Namaste Kirkland

 

Contact: Wes Andrews, Education & Outreach Director, at (425) 828-0422 or wes@kpcenter.org.

Kirkland Performance Center is recognized as a Northwestern regional leader in the presentation of the live performing arts of India.  KPC serves as a gathering place, where patrons of all backgrounds can meet new arrivals from India and Americans of East Indian descent in the context of enriching performing arts experiences.  Our annual series “Namasté Kirkland” is recognized across the Northwest as an opportunity to see the performing arts in both traditional and contemporary Indian forms.

Kirkland, Washington is an Eastern suburb of Seattle, located in the heart of the region’s booming technology industry and mere miles from Microsoft’s headquarter campus.  Recent economic growth has brought many new residents to our community from India.  In 2007, KPC determined that the Indian community of the Seattle area was underserved by professional performing arts organizations and undertook a multi-year commitment to address this need. 

As part of each of our Annual Seasons, KPC presents several Indian performing artists working in both traditional and contemporary forms in a series called “Namasté Kirkland”.  “Namasté” is an Indian word meaning, “I bow to you,” and is used as a salutation across multiple Eastern cultures in addition to its adoption in English as a spiritual or semi-religious greeting often associated with yoga and meditation.  The artists of “Namasté Kirkland” are often international, such as mandolin master U. Srinivas and khatak dance legend Chitresh Das, and some are based in the United States, like jazz saxophonist Rudresh Mahanthappa and sitar diva Anoushka Shankar.

Each presented Artist in the “Namasté Kirkland” program has an educational or outreach component.  For example, we held a master class with kathak legend Chitresh Das and tap master Jason Samuel Smith in the predominantly African-American neighborhood of Rainier Beach.  In 2009, we stretched the boundaries of our outreach even further in a co-presentation of dance troupe Nrityagram with Seattle Theatre Group; STG held the performance and we hosted a master class for dancers, giving our constituents a chance to learn from an amazing group of artists that KPC, a mid-sized organization, ordinarily could not afford to present.

THE ARTISTS OF NAMASTÉ KIRKLAND

Performances From Previous Years

 

  • Rudresh Mahanthappa (Jazz Saxophone)
  • Delhi 2 Dublin (Electronic / Crossover)
  • U. Srinivas (Mandolin)
  • Nrityagram (Dance)
  • Slide to Freedom (Guitar / Crossover)
  • Hooray for Bollywood (Dance / Music / Tribute)
  • Chitresh Das & India Jazz Suites (Dance / Crossover)
  • Kiran Ahluwalia (Vocal)
  • Shujaat Khan (Classical)
  • Anoushka Shankar (Sitar)
  • Debashish Bhattacharya (Slide Guitar)
  • Bala Music & Dance (Bharata Natyam Dance)