Art Hounds: Ragamala, Dan Israel, Shakespeare's songs

Ragamala dancers
Ragamala Dance members rehearse at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, May 12, 2014.
Jeffrey Thompson / MPR News file

This week on Art Hounds three dancers give solo performances, Shakespeare's songs get a choral treatment and Dan Israel plays some new material from his soon to be released 13th album.

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Three members of Ragamala Dance company are each performing their own solo concerts in the coming week, in a series called "Margam." Dancer and performer Megan Odell says that the classical Indian dance these women specialize in — Bharatanatyam — is athletic, theatrical and spiritual all at once. Ranee Ramaswamy and Aparna Ramaswamy choreographed each of the dances, with the particular styles of the three dancers in mind. Jessica Fiala performs Thursday, Nov. 6 and Tamara Nadel performs Friday, Nov. 7, both at The Lab Theater in Minneapolis. Ashwini Ramaswamy performs her solo concert on Wednesday, Nov. 12 at the Weitz Center on the campus of Carleton College.

Sarah Balk McGrill runs an art consulting firm and is a big fan of Dan Israel, who hails from her hometown of St. Louis Park. This Saturday Israel will be performing with his trio at Harriet Brewing, opening up for Tommy Bentz Band's CD release party. McGrill is looking forward to hearing Israel play some new songs that will be featured on his next album, due out in 2015.

Kathleen Peterson is both a playwright and the arts administrator for Winona State University. A self-described "Shakespeare geek," Peterson is looking forward to "The Food of Love: Shakespeare and His Songs." The concert is a collaboration between the Great River Shakespeare Festival and Rochester's Choral Arts Ensemble, and will feature performances of oft-overlooked songs Shakespeare wrote for his plays. The songs will be paired with scenes and sonnets performed by GRSF actors. The concerts take place on Saturday at Rochester Covenant Church and on Sunday at Central Lutheran Church in Winona.

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