Pakistani-American Led
Ballet Company Rekindles
San Francisco Earthquake Memory
By Ras H. Siddiqui
Ashraf
Habibullah and Willie Brown with a group of Pakistani
Americans |
San Francisco, California
is currently observing the Centennial of the devastating
7.9 earthquake that destroyed much of the city on April
18, 1906. And amongst the lineup of events that lead up
to this 100 year anniversary was the April 5th performance
of “Earthquake” at the Yerba Buena Center for
the Arts Theatre by the Diablo Ballet of Walnut Creek.
Diablo is in all probability the only Pakistani-American
headed Ballet Company in the United States. Its President
Ashraf Habibullah is also President of Computers and Structures,
Inc. or CSI (http://www.csiberkeley.com/), a premiere Hi-Tech
Structural Engineering company headquartered in Berkeley.
CSI has developed software that has been utilized by experts
worldwide in the construction of mega projects including
skyscrapers such as the Petronas Twin Towers in Malaysia
(88 Floors), the Taipei 101 Tower in Taiwan (101 floors)
and lately in the design of the Freedom Tower in New York
(being constructed on the site of the World Trade Center).
The April 5th performance of “Earthquake” can
be described as a true marriage between Technology and Art,
both of which Ashraf takes quite seriously. He founded CSI
in Berkeley in 1975 and the Diablo Ballet roughly 12 years
ago.
Two
groups of the audience |
A CSI reception was held for
a couple of hundred select guests before the public performance
of the ballet. Ashraf certainly knows how to throw a party,
a fact which any of his guests that attended this one can
attest to. The décor, cuisine, music and flowers
for the lady guests all added up at this glamorous the classy
affair. The dessert table alone was a catering marvel. And
the guest, including a contingent of Pakistani and Indian
Americans, former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown and a
host of others added their own unique color to this event.
Many ethnicities and religions were represented here, as
this affair was not just about structures and ballet but
an example of bridge-building between communities.
This gathering was in a way a celebration of 100 years of
advances in Earthquake Engineering, of improvements in the
building of earthquake resistant structures during the past
century. It was also a time to reflect back on 1906 and
even the last October 8, 2005 earthquake in Northern Pakistan
which killed over 73000 people and left millions homeless.
One sure wishes that today’s technology had reached
the builders of the structures impacted by both these disasters.
Ras Siddiqui and Farah Siddiqui
|
“Today, we have the
technology to minimize the damage,” said Ashraf at
the reception. He said that great progress has been made
in Earthquake Engineering and building since 1906 and that
today if you have a powerful earthquake, only one person
dies and that too of a heart attack. That was one reason,
according to Ashraf, that the centennial of the 1906 Earthquake
in San Francisco could now be termed a celebration of man’s
ability to survive devastation of this nature in the same
city today. He asked for a round of applause for all the
people who have helped to develop this technology.
Former San Francisco Mayor, Willie Brown helped to kick
off the ballet event on a humorous note. He said that people
need to believe that he was not an eye-witness to the earthquake
that hit San Francisco in 1906. He also extended an invitation
to all visitors. “Let me extend a San Francisco welcome
to each and every one of you,” he said. He reminded
the audience that the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Theatre
was built to hold such events in the Earthquake Capital
of the world and invited all to continue to visit San Francisco
(and to spend their money here).
Performance
by the Diablo Ballet |
The ballet itself was split
into three separate performances. The first or “PAS
de QUATRE et PAS de SIX” featured a fine display of
the physical strength and artistic direction. From a single
dancer to a slow buildup to four, then again back to one,
the segment perked a genuine interest in the viewer. The
second performance or “OPUS FOR A TABLE” had
segments that were nothing short of plain superb. The changing
background colors, hypnotic music and the dancers’
seeming defiance of gravity on stage made a plain old table
the center of our conscious world for more than a moment.
It was certainly a four-star performance here. And finally
“Earthquake” (the ballet) with its increasing
musical tempo, building up to a shaking peak and then subsiding.
The gold costumes added to the presentation as did the expanding
seismic signal in the stage background. “Earthquake”
shook our musical tastes too, and provided a fine finish
to this colorful performance that helped to celebrate San
Francisco’s history.
To conclude here, kudos to
Computers and Structures, Inc., The East Bay Community Foundation’s
East Bay Fund for Artists, Global Imprints and Mr. Dipak
Patel for commissioning the World Premiere of Earthquake.
It was quite a nice addition to this centennial celebration
in San Francisco, one that has attracted a great deal of
attention. Ashraf has been giving a number of television
interviews explaining the technology that has been developed
by his company. Television viewers will surely be seeing
him soon on NBC and other mainstream media outlets in the
US. But in the meantime, while we in California certainly
celebrate this development; admire the work that CSI has
been doing, we still hope that we will not get the opportunity
to test the limits of this new earthquake preparedness any
time soon.
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