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DON'T MISS!: DOWNTOWN BOLLYWOOD
You can see Indian dancing and Malay dancing from Singapore at the Downtown Dance Festival — even better, it’s all free. Jonathan Hollander, the man who’s been behind the festival for the past three decades, can’t think of a better place for it. “Downtown is America’s trading center, and here we are, importing and exporting dance.”
Hollander’s own Battery Dance Company performs worldwide; many of the groups are handpicked from his travels. This year’s find is Sri Warisan from Singapore, performing refined Malay ethnic dance. But the most unusual mix is the Mayuri Dance Group. Hailing from frigid Petrozavodsk, Russia — about five hours drive from St. Petersburg — the dancers do hot Bollywood moves.
The festival starts at the green oasis of the Lawn at Battery Park tomorrow and Sunday from 1 to 4 p.m. Monday to Friday, from noon to 2 p.m., it moves to 1 New York Plaza, at Whitehall Street — framing the international dancing with the unique downtown skyline. Free admission, see www.batterydance.org for details.
— Leigh Witchel