Dawn Birds
Wednesday, September 22, 6:30am
Garfield Park Conservatory, Chicago, IL
presented by:
Chicago Park District and ACRE
program:
I. Kuruvi, kuruvi
A morning call to the kuruvi in Tamil: “Sparrow, sparrow, sing with me, little sparrow!” The journey begins.
II. Bird Song
The narrator sings to a little girl of birds to lull her to sleep at bedtime. She describes the kuyil—a bird that often appears in medieval Sanskrit poetry and Indian film music—which lays its eggs in the nests of other birds, as a reminder to be oneself. She describes the wood owl, whose amusing appearance may cheer the child. Finally she describes the child herself: a little sparrow safe in a nest that the narrator builds from memory, music, and love.
III. Water, Wind, Waves, Snow
The narrator soothes herself with a lullaby recalling an afternoon with a lover at a cold, stormy beach in winter. Drowning her dreams, she tries to lay her heartbreak to rest. The song concludes with an arrangement of the passionate third movement of Antonio Vivaldi’s Summer.
IV. In the Marigolds
Through untamed greenery and curated gardens, the journey continues.
V. Samyuta Hasta
With birds, fish and snakes, the journey continues.
VI. Parturition
The sea returns. The narrator describes the unchanging featurelessness of death. And then—she wakes. The journey ends, right where it began.
spectrograms of this morning’s birds:
Asian Koel
Eudynamys scolopaceus
Mottled Wood Owl
Strix ocellata
House Sparrow
Passer domesticus
Herrring Gull
Larus argentatus smithsonianus
Garuda
Avis regalis
the ensemble:
Lakshmi Ramgopal
vocals, sruti box, movement
composition, arrangements, choreography, direction
Asha Rowland
vocals, movement
choreography
Johanna Brock
violin, vocals
arrangements
Erica Miller
cello, vocals
arrangements
additional credits:
portraiture:
Sierra Thompson, Stephanie Jensen
koel, owl, sparrow, and gull spectrograms:
Macaulay Library, Cornell University
special thanks:
Kate Bowen, Angelique Grandone, Emily Eddy, Mary Eysenbach, Brittany Sowacke, Caitlin Ryan, Anjulie Rao, Chad Kouri, Sriram Ramgopal, Nivedita Gunturi, Shakthi Ramgopal, Ishvari Ramgopal
