THE TEAM - under construction
Eve A. Ma: Producer-Director, Narrator and Editor (all films)
Director’s Statement: I love music and rhythm, and have found they carry elements of the community’s values and history. In addition, each community’s music and rhythms has its own broader message.
I am also captivated by the talent and charisma of the several stars of these documentaries: Dr. Jasbir Singh Kang, MD; K.P. Rameshbabu as well as K.P. and Katherine Kunhiraman, the Aguilars (Lisa and Ray), Bouaphet Sygnavong…. Because of their untimely death, I dedicate this series to K.P. Kunhiraman (remembering his great talent) and to Bouaphet Signavong.
Director’s Bio: A filmmaker since 2004, like many other independent filmmakers, I am essentially self-taught. My work has screened in nine countries on four continents and aired over national television in the USA. I produce and direct in both English and Spanish, and in certain respects consider myself an international version of Les Blank. My passions are music, dance, art, and cross-cultural understanding; and I try to combine each of these elements in my work. My earlier careers (history professor, lawyer, and non-profit administrator) also have a significant effect on my filmmaking.
Dr. Jasbir Singh Kang, MD (The Many Facets of Sikh)
Dr. Jasbir Sing Kang, MD, in addition to being a practicing medical doctor affiliated with a hospital in Yuba City, California, is a co-creator of a museum exhibit about Sikhs – in his area and all of California. He is also the chief narrator of the history part of our documentary, The Many Facets of Sikh: from India to the United States (history and core beliefs).
Dr. Kang immigrated to the United States as a young man. He, like most Sikhs, identifies himself as being Punjabi; the Punjab is a region in northwest India, an area which saw the birth of Sikhi, his religion, and a state in India in which the majority of the population follows the Sikh religion.
A civic leader, in addition to his medical practice, work on the exhibit (housed in the Sutter County Museum in Yuba City), he also organized an annual Punjabi American Heritage Festival (also in Yuba City) which takes place in May.
K.P. Kunhiraman (Of Beauty & Deities)
K.P. Kunhiraman, recently deceased, was a very famous dancer of classical Indian kathakali as well as bharatanatyam. (You see him here dressed for a kathakali perfomance.)
He taught at the famous Kalakshetra Institute for many years. He and his wife Katherine met when she was a student in his bharatanatyam class – and the rest, as they say, is history.
K.P. Kunhiraman was not originally planning a career purely as a dancer. He tells a story of wanting more schooling, perhaps university, but the founder of the Kalakshetra Institute was adamant that he come and study and teach at her institute, and in the end, she prevailed.
As a result,in addition to his performances all over the world, he ended up teaching hundreds of aspiring youth both in India and in the USA, in California, at the Kalanjali academy he ran with his wife, Katherine (see below). The world is the richer for it.
Katherine Kunhiraman (Of Beauty & Deities; Measure of an Art)
Katherine Kunhiraman, born in the United States, moved to India with her family when she was a teenager. There, she fell in love with bharatanatyam, and somewhat to her family’s dismay, studied it for many years eventually becoming a professional dancer.
She also fell in love with her principal dance teacher, K.P. Kunhiraman, a famous master of kathakali as well as bharatanatyam. They got married, had a child, and moved permanently to the United States where they opened an academy of bharatanatyam in California.
K.P. Kunhiraman passed away several years ago but Katherine has continued running the academy. It has been in existence for over 50 years now, and she (along, earlier, with K.P.) have taught hundreds of students.
In addition to teaching. and presenting an end-of-year performance for the academy’s students, every summer she brings musicians over from India and organizes an arangatram (presentation of an accomplished dancer) for them. In these performance, she beats out the complex rhythms on a set of manjira (handheld metal cymbals) to keep dancers and musicians in time with each other.
K.P. Rameshbabu (The Measure of an Art)
K.P. Rameshbabu, or Ramesh, is from the southern Indian state of Kerala. A percussionist in the classical southern Indian tradition, he plays a variety of drums but is especially known for his skill on the mridangam drum.
His is a very musical family. His father played the mridangam and had is own academy to teach it. His mother and sister were a dancers, and his brother also played and taught the mridangam.
Ramesh has traveled all over the world playing with classical Indian musical groups. He was part of Kalakshetra, the academy where K.P. Kunhiraman taught and is now part of Kalanjali, the Kunhiraman’s academy.
Ramesh plays extensively for Kalanjali’s. branch in southern India, and every year also comes to California with other musicians to play for Kalanjali’s advanced students, for their arangetrams (official “graduation” dance of a bharatanatyam dancer).
Lisa and Ray Aguilar (Pearls from the Sea)
Even though they are originally from the Philippines rather than Tahiti, Lisa and Ray Aguilar have both have immersed themselves in Tahitian culture and have been to Tahiti many times. In a word, they have fallen in love with the islands and their culture.
They founded their Tahitian dance academy, Te Mana ‘O Te Ra, many decades ago. Lisa teaches the dance while Ray leads the musical group )all of whom are his former students) and plays the toere and other drums.
They have toured internationally with their group, including performing in Tahiti itself. Located in the San Francisco Bay Area, they have participated in the prestigious annual Ethnic Dance Festival on numerous occasions.
And yes, both have traditional Tahitian tatoos.
Bouaphet Sygnavong (Far From the Mekong) - in. production
SOON
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