Indian Mythology and Me

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Now known as “Indian Mythology and Me” our show is represented on the Music Center on Tour Artist Roster and has undergone some upgrades, including this beautiful new backdrop by artist Khushboo Gulati (pictured below with the artist).

Dancing Storytellers Ulka 3Also pictured is our newest member of Dancing Storytellers, Ulka Simone Mohanty!

Ulka joined us in early 2017 when Sheetal was busy with wedding plans to perform the show while we continued to tour various schools across Southern CA.

She was a hit with the fans (as seen below signing autographs for kids)

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Ulka and Shyamala performed for over 2,000 kids in the 2016-17 school year.

Stay tuned for more news on the Dancing Storytellers spreading peace in all things, everywhere!

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Ulka and Shyamala  after performing at Dolores St. Elementary

 

Stories…on the MOVE! at the FORD

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Thanks to all that joined us at the FORD!

Here are some memorable moments captured by Wendy Moorty:

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Sharing new choreography

 

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Dancing with musicians

 

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Interacting with the kids

 

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Dancing up a storm

 

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Making beautiful music

 

 

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Performing funny characters

 

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And finally, meeting families after the show!

The Big Elephant and the Little Mouse

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One of the Panchantantra Tales we include in Stories…on the MOVE!, coming to the Ford Ampitheater Sat July 27,  is the tale of The Big Elephant and the Little Mouse:

Breaking the notions of big and small, powerful and weak, this is a story that teaches us never to under estimate anyone based on what they look like.

Here we are at Palisades Elementary, the big elephant towering over the little mouse….

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And here is a clip of the elephant rhythm we are working on in rehearsal…

[vimeo http://www.vimeo.com/70343368 w=500&h=281]

Stories Moving People

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Yesterday we had an open rehearsal of the new version of Stories…on the MOVE!  We were told by our colleagues that came to give us feedback that the show is “joyful” and “clever”!  We hope you join us for the fun on July 27th at 10am at the Ford Amphitheater! Get tickets here.

Meantime here’s some photos of some of the funnest parts of the show where we interact with the audiences, thanks to Gemina Gowdy who took photos at one of our performances at Palisades Elementary School.

After we taught this poem to the kids, using hasta mudras (hand gestures) to tell a story,  a kindergartener told us he thought the story was about how we’re all connected with our hearts!

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Here we’ve chosen a kid who was able to use abhinaya (expression) to show and angry demon king, Mahishasura.

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And now the courageous Durga has come to challenge Mahishasura’s repressive regime!

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The audience has to guess what happens…

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A bunch of 3rd grade boys saw us after the show and told us we were “cool!”

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Photo by Chris Emerick, courtesy of the Segerstrom Center for the Performing Arts.

Making Music, Making Magic!

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Check out what we’ve been up to with our new musical collaborators Jas and Kamaljeet Ahluwalia!

See us live  Saturday July 27, 2013 @10am at the FORD  Get your on-line tickets here!

In the meantime, here’s a tidbit from our musical rehearsals:

[vimeo http://www.vimeo.com/69760208 w=500&h=281]

A rhythm from Northern Ghana on the Calabash mixing with Hindustani music on the tabla and santoor.

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Making music in front of the altar at Khmer Arts Academy while Khmer Art’s Associate Artistic Director, Prumsodun Ok, works in the background.

Our rehearsals for the Ford’s BIG!WORLD!FUN! series have been generously supported with rehearsal space from West LA College (video above) and at the Khmer Arts Academy (pic above).

“To Watch Us Dance Is To Hear Our Hearts Speak” – Hopi/Choctaw Proverb by Derrick “Suwaima” Davis

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Welcome to the blog and website of Dancing Storytellers, Sheetal and Shyamala!

We are dancers and storytellers,

singers and percussionists,

actors and educators.

We are here to bring ancient stories from India to life…in new ways.

These stories were passed down to us by our families, by our gurus, by hours of reading Amar Chitra Katha comic books, and now we are going to pass these stories on to you!

We are currently working on adapting our children’s school-assembly show, “Stories…on the MOVE!” for the 2013 Big! World! Fun! Family series at the FORD AMPHITHEATER.  This includes working with live musicians, Jas and Kamaljeet Ahluwalia.  We’ll be posting more on these incredibly talented musicians in future posts.

In the meantime, get to know us.  We’re looking forward to getting to know you!

~ Sheetal and Shyamala