Abhinaya Dance Company of San Jose

(USA)

Unbound


Date(s) & Time(s): Sun May 11, 2:00pm
Duration: 40 mins
Shared Bill: InSyncKathak total duration 95 mins
Venue: Dance Mission Theater
Location: 3316 24th St, SF, CA 94110,

Ticket Information

Early Bird: $20, Advance: $25, Door: $28
For the best deals, see multiple shows with a discount Festival Pass.
TICKETS FESTIVAL PASS

Funding Credits
Abhinaya’s programs are supported in part by a Cultural Affairs grant from the City of San Jose; the William & Flora Hewlett Foundation;​ ​SVCreates in partnership with the County of Santa Clara​; ​California Arts Council​ ​and individual donations.

Artist Information

Choreography/Performance: Rasika Kumar
Music Composition/Direction: Sindhu Natarajan
Nattuvangam/Additional Composition: Malavika Walia

Artist Websites

https://www.rasikakumardance.com/
https://www.abhinaya.org

Social Media Accounts

Facebook_Logo.jpg   

Rasika_Shakti_Horizontal_1400.jpg


Production Details

Unbound
Rasika Kumar’s solo Bharatanatyam production takes you on an intimate journey, revealing how we, as women navigating our lives, endure a thousand subtle cuts that diminish us, forcing us to shrink and occupy less space in the world. What if we expanded to live a bold and unapologetic life? Featuring an original score by composer Sindhu Natarajan rooted in Carnatic music, Rasika’s storytelling draws on traditional narrative frameworks where the main character, the nayika, pleads with the Goddess, desperately seeking a new role model for the modern day woman.

Abhinaya Dance Company of San Jose
Abhinaya Dance Company strives to present innovative and professional-quality performances of South Indian classical dance forms. Since 1986, Abhinaya has staged several full-length dance productions such as Shiva – The Cosmic Dancer (1986) to Jwala – The Immortal Flame (2011), Gandhi (2012), Arjuna (2014), and Vaanara Leela (2016), which received an Isadora Duncan Award for Best Performance. Abhinaya has been awarded several grants from state and city agencies and has collaborated with Kathak and modern dance companies, Japanese Taiko drummers, ShadowLight Theater, and a Balinese gamelan ensemble. From 2017 to 2019, Abhinaya explored themes of social justice through the experiences of Cesar Chavez and Martin Luther King, Jr. More recently, Abhinaya’s productions have focused on women’s issues, such as Through the Eyes of the Apsaras (2021) and Draupadi – The Unsung Warrior (2024). 'California Wildfire' premiered in 2022 addressed the pressing issue of climate change. Trained under Mythili Kumar and other renowned masters from Chennai, Rasika Kumar has become a central figure at Abhinaya, contributing as a principal dancer, soloist, and choreographer.

Artist Autobiography

Rasika Kumar 
An accomplished Bharatanatyam performer and choreographer, steeped in tradition but with contemporary sensibilities. She was the Associate Artistic Director of the Abhinaya Dance Company of San Jose (ADC), having studied under her mother Mythili Kumar, Artistic Director of ADC, and other renowned teachers from Chennai, India. Rasika was a featured soloist, principal dancer, and choreographer for all of ADC’s performance seasons from 2005 to 2016. Her innovative solo, group and collaborative choreography has been featured throughout the SF Bay Area and abroad, earning her an Arts Council of Silicon Valley Performing Arts Fellowship (2008), Isadora Duncan Awards (2011 - Music/Sound/Text - Collaborative rhythmic arrangement with San Jose Taiko, 2018 - Outstanding Achievement in Performance - Abhinaya Dance Company’s Vaanara Leela), and Lakshmi Viswanathan Award (2014) for Tanjore Quartet from Sri Krishna Gana Sabha (Chennai, India) for her solo performance. Rasika Kumar first premiered Shakti Unveiled in 2017.

Sindhu Natarajan
Sindhu Natarajan is a vocalist and composer, who hails from a distinguished musical lineage. . She began her formal training in Carnatic music under the tutelage of her aunts, Vasanthi Kannan and Raji Gopalakrishnan, and her grandfather, P.V. Natarajan. Over the past fifteen years, Sindhu has enthralled Bay Area audiences with her captivating vocal performances. Beyond her solo endeavors, she has composed music for and collaborated with prominent South Asian dance companies and choreographers nationwide. Sindhu is also a prolific composer, passionately creating music that seamlessly blends the intricate nuances of Carnatic music with contemporary genres. A dedicated advocate for immigrant artists, Sindhu serves on the advisory board of The Immigrant Artist Network, where she helps foster a sense of community and empowers fellow creatives to share their unique perspectives. She currently lives in the Bay Area with her husband and two daughters.

Malavika Walia
Malavika is a senior company dancer, choreographer, and teacher for the Abhinaya Dance Company of San Jose. She is the daughter of Artistic Director Smt. Mythili Kumar and has performed regularly in Abhinaya’s productions since 1992 and toured to India and around the USA. She is also the founder and director of Abhinaya’s pre-professional Junior Dance Company. Malavika has been performing nattuvangam since 2000 and has received critical acclaim from The Hindu for her nattuvangam performance during the Chennai music and dance season. She regularly performs nattuvangam for Abhinaya's arangetrams and company productions as well as Principal Dancer Rasika Kumar’s solo performances.


San Francisco International Arts Festival
Phone Number: 415-399-9554 | Email: [email protected]
1471 Guerrero Street, #3 San Francisco, CA 94110

 

CONTACT

Mailing List

Facebook

Instagram

ABOUT

Mission

Archives

Funders