Gamelan Son of Lion is a new music repertory ensemble based in downtown New York City specializing in contemporary pieces written for the instruments of the Javanese gamelan. There are about a hundred active gamelan ensembles in the United States at the current time (see American Gamelan Institute’s Directory). Gamelan Son of Lion now rates among the oldest of these, having performed continuously since 1976. It is also one of the few in this country which operate independently of institutions as a professional music ensemble.

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Double Edge Theatre, an artist-run organization, was founded in 1982 by Stacy Klein. The company applies vigorous physical training and the principle of an artist’s autonomy to create work in an ensemble setting intimately woven with the community. Double Edge’s name in part comes from the double-edged axe known as the labrys, which was used in Bacchic sacrifices in ancient Greek cult-worship. Double Edge’s first production, Rites, was based on Euripides’s The Bacchae.

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