"Emblem" This dance piece explores The Bald Eagle, which has been the emblem of the United States of America since 1782 because of its long life, great strength, and majestic looks.  The eagle has come to represent freedom as it has free access to boundless space and it also represents the predator.

"Balance" In this dance, Shyamala references the supposed East/West duality by dividing her body down the center as she practices ballet on one side of her body and Bharatanatyam on the other.  As the piece progresses, the forms become more and more mixed up, transforming the artificial border that she starts with.

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Shyamala Moorty is a performer, choreographer and educator with an MFA in Dance from UCLA and a background in classical Indian dance  under the tutelage of Medha Yodh and Malathi Iyengar.  Her solo show, RISE, acclaimed as a "tour de force" by the LA Times (1/17/04), was featured in the LA Women's Theatre Festival in 2005, and was performed in various venues across the U.S. Her work has been commissioned by the Aman International Dance and Music Ensemble, Brigham Young University's Folk Ensemble, Teada Productions, and CSU Pomona. Shyamala also collaborates frequently with artists from Great Leap's Collaboratory, TeAda Productions, and with her own Post Natyam Collective.  In 1994 Shyamala co-founded Post Natyam, an international collective of choreographers that create contemporary work based on South Asian and western dance forms.  Post Natyam has toured internationally in Europe and India, as well as across the US. Shyamala has lectured at UCLA, CSU Pomona and various community Colleges in Southern CA.  As a cultural worker and activist she designed and coordinated a South Asian summer arts development program, YouthWallah, and was the first Executive Director of WYSE (Women and Youth Supporting Each other), a national mentoring program for young women.

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