News Release

Note: For artist bios and photos, see end of story.

Self-sufficient international artist troupe
shares pain of northeast Indian province

CHAPEL HILL - "Nine Hills One Valley," a politically charged theatrical allegory from the Chorus Repertory Theatre of India, will be performed Oct. 26 and 27 at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

The performances, at 7:30 p.m. (Oct. 26) and 8 p.m. (Oct. 27) in Memorial Hall, will continue Carolina Performing Arts' mission to present marquee acts from around the globe. UNC is one of only six stops on the troupe's U.S. tour.

Chorus Repertory Theatre hails from the violence- and poverty-stricken state of Manipur in northeast India. Writer, director and artist Ratan Thiyam, a Manipur native and founder of the 26-member troupe, described "Nine Hills One Valley" as a poem or a collage of many ideas, without a conventional plot.

"It depicts what I see and what I feel about various systems which ultimately lead a place and its people to many difficult problems," he said. "It is a document of a restless society and political turmoil where the sufferers are only the common people."

Members of the Chorus Repertory Theatre are trained in dance, acting, martial arts, stage craft and design. They embrace traditional Manipuri forms, such as the martial art Thang Ta, and other methods developed to support the company's aesthetic approach.

Emphasis on vocal and breath techniques and on physical stamina and control provides the means to accomplish impressive aural and movement feats. Spoken parts of the performance are in Meitei, the language of Manipur, with English translations.

The work's title refers to the natural beauty of Manipur. The isolated state, bordered by Bhutan, Bangladesh and Burma, has its own culture and history and has struggled for independence from India for many years.

Emil Kang, UNC's executive director for the arts, traveled to Manipur last December to visit the Chorus Repertory Theatre. He saw "Nine Hills One Valley" with the state's governor, who was accompanied by Indian National Army soldiers carrying submachine guns.

Thiyam's sparse visual aesthetic allowed the company to communicate a political message about strife, violence and the innocents who get caught in the crossfire, Kang said. Themes of "Nine Hills One Valley" resemble those in many ongoing world conflicts, he said.

"Chorus Repertory Theatre uses art as an instrument of social change," Kang said. "They are proud to be Manipuri, and while their situation is unique, the people in the company use their pain as a metaphor for civil unrest and struggle around the world."

Chorus Repertory Theatre was established in April 1976. Its name comes from Thiyam's belief in the traditional Greek chorus, in which all the artists had many duties, including singing, dancing and acting.

Located on the outskirts of Imphal, Manipur's capital city, Chorus Repertory Theatre's two-acre campus has been built slowly - and rebuilt six times after disastrous monsoons - to accommodate a self-sufficient way of life, with housing and working quarters for the company.
Its centerpiece is a 300-seat auditorium called The Shrine, a regional and national center for contemporary theater.

Tickets for the performance, $30-$60, are available online at www.carolinaperformingarts.org; by calling (919) 843-3333; or from the Memorial Hall Box Office on Cameron Avenue, open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Mondays through Fridays. UNC student tickets ($10) are available. For more information, visit www.carolinaperformingarts.org.

- 30 -

Note: For artist media kits and downloadable photos, visit www.carolinaperformingarts.org/media

Carolina Performing Arts contacts: Don Smith, (919) 843-3119, donsmith@email.unc.edu; Jennifer Warner, (919) 966-3834, jenniferwarner@unc.edu