Tag Archives: Kathak dance

FULL DAY OF DANCE© RETURNS!!!

The Full Day of Dance© a unique, wonderful feature of the International Dance Festival@Silicon Valley will be back this August 8 & 9. Classes will be offered over Zoom.  ALL CLASSES ARE FREE! This is too good to be true, but it really is true. Lively offers an array of artist-teachers who are gifted dance artists who also excel in the art of teaching. PLEASE NOTE: (1)  Teachers will perform at the end of their class. You will want to sign up for the class to see the performance. (2) Classes are free, however you need to register to get the sign in code. Here are the artist teachers of Full Day of Dance© 2020:

Chrystal Bella Chen & Oscar Adrian Rodriguez are champion ballroom dancers. They will teach ballroom dance on Sunday afternoon, August 9. At the end of the class THEY WILL PERFORM!! You do not have to have a partner to learn the dance steps. No worries, you will enjoy it all!! The music is great, and Chrystal Bella and Oscar will help you improve what you already know or quickly learn what is new to you.

Audreyanne Delgado Covarrubias will teach Tap Dance on Saturday, August 8, and Pilates mat on Sunday August 9. Audreyanne is a MASTER of TAP. Do not miss the chance to learn and dance with her. She is an excellent and attentive teacher. After her class, watch AUDREYANNE PERFORM! You will wonder how she taps when it looks like her feet never touch the ground!!

Shambhavi Dandekar, Founder and Director of SISK in India and California will teach Kathak on August 8th. Kathak is a classical dance of India. All levels are welcome, beginners and experienced artists. Kathak tells stories with rhythmic feet, swirling turns, expressive arms. This is a GREAT opportunity to take a master class from one of the foremost Kathak artists. If you are a beginner, remember you will be at home! No need to be shy or worry about missing a step. This is your chance! Try it! By the way, Kathak and Tap can make a great combination. After her class, see SHAMBHAVI DANDEKAR in PERFORMANCE!

She’s back! Megan Ivey Rohrbacher teaches Physical Comedy on Sunday afternoon, August 9th. Last seen, she was given a going away party after a wonderful workshop she led at IDF@SV, 2018. Immediately after the cake and hugs, Megan went to Hawaii to get married. Now, all the way from Hawaii she will join in Full Day of Dance©.  And MEGAN PERFORMS AFTER HER CLASS!

Etta Walton!! Etta will lead her fantastic LIne Dances class on Saturday, August 8. Etta’s class is fun for everyone, even the person writing this post who is also the person facing the back wall while everyone else faces the front. Great dancing for everyone. Terrific music–western and soul and pop–and ETTA WILL PERFORM AFTER THE CLASS.

Annie Wilson has got that JAZZ! She taught and performed in the 2018 Festival, and we are happy she’s back! She will teach Jazz dance on August 8th. All levels welcome. Get ready for Jazz. At the end of the class ANNIE WILL PERFORM!

PLEASE NOTE:  ALL THE CLASSES ARE FREE, BUT YOU STILL NEED TO REGISTER. AFTER YOU REGISTER AND A FEW DAYS BEFORE THE CLASSES, YOU WILL RECEIVE SIGN IN INFORMATION.  FOR REGISTRATION INFORMATION AND SCHEDULE DETAILS WATCH THIS LIVELYBLOG!

Antara Bhardwaj: Tale of a Kathaka in Mountain View

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Kathak dancer, Antara Bhardwaj, presented by Sangam Arts and EnActe Arts, performed Tale of a Kathaka, an exciting program, July 9, 2016, at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts. She demonstrated her mastery of the classical Indian dance with its origins in Northern India, and her ability to captivate an audience with her interpretations of the tradition. The enthusiastic audience found much to applaud and also much to think about. Ms Bhardwaj’s program included collaborations with other artists. It is her special focus to work with artists of other traditions. The first dance on Tale of a Kathaka combined Andrea Sendek’s Belly Dance group, Khepri Dance Company, with Kathak dancers from Ms Bhardwaj’s new group, Antara Asthaayi Dance. The contrast of the Khepri dancers’ silky, translucent costumes with the Kathak dancers in jewel tone costumes added visual pleasure to the dancing. The two dance forms share movement themes of spiraling, vivid turning. Named Deewani Mastani and based on a character from a popular Bollywood film, Bajirao Mastani, the dance was an exuberant beginning.

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Ms Bhardwaj wisely chose outstanding musicians to accompany her work and perform selections of their own. The Sarangi-Sarod Jugalbandi, a duet for Sarangi artist Pankaj Mishara and Sarod artist Ben Kunin, was fascinating in its own right and also a great program choice between dances. A sitar solo by Rajib Karmakar was an excellent addition to the program. It was a treat to be in the audience for Salar Nader, renowned Tabla artist, as well. Vocalists included Vaishali Bhardwaj, Leah Brown, and Divya Chandran.
kathakRoboAmong Ms Bhardwaj’s strengths as a performer is her comfort addressing her audience verbally or through dance. She deepened appreciation for her work by explaining aspects of Kathak. For example, she demonstrated the counts of the complex rhythms. On a more personal level, she talked about falling in love with the movie dances she saw as a youngster and her determination to dance in “twirly skirts.” She communicates her understanding of her art and a confident presence which could light up all of Silicon Valley. One selection, Journey of the Steam Engine, had special resonance for this viewer. It was a signature piece of Pandit Chitresh Das, Ms Bhardwaj’s guru, and had been created by his guru, Pandit Ram Narayan Mishra. As she told its story and danced, I remembered my first meeting with Chitresh Das and could see him in that moment. His energy seemed to expand the stage. Ms Bhardwaj is Dance & Music director of The Conference of the Birds, which appears Sept. 9-11, at the Mexican Heritage Plaza, San Jose. A production combining diverse ethnic dance groups, it promises an extraordinary event.