| MEDIA
RELEASES 2011 Press Release
(Toronto)
Kala Nidhi Fine Arts of Canada under the artistic direction of Sudha Khandwani continues its exploration of contemporary Indian dance with a Festival of outstanding works from Canada, England, and India. The 2011 festival will honour the work of contemporary Kathak choreographer and dancer, Padma Bhushan Kumudini Lakhia through performances by her school and company “Kadamb” as well as a tribute at the Symposium. Performance Highlights – March 16 – 19th: Canada 1. “Ipsita Nova”
(Canada) – Toronto dancer Nova Bhattacharya presents her Dora nominated
performance of “Calm Abiding”, with choreography by José Navas. England 7. “Sristi Nina Rajarani Dance Creations” (UK) England’s award-winning contemporary Indian dance company presents “Quick!” and “Bend It!” with live music provided by Sri Lankan dance vocalist Y.Yadavan India 8. “Sadhya”
(India) - Mayurbhanj Chhau dancer choreographer Santosh Nair returns to
Toronto with his company “Sadhya” in a performance of Game of Dice. Professional Development: March 15 – 18th – 10 am – 12 pm, Mayurbhanj Chhau Dance Residency with Santosh Nair from New Delhi – Toronto School of Dance, 80 Winchester Street, Toronto, Studio A – $160 or $40/day. Registration call 905-764-7028, ext. 22 Symposium: March 19 & 20 – Join the Festival performers as they discuss their unique processes and individual journeys into creating contemporary choreographic works. Learn about the legendary contemporary choreographer, dancer and mentor Padma Bhushan Kumudini Lakhia as we pay tribute to her pioneering career in contemporary Indian dance. Attendance is free with Festival performance ticket stub or $10 each day. Primrose Hotel, 111 Carlton Street, Toronto. Registration call 905-764-7028, ext.22 Performance
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Dr. Kumudini Lakhia is a Kathak dancer and choreographer based in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, where she has founded an institution named Kadamb, a centre for Indian dance and music. She began her career dancing with Ram Gopal as he toured the West, bringing Indian dance to the eyes of people abroad for the first time, and then became a noted dancer and choreographer in her own right. She learned first from various gurus of Jaipur gharana, and then from the renowned Shambhu Maharaj. She particularly excels in her multi-person choreographies which are renowned for their fresh and innovative use of the performance space while losing none of the pure classicism of the dance form. Some of her most famous choreographies include Dhabkar (Pulse), Yugal (The Duet), and Atah Kim (Where Now?). In each of these, she presented the Kathak dance form in a way that had never been seen before, and which at the time had some purists up in arms. However, these choreographies are now considered classic, and many of the innovations she premiered in them have become so ingrained in Kathak performance that people are unaware that they were once just that: innovations. She is also guru to many disciples, perhaps most notably Kathak dancers Aditi Mangaldas, Daksha Sheth, Prashant Shah, Anjali Patil and Parul Shah who have gone on to international fame. Kumudini Lakhia was awarded the civilian honor of Padma Shri by the Government of India in 1987. Her biography 'Movement in stills' by Reena Shah is a huge source of inspiration for many around the globe. Having worked with pioneers like Akram Khan, Kumudini Lakhia has in time become a legend in the field of Indian Classical dance. Her school, KADAMB, attracts students from all over the world. Santosh Nair – India - Santosh Nair received, initial training in Kathakali, from his father Shri. Kalamandalam Padmanabhan & later from Guru Sadanam Balakrishnan. He studied contemporary dance under Narendra Sharma & trained in Mayurbhanj Chhau, under Guru Janme Joy Sai Babu. He has performed widely within the country & abroad including the Modern Dance Festival in West Germany, the Big World festival in Brazil, Kalanidhi Festival in Toronto with Ileana Citaristi , Doll’s House with Damini House of Culture, Oslo, Norway & The Motherland Project with Sampad –South Asian Arts, Birmingham. He also
collaborated with eminent Austrian choreographer, Editta Braun & Solvi
Edverdsen of Norway performing in Germany, Vienna, Salzburg & other
European cities. He was invited as The Master Teacher in DanceIntense
program in Toronto, Canada, to conduct movement workshop based on
Mayurbhanj Chhau & this year choreographed “Stealth” for Sampradaya
Dance Creations, which was showcased in Ottawa Dance Festival. Nina Rajarani – Shristi - England - carried out her Bharatanatyam training under Prakash Yadagudde at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan's London branch, during which time she also had additional training with Chitra Visweswaran of Chennai, India. Nina was awarded Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan's Diploma in Bharatanatyam in 1986, and in 1987 she staged her Arangetram under her guru Prakash Yadagudde. Since 1988 Nina has received training regularly in Chennai under Shanta and VP Dhananjayan. In 1989, the Arts Council of England in conjunction with ADiTi (the national organisation for South Asian Dance in the UK) awarded Nina a scholarship to undergo an intensive training period with the Dhananjayans in Chennai. Nina has also received Karnatic music vocal training under Sivasakti Sivanesan at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan's London branch, and under Karpagam Balasubramanian in Chennai. As a performer, Nina has toured extensively within the UK, in several other European countries, in India, Singapore, Malaysia and Australia. In September 2006, Nina won the Place Prize, Europe's largest choreographic competition sponsored by Bloomberg. Out of 204 entries by choreographers, Nina was one of the chosen twenty commissioned to create a new dance piece. Her piece QUICK! won the competition with raving comments from the judges and the press. Nina Rajarani was awarded an MBE (Member of the British Empire) in the Queen's 2009 Birthday Honours, in recognition of her services to South Asian Dance. The award, which recognises many years' work developing and raising the profile of South Asian dance, was announced on 13 June 2009, and presented in December. www.srishti.co.uk Y Yadavan - Composer and Vocalist – Shristi – England - Y Yadavan trained from a very young age in Sri Lanka and later in India under the renowned Sangeetha Kalanidhi B Rajam Iyer in Chennai. A holder of a BA in Indian Music (Madras University) and a diploma holder from the Music Academy (Chennai), Yadavan also won the GNB Memorial Award for "The Best Male Vocalist" in the 1999 Music Academy annual competitions, and broke records by being awarded as many as nine prizes in the same year. Since April 2002, Yadavan has been collaborating with UK based dancer Nina Rajarani, touring internationally with SRISHTI - Nina Rajarani Dance Creations. In recent years, he has also composed all the music scores for SRISHTI. In September 2006, Nina Rajarani's piece QUICK! was the winner of Europe's largest choreographic competition, the Place Prize 2006, sponsored by Bloomberg. Yadavan composed the music for this piece as well as directed and performed in the musical team of this winning company. Y Yadavan is a most sought after vocalist and has provided vocal accompaniment for many dance performances and Arangetrams all over the world. He performs on a regular basis in the UK, Switzerland, Australia, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, India and Canada. In addition
to this, he teaches Karnatic vocal music at Srishti's Dance School as
well as independently. Apart from teaching music students, Yadavan is
well acquainted in teaching the music component of the Bharatanatyam
syllabus of the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing (ISTD). He has
also sung for the ISTD's Bharatanatyam audio resource for teachers.
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