Sampradaya Dance Creations, renowned for its innovative dance productions under the artistic direction of Lata Pada, originally created the spectacular dance-theatre production TAJ, written by the Governor General Award-winning playwright John Murrell, as a commission for Toronto's 2011 Luminato Festival.
Sampradaya Dance Creations and Lata Pada are now pleased to announce that, after four sold-out nights at the 2011 Luminato Festival, TAJ is heading out on a 8 city tour of Canada in October and November 2013, again featuring the renowned Bollywood film, television and theatre star Kabir Bedi (Octopussy, Sandokan, The Bold and the Beautiful, Taj Mahal: An Eternal Love Story) and the acclaimed Canadian actress Lisa Ray (Food Network Canada's Top Chef Canada host,Water, Bollywood/Hollywood, Cooking With Stella), supported by an international creative team of award-winning artists.
The original creative team returns including director Tom Diamond, projection designer Jacques Collin, set and lighting designer Phillip Silver and costume designer Rashmi Varma to deliver this stunning and evocative work that chronicles the human drama behind the magnificent architectural wonder that is the Taj Mahal.
The tour is as follows:
October 19 Mississauga, ON Living Arts Centre Hammerson Hall
November 3 Sudbury, ON Sudbury Secondary School
November 6 Sherwood Park, AB (near Edmonton, AB) Festival Place, Festival Place Theatre
November 9 Banff, AB The Banff Centre Eric Harvie Theatre
Imprisoned by his son, former emperor Shah Jahan (Bedi) gazes upon the Taj - his wife Mumtaz's final resting place and whose memory inspired the construction of this spectacular edifice - and engages in an impassioned dialogue with his devoted daughter Jahanara (Ray), taking the audience on an emotional journey that explores the emperor's life, the 17th century Mughal Empire and the universal themes of ambition, revenge, rivalry and love in this story about human tragedies and human triumphs.
The TAJ tour is supported by: Operating Funders - Canada Council for the Arts, Ontario Arts Council, City of Mississauga Culture Division. Corporate Sponsors - Scotiabank, Qatar Airways.
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