Shaping the Timeless -Sharon Lowen & Vena Rampal for Mudra and the Diamond Sphere Core of Culture

Mudra and the Diamond Spheres was a four-year initiative of Core of Culture, an organization assisting the preservation of Buddhist ritual heritage in dance and movement.It focused on ritual movement and its relationship to art at Tabo monastery by Core of Culture founder Joseph Houseal with support from the Ho Foundation and the Yangchenma Arts & Music and with formal presentatons by scholars, monks and performing artists included this video in which two speakers juxtaposed their dance to the theme.
Dr Vena Ramphal, a classical Indian dance artist who holds a doctorate in Philosophy and Dance from SOAS. Vena will discuss Dance as Knowledge, and the cultures of scholarship around this project, highlighting an embodied contribution to the knowledge of Buddhism, from this project’s actors, methods and approaches. Vena explains the ‘knowledge-praxis continuum’ inherent in Indic disciplines, such as dance, meditation and yoga.
Sharon Lowen is a distinguished performing artist of Odissi, Manipuri and Chhau renowned for her abhinaya (dramatic expression). She has bridged cultures performing extensively throughout India and internationally and has become an icon inspiring Indians to value their dance heritage over the decades since she arrived in India as a Fulbright scholar from the University of Michigan. She is the founder of Manasa - Art Without Frontiers. She has studied Mahayana Buddhism under HH the Dalai Lama, HH the Karmapa, Tibet House, New Delhi Director Geshe Dorji Damdul over several decades