Culture celebrated at Library centennial

If you wanted to celebrate India-Japan Friendship Year, where would you go? To Queens, of course.
Attendees at a recent program held as part of the Centennial celebration of the Queens Library were treated to a performance by Masako Ono, a world-renowned student of Odissi, one of the original seven forms of dance in India.
The April 22 program, held at the library’s main branch at 89-11 Merrick Boulevard in Jamaica, was a collaboration between the Asian Arts and Cultural Council and the library. Joseph Aranha, chair of the Asian Arts and Cultural Council (AACC) explained that this was the largest public exhibition for the group since the two-day India Day Festival at the Flushing Library in 2005.
The event began with an opening prayer led by Pastor Alfred Thiagarajan of the Tamil Koil, a Middle Village house of worship affiliated with the Metropolitan Area Association of the United Church of Christ.
A souvenir program was distributed thanks to Neena Malhotra who is in charge of Press, Information, Culture and Community Affairs for the Indian Consulate in New York. Malhotra spoke of the program’s other significance, the celebration of 50 years of cultural ties between India and Japan. She later presented an award from AACC to Tejas Kumar, 12, for his work in support of the event.
But the high point of the evening had to be the “stunning” dance of Ono, who has studied the 2,200-year-old, highly ritualized dance form since childhood. “It was very good,” said Dr. Sudhir Parikh, a prominent allergist and Indian advocate.”
Parikh explained, “It’s very unusual to see this Japanese girl doing this dance, but she is very, very good. It has been performed since the 2nd century B.C. in a temple which is still standing in Orissa.” The Orissa region, on the east coast of India, is known for its temples.
Ono is touring the U.S., sponsored by the AACC and the Japanese Embassy in Washington, D.C. She has also appeared at the Kennedy Performing Arts Center in Washington and the Asia Society in New York, among other venues.