COLLABORATIONS
Tara collaborated with performers and visual artists to create several original works. She worked with artists of Indian, Brazilian, Japanese, Greek, Balinese, Nepalese and American traditions.
Photo: Portia Brockway
" Chitra " was a fully-staged dance opera based on an episode from the Hindu epic, The Mahabharata, as interpreted by the Indian writer Rabindranath Tagore. It is the story of the daughter of the king of Manipur who is brought up as a boy, and who falls in love with the demi-god Arjuna. The standard Boston Musica Viva ensemble was combined with the work of Tara Ahmed (Chitra), Balinese singer/dancer/puppeteer I Nyoman Catra (Arjuna), soprano Elizabeth Keusch (Sutradar), and tabla virtuoso Samir Chatterjee. Chitra drew on Indian dance rhythms, ragas and tabla drumming, as well as Balinese vocal styles.
Photo: Portia Brockway
The opera played to sold-out audiences in its first run, and was performed in New York and Massachusetts. It was also presented by Bank of America Celebrity Series.
Photo: John Buckingham