The Golden Mango
The Golden Mango is a Hindu tale displaying the great wisdom of the young Ganesha, as he competes with his brother Murugan in the race around the universe!
The Storyteller's Toolkit
The techniques an Indian classical dancer uses to create an emotional mood are grouped under the term "saatvika abhinaya" (SAAT-vika ab-in-EYE-a). In particular, the face is a key tool for communicating emotion—Indian dancers train for years to perfect these expressions!
Watch how Preeti manipulates different aspects of facial expression (eyes, lips, eyebrows) to create the emotional effect.
(Note: These videos do not have voiceover/subtitles.)
Every culture uses its hand gestures for expression: in bharatanatyam (Indian classical dance) these gestures are classified in minute detail. Each gesture has specific meanings and applications. Each video includes the name of different facial expressions, or "saatvika abhinaya," and hand gestures, or "mudras" in Sanskrit (the classical language of India) along with examples and applications.
Commentary & Analysis
There's a lot going on in Indian classical dance, even in a short sequence such as this. In the video below Preeti talks you through how she's using the classical gestural vocabulary to tell the story.
The Red Curtain Drawing Challenge
We challenge you to create a drawing inspired by your favorite character in The Golden Mango.
Send us your drawings at info@threshdance.org and you'll see them here on the site.
Magical Fruits in Cultures Around the World
Now that you've seen the golden mango in an Indian story, let's see how other cultures represent fruits in their own stories and legends.
Probably the most famous mythological fruit of all—the "forbidden apple" in the Garden of Eden, as featured in Genesis (the first book of the Bible). This illustration is from 1526 by the great German artist Lucas Cranach.
Cherries can symbolize fertility, merrymaking, and festivity. One Chinese legend tells of the goddess Xi Wang Mu, in whose garden the cherries of immortality ripen every thousand years.
Kuka’ilimoku is the war god, associated with King Kamehameha, and dubbed the “snatcher of lands.” But Kuka’o’o is the god of the digging stick, the ‘o’o. Ku also gave the breadfruit tree, the ‘ulu, (ARTOCARPUS ALTILIS) by burying himself in the earth during a famine and, watered by his wife’s tears, grew into the ‘ulu.
Probably the most famous mythological fruit of all—the "forbidden apple" in the Garden of Eden, as featured in Genesis (the first book of the Bible). This illustration is from 1526 by the great German artist Lucas Cranach.
Meet Our Global Collaborators
Ben Foskett, Composer
Paris (FR) & London (UK)
Ben Foskett is a composer and arranger working across many different genres from classical concert music to ballet, dance, theatre, pop, film, TV and sound libraries.
Ben met Preeti when he was still a student at the Royal Academy of Music in London (back in 2002). Accosted into the world of dance by Preeti, he has since gone on to work on a number of dance pieces with her and other leading dance companies including the Ballet Boyz. His orchestral piece "From Trumpet" was commissioned by the BBC Proms.
We asked Ben some questions about his process in creating the music for "The Golden Mango"—he gave us some great answers which you can see by clicking the button. To see more about Ben and his work go to www.benfoskett.com.
Tom Lynch, Illustrator
New York (USA)
Tom is one of New York's most in-demand illustrators and commercial artists. He's designed numerous book covers for leading publishers.
He's written and illustrated numerous children's books—you can see more of his incredible work at Tom Lynch & Company.
For his version of "Aesop's Fables" he was (to his amazement) described as "a kind of genius" by the New York Times.
Tom first worked with Preeti in 2010, when he and partner Tony Reonegro created incredible set designs for her award-winning production "The Absent Lover".
We asked Tom for some background on how he became an artist—you can see his reply by clicking on the button below.
Bonus Video: Behind the Scenes with Tom!
Learn Interactive partnered with RCP on The Golden Mango. They deliver industry-leading manager development programs focused on key transitions in any individual's career.