POWER PLAY runs one hour twenty minutes without intermission, including three dance items and two musical interludes. Each part of this production is meant to examine aspects of power and of play. Current English useage would typically situate “power play” in the social, political, business and sports arenas. Ruthless competition and behind-the-scenes machinations are frequently implied. When translated into Sanskrit as Shakti Leela, Power Play reveals additional rich and complex levels of meaning. Shakti can be translated as “power” or “nation”, but it is also “the energy of a deity personified as his wife”. Seen in this light, the word “power” alludes to more cosmic and spiritual levels of meaning. Add to this the translation of leela as “divine play”, and the production’s wealth of images and concepts reach far beyond the playing field and board room, the cocktail party and congressional debate.