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Objective: To meet the Peerzada Brothers, Pakistan's foremost theatre, film and festival artists, working as Rafi Peer Theatre Workshop, to discuss the condition of the performing and ancient arts in Pakistan and to obtain their professional opinion of staging an ancient dance festival in Bhaktapur. These men are the sons of the legendary Rafi Peerzada, recognized as the 'Father of Modern Theatre in the Sub-continent.'
Result: Encouraging and intriguing. The Peerzadas have organized several international music, dance and theatre festivals in Pakistan with great success, made films, produced television, have access to virtually any artist in Pakistan and have demonstrated their ability to defeat the most overwhelming logistic and political odds to bring and sustain art. They are household names in Pakistan.
Any number of scenarios, from bringing western avant garde dance to Pakistan, to creating a Sufi-Soul music festival, to exploring the remote climes of Pakistan for ancient dances, to assisting with a festival in Nepal, are feasible if collaborating with RPTW. They are exuberant and competent in the extreme; truly international and devoted to their part of the world.
Challenges: There is a battle for the soul of Pakistan now, great poverty in all arenas, political instability and a poor international image. Fundamentalism encroaches upon art. Indian media from MTV Asia to Bollywood is a threat to indigenous media development.
 Students of Kiran Maharjan, Kathmandu |
Follow-up: I left with a warm and promising impression of Pakistan and its people. The Peerzadas alerted me to the existence of very old communities with unexplored dance and ritual traditions in Himalayan Pakistan and around the Kyber Pass. The 'undiscovered' quality of these arts is immensely tempting and I would relish the opportunity to learn more about these dances. As a Festival of Ancient Dance is being developed in Bhaktapur, I can think of no finer practical colleagues than RPTW, due in part to their seasoned experience in festival design and management within the context of unique sensitivities in the himalaya and SE Asia. back: Tantric Dance Filming of Great Dance Festival, Lamayuru next page: Planning a Festival of Ancient Dance Bhaktapur, Nepal |
 Students of Kiran Maharjan, Kathmandu |
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