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Ailey II’s Jarvis McKinley;
Photo by Eduardo Patino NYC |
Ailey II (New York, NY)
Sylvia Waters (ARTISTIC DIRECTOR)
Troy Powell (Associate Artistic Director)
Ailey II is the second company under the umbrella of Alvin Ailey Dance Foundation. Founded in 1974 by Alvin Ailey, a legendary American modern dance choreographer, Ailey II is made up of some of the country's most talented dancers of their generation. Under the artistic direction of Sylvia Waters, this critically-acclaimed company presents dazzling performances and innovative community programs across the country and beyond. The Ailey spirit shines as these artists perform an exhilarating and diverse repertoire that includes Alvin Ailey's timeless classics and thrilling new works by today's most outstanding choreographers. The work presented at the festival was choreographed by Robert Battle. Battle has been named Artistic Director Designate of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and will succeed Judith Jamison in July 2011. www.alvinailey.org |
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Mesma Balsare; Photo by Hari Krishnan
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Mesma S. Belsare (Boston, MA)
Mesma S. Belsare is described by The New York Times as' a tour de force' and by The Dance Current Magazine as 'a consummate dancer...as mesmerizing as staring into the heart of a fire'. She is a Boston-based dancer, choreographer, actor, visual artist and art-museum educator and is formally trained in bharatanatyam and Carnatic vocal by Sri Shankar Hombal and Padmashri Geeta Chandran. Awards include the prestigious Dora Mavor Moore best dancer nomination by the Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts, the Boston Foundation Fellowship nomination, the Sahitya Kala Parishad Government of India Scholarship Award and the Gender Hero of Boston honor by the Theatre Offensive. |
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Sheetal Gandhi; Photo by Cedar Bough T. Saeji |
Sheetal Gandhi (Venice, CA)
Sheetal Gandhi creates work that is reflective of a life that embraces diversity, observes human experience and yearns to tell a story. She uses movement, complex rhythmic structures, theatricality and live singing to craft virtuosic and evocative physical/vocal vocabularies. She worked as a creator and performer in Cirque du Soleil's DRALION, and played a leading role in the Broadway production of BOMBAY DREAMS. Most recently, her choreography has been presented at the REDCAT NOW Festival (Los Angeles), The National Asian American Theater Festival (New York) and the Delhi International Arts Festival in India. www.sheetalgandhi.com |
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Navtej Johar; Photo by Anshuman Sen |
Navtej Johar (New Delhi, India)
Navtej Johar is one of India's leading bharatanatyam exponents and a respected choreographer. His work uniquely traverses between the traditional and the contemporary. Trained at Kalakshetra, his choreography is sensitive, layered, compelling and witty and draws on plural vocabularies of Bharatanatyam, yoga and physical theater. He has performed at prestigious venues all over the world and worked with several prominent choreographers including Chandralekha, Leela Samson, Bill T. Jones, Peter Sparling, Janet Lilly, Muzaffar Ali, Keith Khan among others. Johar is founder of Studio Abhyas, a non-profit organization dedicated to dance, yoga, humane urban design and the care of stray animals. www.abhyastrust.org |
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Cynthia Lee; Photo by Jorge Vismara |
Cynthia Lee (Santa Monica, CA)
Cynthia Ling Lee creates playful, friction-filled choreographic dialogues between American postmodern dance and North Indian classical kathak. The recipient of a 2002-3 Thomas J. Watson Fellowship and a 2006 Asia Pacific Performing Arts Exchange Fellowship, her choreography has been shown throughout the US and Asia at venues such as REDCAT (Los Angeles), the Painted Bride Arts Center (Philadelphia), Taman Ismail Marzuki (Jakarta), India International Centre (New Delhi) and Chandra Mandapa: SPACES (Chennai). Cynthia is a member of the Post Natyam Collective and holds an MFA from UCLA. Influential teachers include Simone Forti, Eiko & Koma, Judy Mitoma, Kumudini Lakhia, Bandana Sen, Anjani Ambegaokar, and the contact improvisation community. www.cynthialinglee.com |
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Shipra Mehrotrai; Photo by Regeti's Photography
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Shipra Mehrotra (Houston, TX)
Shipra began learning and performing odissi 21 years ago at Nrityalaya (Washington, DC) from founder/director Dr. Chitra Krishnamurti. She also attended workshops by the late legendary gurus, Padma Vibhushan Kelucharan Mohapatra and Padma Shri Sanjukta Panigrahi. Shipra currently receives advance training from founder/director Guru Padmashree Gangadhar Pradhan and renowned dancer Srimati Aruna Mohanty at the Orissa Dance Academy. Shipra has performed at numerous festivals throughout the US and India. In 2005, she served as a dance consultant for Hollywood director Terrence Mallick for his film, 'The New World.' Shipra holds degrees from Northwestern University and the University of Chicago and currently resides in Houston, TX. www.shipramehrotra.com
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Parul Shah, Reena Shah;
Photo by M. Raza Jahanbin |
Parul Shah Dance Company (New York, NY)
Parul Shah is an internationally acclaimed kathak dancer and choreographer whose work is expanding the classical medium beyond cultural boundaries, with a dedication to excellence. Based in New York, the company builds upon kathak’s mythological storytelling roots to explore bold, contemporary narratives. Parul’s choreography reflects her own perspective as a highly trained kathak dancer born and raised within New York’s hybrid community. The company has performed at prestigious venues such as Jacob’s Pillow, Fall for Dance at City Center, Lincoln Center, Summer Stage, among others. www.kathakdance.com |
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Mythili Prakash; Photo by Jorge Vismara |
Mythili Prakash (Los Angeles, CA)
Dancer and choreographer Mythili Prakash is recognized as one of the world's leading young exponents of bharatanatyam. Her inventive approach to classicism revitalizes bharatanatyam and awakens the physicality, musicality and expressive theatricality of the dance to create an exceptional style that is distinct and meaningful to audiences across the world. Trained in the Thanjavur tradition by her mother and renowned dancer/teacher Viji Prakash, Mythili has also imbibed knowledge from veteran stalwarts in the field and is currently under the mentorship of dance virtuoso Malavika Sarukkai. Mythili is recipient of numerous accolades from leading arts institutions in India and has toured her work internationally to much critical acclaim. www.mythiliprakash.com |
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Wanted Ashiqz (New York, NY)
The Wanted Ashiqz started out in 2002 as a non-competitive team composed of five individuals who shared one common interest. Over the years, that common interest has transformed into an undying passion for dance and the once mere team of five has evolved into a brotherhood of many. Our performances draw from hip-hop, jazz, bhangra, garba, folk, incorporating western elements into a predominantly Bollywood dance style. Wanted Ashiqz have performed for and alongside many great Bollywood artists such as Shahrukh Khan, Bipasha Basu, Saif Ali Khan, Rani Mukherji, Sonali Bendre and RDB, Indo-Canadian star Raghav, and the new Pop-R&B sensation from Cash Money Records, Jay Sean. |
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PERFORMERS FOR KUTCHERI-MEHFIL
DANCERS
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PRERANA DESHPANDE
(Kathak dancer; Mathematics of Rhythm Panel)
Prerana is internationally acclaimed as an artist whose work reveals the expanding horizons of a traditional dance form - Kathak. Trained by the great maestro, Guru Dr. Rohini Bhate and Sharadini Gole, Prerana has extended the frontiers of her dance tradition to evolve her own distinctive style, which has been described as "an effortless synchronization of aesthetics, playful rhythm, uninhibited expression". Prerana's use of rhythm is enriched by her minute observation and study of laya ('cross-rhythms'). She founded Nrityadham where she teaches and choreographs new works for her company. She conducts master classes, workshops and seminars in India and abroad. www.preranadeshpande.com
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ANURADHA NEHRU (Kuchipudi dancer, choreographer)
Anuradha Nehru has been critically acclaimed for her performances around the world. While her training is firmly rooted in the kuchipudi style of her guru, Vempati Chinna Satyam, she strives to seek new horizons for kuchipudi through collaborations and partnerships. She has taught for over 20 years in the United States and has produced outstanding young classical dancers who are now part of her dance company, Kalanidhi Dance. As Artistic Director of Kuchipudi Kalanidhi and Kalanidhi Dance, she has presented her company at many prestigious venues in the United States and India. She has produced and directed 2 original full-length works - Navarasa and Bhagmati. www.kalanidhi.org
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RAMYA RAMNARAYAN
(Bharatanatyam dancer, choreographer)
Ramya Ramnarayan is a bharathanatyam performer, choreographer, educator and a torch bearer who blends tradition with innovation. Ramya is the artistic director of Nrithyanjali. She has extended the outreach programs under Young Audiences, all over NJ. She is associated with Rutgers University, Drew University, Lehigh University, Muhlenburg College and many more institutions of higher education. Ramya has received awards "Kalaimamani", "Nadanamamani" from India, "Nrithya Seva Mani" from Cleveland, and Artist Fellowship Award for Choreography from MAAF. Over the years she has organized fundraisers for various charities. www.nrithyanjali.org
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RACHNA SARANG (Kathak teacher, choreographer)
Rachna Sarang is a distinguished kathak dance exponent, teacher and choreographer who has been performing, teaching and choreographing, for the last 40 years. She trained in kathak under the great maestros Pandit Sundarprashad, Pandit Lachhu Maharaj and the renowned Padma Vibhushan Pandit Birju Maharaj; and in bharatanatyam with Guru Kalyan Sundaram. She has presented her work at various prominent venues in New York such as Madison Square Garden, Lincoln Center, Town Hall and American Museum of Natural History. Her troupe performed with her sister, Madhurita Sarang, and accompanied by the renowned percussionist Ustad Zakir Hussain for the World Music Institute at Symphony Space, NY. |
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Musicians |
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AMOD DANDAWATE (Tabla)
Initiated by his father, Dr. Amod Dandawate has been primarily trained in the Farrukhabad style under Pt. Samir Chatterjee. Besides performing solo Tabla he has accompanied several high caliber artists including Pt. Ulhas Kashalkar, Smt. Prabha Atre, Pt. Sharad Sathe, Ustad Rashid Khan, Vidushi Shubra Guha, Smt. Mitali Bhawmik, among others. |
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DEEPTI NAVARATNA (Carnatic vocalist)
Deepti Navaratna is a Carnatic vocalist based in Cambridge, MA. Boston Globe described her music as 'particularly lovely and bewitching' (2010). A neuroscientist by profession and a member of the Society for Ethnomusicology and International Council for Traditional Music, she maintains research interests in Carnatic axiology, aesthetics and the neuroscience of Carnatic pedagogy. www.deeptinavaratna.com |
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INDRAJIT ROY-CHOWDHURY (Sitar)
Indrajit Roy-Chowdhury is a disciple of Pandit Subroto Roy-Chowdhury. Groomed in the Veen-kar style of the Senia Gharana, Indrajit strives to innovate while keeping a firm connection with the past. Indrajit has performed at venues such as Gyan Mancha (Kolkata), Hammerstein Ballroom (New York), Kennedy Center (Washington D.C.) and has had his concerts telecast by Doordarshan.
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ASTHA SHUKLA (Hindustani vocalist)
Ms. Astha Shukla is a vocalist specializing in Hindustani Classical, semi- classical and light music. She was initiated in music by her mother Dr. Veena Pani Shukla and later continued her training under late Pandit Kashinath Bodas and Smt. Veena Sahasrabuddhe. She currently lives in New Jersey and is actively involved in giving performances and sharing her knowledge with aspiring students. |
