November 10, 2010
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - UAB's Alys Stephens Center will present the Mystical Arts of Tibet in a week of events including a traditional stage performance, "Sacred Music Sacred Dance" by the Tibetan monks of Drepung Loseling Monastery Nov. 8-12, 2010.
The event is free and open to the public. Millions of grains of sand will be painstakingly laid over four days to form the unique and exquisite image of a mandala. For the opening ceremony, the monks, or lamas, will consecrate the site with chanting, music and mantra recitation. Next, the lamas will begin drawing an outline on a wooden platform then lay the colored sands. Each monk holds a traditional metal funnel called a chakpur while running a metal rod on its grated surface. The vibration causes the sands to flow like liquid onto the platform.
The creation of the mandala sand painting can be viewed by the public Nov. 8 until 6 p.m.; daily Nov. 9, 10 and 11 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; and Friday, Nov. 12 from 10 a.m. until the closing ceremony at 1 p.m. Viewers also can participate in the creation of a community mandala sand painting themselves. Traditionally most sand mandalas are destroyed shortly after their completion, serving as a metaphor for the impermanence of life. The sands are swept up and placed in an urn. Half will be distributed to the audience at the closing ceremony while the remainder will be carried to a nearby body of water.
The Mystical Arts of Tibet will perform "Sacred Music Sacred Dance" at 7 p.m. Thursday Nov. 11 in UAB's Alys Stephens Center. This Dalai Lama-endorsed performance will feature traditional temple music and mystical masked dances, elaborate costumes, traditional horns, drums, bells and cymbals, and unique multi-phonic singing, where the monks simultaneously intone three notes of a chord. Tickets are $53, $43, $33, with $20 student tickets and $15 kid-friendly tickets. Call 205-975-2787 or go to www.AlysStephens.org.
The week with the monks will end Friday, Nov. 12. A free lecture, The Dish: "The Symbolism of the Sand Mandala," will begin at noon. Come at 11 a.m. for lunch and socializing in the lobby before the lecture; box lunches will be available for purchase. The Tibetan Monks of the Drepung Loseling Monastery will perform a closing ceremony for the mandala at 1 p.m. Call 205-975-2787 or go to www.AlysStephens.org.
The Mystical Arts of Tibet is sponsored by The Birmingham News, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Viva Health, Regions Bank, Dixon Hughes and Jemison Investment Company.
About UAB's Alys Stephens Center
The Alys Stephens Performing Arts Center, part of the University of Alabama at Birmingham, is one of the Southeast's premier performing arts centers, hosting the best in international, national and local performance. Home to the UAB departments of Theatre and Music and the Alabama Symphony Orchestra, the ASC also presents its own season, bringing the world's best music, dance, theater, comedy and family entertainment to Alabama.