The Cosmic Dancers: Exploring the Physics of Science Fiction

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Stromer, Richard. "Shiva Nataraja: A Study in Myth, Iconography, and the Meaning of a Sacred Symbol" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 5 September 2012 . Retrieved 10 March 2016. The Silent Burn Project, review: Celebrating 20 years of Akram Khan Company’s unbridled expression and heart-pounding movement a b Banerjee, P. (1969). "A Siva Icon from Piandjikent". Artibus Asiae. 31 (1): 73–80. doi: 10.2307/3249451. JSTOR 3249451. Born in what was then Ceylon to a Tamil father and an English mother, Coomaraswamy was well placed to interpret Nataraja for a western audience—he served as curator at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts from 1917 for three decades until his death, and was one of the first to build a large collection of Indian artworks in the US. Chidambaram is a dusty small town along the Tamil Nadu coast—yet some 20 million people visit or make a pilgrimage every year to its tragically ill-maintained Shiva temple. Even overwhelmed by dust and cobwebs, the architectural gem carries centuries of aesthetic, philosophic, and spiritual history etched on its walls. Unlike most other Shiva temples in southern India, where he is worshipped in his linga form in the main sanctum, here Nataraja, too, is worshipped. Bronze is the medium here, believed to have been installed under the Chola dynasty, which revived as the Pallavas weakened due to incessant wars with the Chalukyas.

At first it’s all a bit of a cacophony, but gradually a shape begins to emerge from a sofa-chat in which a cherubic-looking Clark gives his origin story. Aged four, he took up Scottish dancing in his home city of Aberdeen and at 13 he embarked on four years at the Royal Ballet School, leaving it for a brief stint with Ballet Rambert, before striking out on his own aged just 22. Here we alternate between ephemera relating to past performances – costumes designed by Body Map and Leigh Bowery (giant muff included), a film archive – and artworks made for, inspired by, or featuring Clark.Michael Clark: Cosmic Dancer was an immersive experience exploring dance, design, art, fashion and music. It is the first major exhibition on Michael Clark and was curated and organised by Barbican, London. More such experiences followed. Six years later, he summarised his findings in The Tao of Physics, published first in 1975. The book was received enthusiastically in the US and Europe and, at least for some, revolutionised both their spiritual and scientific planes.

I’d been reading up on Nataraja, the dancing version of the feral Hindu god Shiva, for weeks, hoping to trace his origins and evolution over a period of nearly five millennia. The tranquil-yet-ferocious one is said to reside on Mount Kailasa, now in the Tibetan Himalayas, according to Hindu mythology. The third pillar of the pantheon—Brahma and Vishnu being the others—is believed to be easy to please, yet supremely destructive. The symbolism has been interpreted in classical Indian Shaiva Siddhanta texts such as Unmai Vilakkam, Mummani Kovai, Tirukuttu Darshana and Tiruvatavurar Puranam, dating from the 12th century CE ( Chola empire) and later, [24] and include: [14] [24] [36] Ian Crawford (December 2019). "Expanding worldviews: cosmic perspectives". Astronomy & Geophysics. Royal Astronomical Society, Oxford University Press. 60 (6): 6.38. doi: 10.1093/astrogeo/atz195.On his right side, meshed in with one of the flying strands of his hair near his forehead, is typically the river Ganges personified as a goddess, from the Hindu mythology where the danger of a mighty river is creatively tied to a calm river for the regeneration of life. The depiction was informed of cosmic or metaphysical connotations is also argued on the basis of the testimony of the hymns of Tamil saints. [57]