March
13, 2006, Rimini, Italy:
Manick Sorcar’s “Enlightenment of Buddha”,
a laser show in combination with live performance on stage won the "ILDA 2005 Artistic-Award"
in the category of “Best Use of Lasers in a Live Stage Performance”. The award was given at the
2006 annual conference of the International Laser Display Association
(ILDA), held at the award banquet, Hotel Le Conchiglie, Rimini,
Italy.
ILDA's awards for artistic and technical excellence, the industry's
equivalent of Hollywood's Oscars, each year honor companies from
around the world for artistic and technological achievement. Manick
Sorcar’s company LaserLightMagic,
which produced the show, won the award
by defeating entrees from Germany, Italy, United Kingdom, USA,
Russia, France, Japan and the Netherlands.
"Enlightenment of Buddha" is an extravaganza
of dance, drama, magic in combination with various forms of intelligent
lighting, life-size laser-animation and three dimensional laser
effects in space. The story takes the audience to approximate 600 BC India,
where a meditating Siddhartha Gautama (whom the world would later
know as Lord Buddha) under a Peepal tree, remained undisturbed
and attained enlightenment despite constant disruption from enemy
Devaputra Mara and his string of bone-chilling, intimidating
black magic.
In a short speech on stage, after receiving the award, Manick
said "I am thrilled. Although this show represents a
small portion of Lord Buddha’s life, it is a gigantic step
in the use of the cutting-edge technology of laser for artistry
on stage. It is heart-warming to see the international panel of
judges recognized the creativity I put with the help of the cutting-edge
technology, where I used the narrow, strong beam of lasers as
a paint brush."
“Enlightenment of Buddha” was
first performed in October, 2005 at the Denver Center for
Performing Arts, Colorado, for the 25th anniversary of the Asian
Pacific Development Center (APDC), attended by many dignitaries
from across the country including Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper.
The show received repeated thundering applause from the audience
and rave reviews from the press and media.
.
(left) A scene from "Enlightenment
of Buddha", (right) Manick with wife Shikha near
Hotel Le Conchiglie, in Rimini,
Italy.
Manick Sorcar shot to fame in early nineties for his first animation
mixed with live action “Deepa & Rupa: A Fairy Tale
From India”, which won the Gold
Plaque at the Chicago International Film Festival. His other
films, also based on fables from India, received world recognition
by winning a series of prestigious awards
at various international film festivals. Recognized as the cultural
bridges between East and West, his animation films are popular
at the elementary schools as well as at the Public Broadcasting
Service (PBS) TV stations, where on the New Year’s Day,
they have been telecast consecutively for the last fourteen years
in Colorado.
Last year, his animation films were the subject of a research
paper for an American student’s bachelor’s degree
in fine arts at the Savannah College of Fine Arts, Savannah, Georgia.
Manick is the author of several lighting design texts that are
taught at universities and has a full-time job as the CEO and
president of Sorcar Engineering, Inc., which did the lighting designs for Denver International
Airport, sport centres in Japan, Colorado Convention Center, and
palaces for Saudi princes. By night, he is an artist and animator.
Laser is to Manick what the magic wand is to the traditional magician.
“I practice the science of laser during day. At night,
I apply it for art. I just marry the two in my stage shows”,
said Manick.
Manick Sorcar is the first Indian-American to receive the prestigious
ILDA Artistic-award.
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