Our Bureau
New Brunswick, NJ
Nritya Darpan 2024, a one-day dance festival presented by the Indian Heritage and Cultural Association (IHCA-NJ), in partnership with the Consulate General of India, New York returns on May 25th, 2024, at the New Brunswick Performing Arts Center (NBPAC) in New Brunswick, New Jersey.
The concept of Nritya Darpan is developed by the Founder and the President of IHCA-NJ, Dr. Ashok Chaudhary, to promote exceptionally talented local artists and dance groups. The festival, initiated in 2022, showcases exceptional performing artists from the tri-state area who move beyond the classical Indian dance forms and bring a contemporary vision to their creations. The dancers and choreographers who are experts in Indian classical dance forms and trying to sustain our rich heritage and culture in the US by adopting various dance forms including Western dance styles, have been chosen to participate at Nritya Darpan.
Shubhamani Chandrasekhar, exponent of Bharatanatyam, will bring to life the qualities of freedom and self-assurance exemplified by the celestial beings called apsaras in a duet titled Apsara. These stories serve as a contrast to the challenge of women being objectified as fulfillers of others’ needs. Shubhamani Chandrasekhar, born in a family of great dancers and musicians. She started learning Bharatnatyam (a form of Indian Classical Dance) at the age of 5 under her illustrious mother Sharadhamani Shekar.
Parul Shah is an exquisite dancer known for her contemporary explorations stemming from the Kathak classical dance form of North India, in all that lies. This work in progress attempts to challenge and disrupt Western stereotypes and expectations of Indian dance. Shah will perform the piece with Harsimran Kaur. Shah, an artistic director of the Parul Shah dance company, utilizes performance and education to promote cultural awareness and explore stories around identity. Drawing from her North Indian Classical dance training in Kathak, Shah expands the classical medium beyond cultural boundaries. Shah has earned her B.A. in Political Science from New York University and her M.A. in Dance & Dance Education from Teachers College, Columbia University. She is currently pursuing her Doctorate in dance and cultural studies, focusing her research on the decolonization of dance education in America and examining cultural identities through dance. With years of training under the renowned Padmabhushan Kumudini Lakhia, Shah’s repertoire takes inspiration from the dance tradition, Kathak, while building on the dance form’s mythological storytelling roots to explore contemporary narratives. She is an adjunct professor at Montclair State University, NJ, and Marymount College, New York City while also a teacher of Kathak for more than fifteen years.
Vikas Arun and his company Project Convergence, will present Taalam (Rhythm), a euphoric union of Bharatanatyam and American tap dance celebrating the universal language of rhythm. Project Convergence is home to the union of Bharatanatyam and American tap dance. Lauded by both the New York Times and The Hindu, Project Convergence presents an experience simultaneously familiar and unfamiliar to audiences by uniting two seemingly different cultures in the universal language of rhythm. The company has been featured in The Guardian, WNYC (New York Public Radio), and The Dance Enthusiast. They’ve appeared across the United States, including at Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre for the Erasing Borders Dance Festival, Lincoln Center for their 2018 Out of Doors Series, and the Houston Texan’s NRG Stadium. Excerpts of their show Taalam (Rhythm) have played to a sold-out 5,000-person audience at Damrosch Park at Lincoln Center and the Citigroup Theatre at Alvin Ailey.
Bharathi Penneswaran, artistic director and co-founder of Aalokam, who will perform two comedic creations, Chahiti and Shadjam, along with her ensemble. These works blend the narrative aspect of Bharatanatyam with Penneswaran’s bold and playful sense of humor. The Artistic Director and Co-Founder of Aalokam, Bharathi Penneswaran, is a dancer and choreographer based in New York City. She specializes in Shilpanatanam and imbues traditional Indian dance with a boldly energetic perspective. Aalokam productions meld traditional and contemporary themes to create a unique set of works that combine music, movement, acting, and storytelling.
Mesma Belsaré, a captivating performer, will dance Jatayu, a work that investigates this cameo character – the king of birds in the Hindu epic Ramayana. The piece is choreographed by Maya Kulkarni in the Shilpanatanam genre, a narrative dance form pioneered by Kulkarni that stretches the boundaries of Indian classical forms to non-traditional themes and expressions. Mesma Belsaré is a classically trained dancer, choreographer, and educator. The New York Times calls her “a tour de force…a true act of transcendence and religious immersion”; The Dance Current magazine hails her as “as mesmerizing as staring into the heart of a fire”. Belsaré is the recipient of the Dance/USA 2023 Fellowship funded by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, and the NJ Arts Council’s 2024 Artist Fellowship Award for her outstanding work, besides support from NEFA, the Government of Delhi (Sāhitya Kalā Parishad) and the Cambridge Arts Council. Belsaré has engaged with audiences at several U.S. public universities, colleges, and art museums including Boston MFA, Peabody Essex Museum, and the Gardner Museum.
For more information and to buy tickets visit the IHCA website.
