Tag Archives: Classical Indian Dance

Lively Foundation Creates Community: Embarcadero Publishing

This article appeared in Our Neighborhoods: Mountain View and Los Altos, December, 2019, a magazine published by the Embarcadero Publishing Co., which publishes the Mountain View Voice, Palo Alto Weekly, Menlo-Atherton Almanac newspapers. Lively thanks Embarcadero Publishing for recognizing The Lively Foundation as a leader in creating community and selecting us to represent our community.

The first thing Leslie Friedman notices when she enters a room is the floor. Wooden? Concrete? Tiled? Her dancer’s eye is always looking for good floors for dancing. She is also always searching for ways her work can serve the community. She brings people together to dance, to enjoy dance, to learn about our many cultures, and about each other. Her dance succeeds at building community.
As an internationally touring performer, choreographer, and artistic director of the nonprofit Lively Foundation that operates in Old Mountain View, her deep passion for life and her art energizes her choreography and performances. She is first American dancer or artist of any kind to perform with joint sponsorship of the US State Department and host countries around the world. These “firsts” include performances in Moscow and Leningrad/St. Petersburg, Russia; Beijing, Shenyang, and Shanghai, China; Barcelona and Madrid, Spain; Warsaw, Lodz, Krakow, Poznan, Poland; New Delhi, Bengaluru (Bangalore), Kolkata (Calcutta), Chennai (Madras), India; Bucharest, Romania; Cairo and Alexandria, Egypt; Tunis, Tunisia, and more. Her performances in these cities plus London, Tokyo, Toronto, Seoul, were all given ovations and invitations to return.
She stirs up artistic presence on the Peninsula by inviting renowned dancers to teach and perform in the annual International Dance Festival@Silicon Valley that she hosts in Mountain View.

Artistic Director, Leslie Friedman
First launched in 2012, the week long festival seeks to create performance opportunities for professional dance artists, offers intensive training for dancers and dance students, and invites the whole community to experience dance in professional performance. “Some audience members would be dance lovers, for some it would be their first time watching, for all we hope to give them the excitement and beauty of dance,” says Leslie. The Festival also attracts adults aged 15 and up to classes in a wide variety of dances and exposes them to the new choreography created by the teaching artists. Performances and classes include traditional dances from many cultures flourishing in the Bay Area: Irish set dancing, Salsa, Polish folk dance, Mexican Folclorico, Afro-Haitian, several kinds of classical Indian dances, classical Chinese dance. These are in addition to Ballet, Tap, Line Dances, Contemporary, Jazz, and Ballroom dances.

Crystal Bella Chen and Oscar Adrian Rodriguez perform Ballroom dance in the International Dance Festival@Silicon Valley, 2019

“There is a rich variety of movement styles available for our open Master Classes on the Festival’s Full Day of Dance©,” says Leslie, “We encourage everyone to do what they love and also try something new.” All the classes are mixed levels. That includes beginners and pros.
“A ballerina will have an opportunity to learn Afro-Haitian Dance and love it as a beginner in the class. A complete beginner might have a wonderful time in Line dances or find a gift for Tap,” Friedman explains. “Professional dancers can showcase their work here. It gives them new audiences, a chance to demonstrate and develop their art.”
Through the IDF@SV, Friedman said she hopes to bring the diversity of arts of different origins while involving the community in dance. She also believes it is possible and important that everyone finds a way to move that they enjoy enough to keep doing.
“Move whatever moves, wiggle whatever wiggles,” she said. “If my work inspires someone to keep moving, wow!”
]ennifer Urmson, a mother of two boys, was happy to endorse the way Leslie Friedman and The Lively Foundation build community. She started taking Friedman’s weekly ballet classes when a friend invited her two years ago. “I had not been dancing for a very long time, and I was nervous about the idea of doing ballet as an adult,” Urmson said, adding that as a child, she was told ballet was for bodies of a certain shape. “But Leslie is wonderful as a teacher, very open and supportive. I was really pleased that after a couple of lessons, I felt myself getting stronger and improving my balance.”
Within Jennifer’s class there was a woman in her early 20s, other moms, and retirees. A few of them were organize activities for their dance class friends outside class, such as going together to attend a ballet performance at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts.
Urmson said whether you attend several classes or take part in a single workshop at the Festival, The Lively Foundation seems to have a way of connecting people.
“Months after the dance Festival, you’ll hear people exchanging highlights from the event when they run into one another around town,” she said. “Even if it’s just one class, you see a different side of people. You feel you know them better.” For more information about the International Dance Festival@Silicon Valley, contact livelyfoundation@sbcglobal.net
—Esther Young, 2019; photo of Leslie Friedman demonstrating a movement for Julie Van Gelder, private student and Festival participant, by Magali Gauthier

Nritya Sangam: Kathak & Bharatanatyam in Mountain View

An innovative and powerful performance comes to the Mountain View Performing Arts Center, Sept. 28, 2:30 p.m. Shambhavi Dandekar, Kathak artist, and Parlmal Phadke, Bharatanatyam artist, perform together in Nritya Sangam. Both Ms. Dandekar and Mr. Phadke are well known and tour widely throughout the world. They have presented this concert in 40 US cities, China, and Muscat. “Sangam” describes the meeting of two rivers; the energy and beauty of these two classical Indian dance forms come together to create a new experience in this concert. It is also the meeting of the male presence in movement and the female presence in movement, an exploration of both traditional and modern form and content. For tickets and more information see www.sulekha.com photos: Shambhavi Dandekar (L) Parlmal Phadke (R)

Usha Srinivasan & Urmila Vudali Dance: Mother & Child

The San Francisco Bay Area is rich in artists devoted to classical Indian dance forms. There are performances throughout the year, especially in Bharatanatyam, yet, the concert, Mother & Child, performed by Usha Srinivasan and her daughter, Urmila Vudali, Aug. 24, 2014, De Anza College, Cupertino, stands out. They danced a full, classical program from the opening invocation Pushpanjali to an exuberant concluding Thillana. Clarity of movement and communication of deep emotions characterized the performance. It was beautiful and very moving. Themes of motherhood and a child’s relationship to her mother were expressed through stories of Krishna, Parvati, Ganesha, and others from the human realm. For example, in a Padam selection which called upon the performers’ dramatic skills, a mother questions her daughter’s choice of a boy friend. He has wild hair and his outfit is hardly Brooks Brothers. The daughter has fallen in love with Shiva. That match is far beyond exceptional, but the situation is universal in human families. The Varnum selection was a major effort combining three aspects of Bharatanatyam: Nritta, pure dance (abstract rhythmic movements), Nritya, expressive dance, and Natya, dramatic art. It was a premiere work drawing from an array of religious/mythological stories. It demanded focus and energy from the dancers, and they were more than equal to the challenge. In fact, Ms Srinivasan’s solo piece called out such emotional connection that this viewer felt tears come to her eyes. The program included musical compositions by M.S. Sukhi for the delightful Pushpanjali, the Varnum, Amba Stuthi, and the extraordinary Thillana. The music added extra perceptions to the event. Amba Stuthi was “an ode to Mother Amba, Goddess Parvati, consort of Lord Shiva.” The folk melody, Madu Meikkum Kanne, added texture to this well-rounded performance. The musicians, seated onstage in the traditional way, were outstanding: Sri Murali Parthasarathy(vocal), N. Veeramani(violin), M.S. Sukhi(mridangam), Navia Natarajan Menon(nattuvangam and also a dance guru to the artists). The joy obviously shared by this mother and child enveloped the audience. Eleven year old Ms Vudali has studied Bharatanatyam for five years. She danced with energy and precision. One must wonder where she goes from here as her dancing is already well formed artistry. Ms Srinivasan studied Bharatanatyam with her daughter. She proclaims herself an amateur. Being an amateur means she is a lover of this multi-layered, heart shaking art. So much of the dance, music, lyrics is devotional. It is appropriate: this was a performance suffused with love.Photos: Usha Srinivasan & Urmila Vudali, top & below, courtesy Ms Srinivasan; dancer’s ankle bells, file photo.

Los Altos Town Crier Features IDF@SV

That terrific newspaper, The Los Altos Town Crier, featured the International Dance Festival@Silicon Valley in its most recent issue. LATC recognizes our Festival as a wonderful addition to the life of its community. The feature was in “Mountain View on the Move.” The Festival certainly does get Mountain View MOVING! Here’s the link to the article:

www.losaltosonline.com/…/mountain–view…/47987-lively-foundation-hosts- dance–festival

Tune up your technique! Try something you’ve never done before! Have a wonderful time! Come dance with us. FULL DAY OF DANCE© August 16; FESTIVAL CONCERT August 17. Do it!

FULL DAY OF DANCE© is the unique, amazing innovation of International Dance Festival@Silicon Valley. The greatest dance experiences for everyone from pros to beginners. Take something you already know and love AND try something completely new to you! Never danced before? This is your time. A professional ballerina who stays up late watching Fred Astaire & Ginger Rogers tap? This is your chance to give it a try. Supportive, enthusiastic teachers. You’ll be in a class with all different levels. Someone might be a complete beginner at classical Indian dance but terrific in tap. Or — a total complete beginner–you name it; it’s all possible. You can take one, some, or all six classes. The price per class reduces with each added class. No special outfits or shoes required. Even for tap, wear a shoe that will stay on your feet; you can learn the rhythms & steps without taps on your soles, but your true soul will be dancing!!! Here’s the class schedule. Doors open at 8:30 a.m. Save time & pay in advance. Information: call 650/969-4110 or see us at facebook/international dance festival silicon valley and at facebook/The Lively Foundation.

9:00-10:00 Pilates mat (bring a towel or mat if you can); 10:15-11:30 Dunham technique; 11:45-1 p.m. tap; 1-1:30 Lunch Break; 1:30-2:30 Line Dancing with Etta; 2:45-4:00 Salsa; 4:15-5:30 Manipuri, an Indian classical dance. Prices: single class $25/all six $84–in between reduces per class with each added class.

Scholarships Available to Dance at Festival!

GET SOME DOUGH!! Financial aide is still available to help you attend the International Dance Festival@Silicon Valley. Funds are available NOW. Do not miss this great opportunity! Let us know of your desire to attend as soon as you can. In addition to scholarship aide, IDF@SV offers more ways to reduce your costs: FREE homestays in lovely homes only a few blocks away from the Festival center for all classes and events; bring another dancer to the Festival, and you both will get a discount; members of Dancers’ Group get a 10% discount on all classes and events.This is YOUR time to dance. It is YOUR time to perform in a real, public concert on a program with acclaimed professionals. It is YOUR chance to create a dance to be performed on the Festival Concert. Come dance with us!!

International Dance Festival-Silicon Valley: FESTIVAL ARTISTS

International Dance Festival-Silicon Valley offers an amazing array of dance artists who will perform and teach in Season III, August 11-17, 2014, at the Masonic Center, Mountain View, CA. Mon-Fri Workshop artists include Leslie Arbogast (San Diego,CA/East St. Louis, IL) teaching Katherine Dunham; Leanne Rinelli (Buffalo, NY) teaching Salsa; Leslie Friedman (San Francisco) teaching Contemporary. Each workshop, open to interm-adv. dancers, will teach technique and repertory which dancers may perform in the Festival Concert, Sun., Aug., 17. Full Day of Dance©, Aug. 16, open master classes for all–adv. dancers and non-dancers–offers Pilates mat taught by Amity Johnson, Tap taught by Audreyanne Covarrubias, Salsa taught by L. Rinelli, Dunham taught by L. Arbogast, Contemporary taught by L.Friedman, Electric Lines taught by Etta Walton, Manipuri taught by Dr. Sohini Ray. ALL OF THE TEACHING ARTISTS plus the FESTIVAL DANCERS will perform in the FESTIVAL CONCERT. Don’t miss these wonderful opportunities. For dancers: learn more, stretch your technique, acquire new skills, work with world-renown artists, meet other dancers. For dance lovers: take a class, try something new, get to know dance artists. For the whole community: learn more about dance, expand your appreciation of dance arts. Let the Festival begin! For registration information, watch this blog. Scholarships available.pictures: top: Leanne Rinelli, L to R, top to bottom: Sohini Ray, Leanne Rinelli teaching at Festival 2012, Etta Walton, Leslie Friedman, Leslie Arbogast, Audreyanne Covarrubias, Amity Johnson.