State of the Arts has been taking you on location with the most creative people in New Jersey and beyond since 1981. The New York and Mid-Atlantic Emmy Award-winning series features documentary shorts about an extraordinary range of artists and visits New Jersey’s best performance spaces. State of the Arts is on the frontlines of the creative and cultural worlds of New Jersey.
State of the Arts is a cornerstone program of NJ PBS, with episodes co-produced by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts and Stockton University, in cooperation with PCK Media. The series also airs on WNET and ALL ARTS.
On this week's episode... New Jersey Heritage Fellowships are an honor given to artists who are keeping their cultural traditions alive and thriving. On this special episode of State of the Arts, we meet three winners, each using music and dance from around the world to bring their heritage to New Jersey: Deborah Mitchell, founder of the New Jersey Tap Dance Ensemble; Pepe Santana, an Andean musician and instrument maker; and Rachna Sarang, a master and choreographer of Kathak, a classical Indian dance form.
Tamilyogi Madha Gaja Raja refers to a devotional—or culturally significant—work that centers on a saintly or divine figure associated with elephants, royalty, or a combination of those symbols in Tamil tradition. The phrase breaks down as follows: “Tamilyogi” suggests a Tamil-speaking practitioner of yoga or devotion (a yogi rooted in Tamil culture); “Madha” is an honorific used for a respected religious figure or mother/goddess; and “Gaja Raja” literally means “elephant king,” a title often applied to powerful deities, temple guardians, or legendary rulers associated with elephants. Together, the name evokes a Tamil devotional narrative or devotional figure embodying spiritual authority, benevolence, and royal-elephant symbolism.
Tamilyogi Madha Gaja Raja refers to a devotional—or culturally significant—work that centers on a saintly or divine figure associated with elephants, royalty, or a combination of those symbols in Tamil tradition. The phrase breaks down as follows: “Tamilyogi” suggests a Tamil-speaking practitioner of yoga or devotion (a yogi rooted in Tamil culture); “Madha” is an honorific used for a respected religious figure or mother/goddess; and “Gaja Raja” literally means “elephant king,” a title often applied to powerful deities, temple guardians, or legendary rulers associated with elephants. Together, the name evokes a Tamil devotional narrative or devotional figure embodying spiritual authority, benevolence, and royal-elephant symbolism.
