets on the world circuit.”

“From the moment I learned of Roysten’s epic productions, The Manganiyar Seduction and 100 Snake Charmers, I was determined to bring one of them to Auckland, and I am thrilled to have secured The Manganiyar Seduction,” he says.

“This is a very special show. A wonderful way for new audiences to be introduced to great Indian music, and a chance for New Zealand’s Indian community to experience great art from their homeland.

“The Manganiyar Seduction is already promising to be one of the most popular shows in next year’s Festival.”

The Manganiyar Seduction was first created in Delhi 2006, a collaboration between director, Roysten Abel, and the musicians of the Manganiyar caste. Abel bought a contemporary twist to the traditional form, creating a production hailed by Sydney’s Daily Telegraph as “a theatrical spectacle which easily projects the images of India into the mind ... a musical feast.”

Producer and director Roysten Abel was born in Kerala in southern India. He graduated from the National School of Drama in 1994 before doing an apprenticeship with the Royal Shakespeare Company in the same year. On his return home he founded the Indian Shakespeare Company. Abel has recently finished directing his latest production at the historic Red Fort in New Delhi, featuring 2000 folk artists, and is in the process of setting up an international centre for contemporary and traditional performance, due to open in 2012. Roysten is also currently working on The Manganiyar War, interpreting the Mahabharata through music.

Also performing in the 2011 Auckland Arts Festival is Varanasi musician Rajendra Prasanna, one of the great players of shehnai and flute. Prasanna, a colleague of Pt. Ravi Shankar, will be accompanied by three musicans, including one of his sons, in a one-off concert, Spirit of India, on March 15th at the Concert Chamber in the Auckland Town Hall.

The Manganiyar Seduction will be performed at the Civic Theatre, March 10-12, at 7.30pm. Tickets from 37.50-77.50. Spirit of India will be performed at the Auckland Town Hall Concert Chamber, March 15 at 7pm. Tickets from 42.50-57.50. For further information and ticketing details, please visit the Auckland Arts Festival website, www.aucklandfestival.co.nz, or ticketing agent, www.buytickets.co.nz, 09 357 3355 or 0800 289 842.

For further details about the artists or performances, please contact Emma Willis, Assistant Publicist, Auckland Arts Festival, emma.willis@aucklandfestival.co.nz 09 374 0331