https://www.longbeach.gov/library/news/aapihm-2025
Danish Bhandara is a professional dancer, actress, choreographer & dance teacher. She has over 12 yrs of training in Kathak (a Classical Indian dance form), Bollywood dance, & Raqs Sharqi (Belly dance). In 2017 she graduated from UCLA with a BA in World Arts & Cultures- emphasis in Dance. Danish has performed at Disney CA Adventures & Disney Animal Kingdom with Blue 13 Dance Company for which she has also been dance captain. Some of her other notable work include dancing LIVE on KTLA 5’s Morning News, A.R Rahman’s Concert at the Hollywood Bowl, pop stars’ Latto & Anne Marie’s music video I Just Called , the launch of Netflix series: We Speak Dance, and choreographing for the play West Bollywood written by Aruna Harjani, directed by Kiff Scholl . As a South Asian performing artist & educator Danish cares deeply about authentic representation, equity, & increasing access to multicultural arts education. She hopes to continue to help these causes through her work.
Ishika Muchhal is an LA-based Indian American storyteller and artist. With a BFA in Acting from CalArts and over 19 years of training in many styles of singing and dancing, she strives to create art through a decolonial, intersectional, and mixed-media lens. A strong advocate for authentic, multi-dimensional representation, she received the California Arts Council ‘Individual Artist Fellow’ grant for her interview series A QISSAA with Ishika: Quintessential and Inspiring Stories of South Asian Artists. Alongside performing, Ishika works in numerous capacities across arts administration, political organizing, fundraising and advocacy, and community engagement and is a Humanity in Action Senior Fellow. Ishika also loves to travel, create collage art, write, and make eggcelent puns that will surely crack you up. Recent credits: Tiny Little Town (Theatre Movement Bazaar), Silent Hill: Ascension (VO), Seven Hoshi (CalArts), Something in the Air (Hudson), The Fig and the Wasp (CalArts), Dear Mother Moon (Edinburgh Fringe), and The Pomegranate Tree (Chapman Dodge). http://www.ishikamuchhal.com/
The Dancing Storytellers, have been touring this show to schools, libraries, museums and theaters all over Southern California for 10 years! Now the Segerstrom Center for the Performing Arts did a beautiful taping of it and it is available for booking through the Center, contact ArtsTeach@SCFTA.org. Get a taste in the teaser below!
https://share.scfta.org/watch/j8bhdLFb1SzYrpKX4gjio3
Indian Mythology and Me was created by Sheetal Gandhi, Shyamala Moorty and Ulka Simone Mohanty
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!
Here we’ve chosen a kid who was able to use abhinaya (expression) to show and angry demon king, Mahishasura.
And now the courageous Durga has come to challenge Mahishasura’s repressive regime!
The audience has to guess what happens…
A bunch of 3rd grade boys saw us after the show and told us we were “cool!”
Photo by Chris Emerick, courtesy of the Segerstrom Center for the Performing Arts.
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.
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).
