{"id":533,"date":"2014-08-20T17:39:22","date_gmt":"2014-08-20T21:39:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/silvergoldberry.com\/?p=533"},"modified":"2024-01-20T15:29:18","modified_gmt":"2024-01-20T19:29:18","slug":"dancing-the-immigrant-experience","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/silvergoldberry.com\/?p=533","title":{"rendered":"Dancing the Immigrant Experience"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>I previously posted about Ragas and Airs in anticipation of its premiere on July 26, 2014. It was such an inspiring performance that I need to share more about the event itself.<br \/>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/silvergoldberry\/14676989950\/in\/set-72157645881385539\/player\/\" width=\"320\" height=\"213\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen oallowfullscreen msallowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"http:\/\/www.irishmemorial.org\" title=\"Philadelphia Irish Memorial\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Philadelphia Irish Memorial<\/a> was created in 2003 at Front and Chestnut Streets. The centerpiece, An Gorta Mor (The Great Hunger) is a large sculpture by Glenna Goodacre. It features thirty five life size figures depicting the immigrant experience of the Irish who came to the United States about 150 years ago. It\u2019s a moving piece which engages the viewer in an emotional narrative of sadness and hope.<\/p>\n<p>Shaily Dadiala, the Artistic Director of <a href=\"http:\/\/usiloquydance.org\" title=\"Usiloquy Dance Designs\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Usiloquy Dance Designs<\/a>, is someone who understands this immigrant experience. As an immigrant herself, when Shaily first came upon Goodacre\u2019s sculpture, she identified so strongly with its message that she vowed to perform here one day. <\/p>\n<p>Since that time, Shaily has researched extensively about the cultural connections between the Irish and India. This research culminated in a performance that riveted audiences at two performances on July 26.<\/p>\n<p>As a Board member of Usiloquy, I don\u2019t get to as many performances as I would like and often I am occupied with tasks to help oversee an event and unable to witness the best parts of the dance. For me personally, I was thrilled to be able to not only participate in the oversight of this event, but to watch the performance in its entirety.<\/p>\n<p>The costumes were created by <a href=\"http:\/\/www.michelleyeager.net\" title=\"Costumes and Artwork by Michelle Yeager\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">artist Michelle Yeager<\/a>, who sometimes dances with Usiloquy. Each outfit blended the style of a traditional bharatanatyam costume, its pleats and skirting with a plaid Celtic influence.  I loved the costumes so much that I would love to have one for myself.<\/p>\n<p>You may think that it\u2019s natural that I would be thrilled since I am part of this organization, but others\u2019 opinions echoed my own impressions.<\/p>\n<p>Denise Foley of Irish Philadelphia wrote about the event.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cThe rhythms of the Celtic folk song harkened to the ancient beat of Indian music. Ragas, as it turns out, are a lot like airs.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Read her <a href=\"http:\/\/irishphiladelphia.com\/2014\/08\/ragas-meet-airs-at-the-irish-memorial\/\" title=\"Ragas Meets Airs at Irish Philadelphia\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">full post here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Additionally, Global Philadelphia wrote about the cultural impact of Usiloquy\u2019s work.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cRagas and Airs\u201d brings one of the oldest immigrant communities in the Americas to the modern generation. This work is a platform exploring the intersection of diverse genres and cultures.\u201d <\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Read the <a href=\"http:\/\/globalphiladelphia.org\/news\/usiloquy-dance-designs-presents-ragas-and-airs#.U-543VU7sSstwitter\" title=\"Global Philadelphia- Ragas &#038; Airs\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">full post here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>This was the premiere of Ragas and Airs, but it is still a work in progress. Shaily is continuing to add to the work, so stay turned for upcoming performances of Ragas and Airs.<br \/>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/silvergoldberry\/14861210554\/in\/set-72157645881385539\/player\/\" width=\"320\" height=\"213\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen oallowfullscreen msallowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I previously posted about Ragas and Airs in anticipation of its premiere on July 26, 2014. It was such an inspiring performance that I need to share more about the event itself. The Philadelphia Irish Memorial was created in 2003 at Front and Chestnut Streets. The centerpiece, An Gorta Mor (The Great Hunger) is a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":641,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[21,24,25,27,22,23,26,37],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/silvergoldberry.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/533"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/silvergoldberry.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/silvergoldberry.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/silvergoldberry.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/silvergoldberry.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=533"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"http:\/\/silvergoldberry.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/533\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":828,"href":"http:\/\/silvergoldberry.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/533\/revisions\/828"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/silvergoldberry.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/641"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/silvergoldberry.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=533"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/silvergoldberry.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=533"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/silvergoldberry.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=533"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}