Mandala Makers Festival Moves Online

Mandala South Asian Performing Arts presents emerging artists working within and beyond South Asian traditions and culture through the Mandala Makers Festival. Originally scheduled June 13 and 14 at the Green Line Performing Arts Center, the festival's content instead will be available June 13 and 14 through Mandala's all-new digital platform honoring South Asian emerging artists, accessible at mandalaarts.org.

The festival will feature perspectives from participating artists as they navigate their own processes during the COVID-19 crisis, as well as the artists' portfolios and range of artistic experiences. Work ranges from rehearsal footage and testimonials to short films and live collaborations. On June 13 and 14, audiences will have an opportunity to tune in to live performances and interactive talk-backs with festival artists.

"While the Makers Festival supports performing artists, it also emphasizes collaborations with other artistic genres, such as visual art, writing, and more," explained Mandala Program Manager and Principal Artist Ashwaty Chennat, the festival's curator. "The festival's goal is to create a space where artists generate dialogue, support each other's work in meaningful ways, and share within a safe community. With our 'shelter-at-home' circumstances, the festival has become a space to support the unfolding processes, experimentation, and resilience of artists during the uncertainty of the pandemic."

The Makers Festival includes the following artists offering a combination of live and prerecorded presentations, artist talk-backs and Q&As:

SATURDAY, JUNE 13, 7-9 P.M.-LIVE EVENTS

Natalia Neha Khosla (poetry + modern/contemporary movement)
Khosla, who completed Bharatanatyam training with Mandala Founder and Executive Artistic Director Pranita Nayar, is working on movement pieces in response to the COVID-19 crisis, including a collaborative project about PPE masks, and wants to build awareness around the needs of the medical community. She has spent the last year exploring the intersecting movement scene in Mumbai, where she now is part of international projects. She shared, "I am interested in exploring the experiences of different diasporas in the United States and how this relates or does not relate to differences and similarities in their stories of how they came to the United States. The communities I am focusing on are the South Asian and Afro-Caribbean communities through their dance and music heritages and how they were shaped by American culture. Through a montage of dance and music pieces and blends of South Asian and Afro-Caribbean music, intertwined with narrative reflections on research into these two communities' stories in the U.S., we take a step into the experiences of two groups in a new land that produced diasporas of American citizens who were born here, straddling cultures."

Jitesh Jaggi (storytelling + spoken word + theatre)
Jaggi presents a shorter version of a new work, which he has been workshopping during the pandemic, that combines love and immigration in a story of journeys. When Jaggi, a Bombay boy, decided to live with his partner, a Chicago girl, he had to face two battles: one at the visa office and another at home. This story takes viewers through the ups and downs of what it takes to be in an intercultural relationship exploring elements of race, travel, tradition, and family along the wa-all packaged in a humorous yet emotional narrative, from the narrow mountain paths in Nepal to beaches in Thailand, as Jaggi navigates the U.S. immigration system and Indian wedding rituals. He said, "I strive to leave the audience with a message of social justice, a hope to find love, and a few laughs along the way. Through my 10 years of experience in dance, performance poetry, and storytelling, I intend to push the boundaries of artistic expression, collaborate with multidisciplinary artists, and challenge prevailing cultural narratives, specifically related to the South Asian community."

Sandeep Bharadwaj (Carnatic vocal music)
Bharadwaj is a disciple of Sangeetha Kalanidhi A. Kanyakumari. He trained in vocal music under Sangeetha Kalacharya Smt. Suguna Varadchari for a number of years and currently continues training under Shri Madurai Sundar. Though originally an accomplished violinist, he has garnered wide recognition for his vocal music, including winning numerous vocal competitions at the Cleveland Thyagaraja Aradhana and performing throughout the Chicago area. Bharadwaj is also a physician and cardiothoracic surgery resident at Northwestern University. He said, "I am presenting a vocal repertoire, particularly highlighting some key composers and the different sounds and styles they bring (ranging from pure classical to classical with signs of Western influence to more folksy) to ultimately create incredible diversity within Indian classical music."

Tuli Bera (movement + video)
Bera is improvising movement with music created by Bharadwaj and Anant. During shelter-in-place she has felt most in sync with improvisation and has been collaborating with sound artists and musicians. She said, "'Tuli' means paintbrush in my mother tongue. A name given by my grandfather. My limbs paint memories. Memories of those that came before me. Each stroke: a desperate attempt to understand our place in this world. Reaching for answers. Raised by two. Bangali and American. My movement is in constant disagreement. Seeking to find a balance."

Chethan Anant (bansuri + vocal music)
Anant improvises based on Hindustani melodic frameworks, exploring the versatility of many raags. His work centers the concept of "structured" vs. "structureless," as he plays with atmospheric quality and mood of each raag and its progression into complex melodic and rhythmic energy. A senior disciple of legendary flautist Pandit Ronu Majumdar, Anant has been learning bansuri, a side-blown flute from the South Asian continent, in the instrumental Maihar gharana style since 2007. Anant has performed at events across the U.S., including Bodas Music Festival (Arizona), Karnatic Hindustani Music Circle (Massachusetts), Sangeetha Natyam Academy (Michigan), and South Asian Classical Music Society. He has given solo performances throughout major cities in India. Currently he teaches in the Chicago area offering a new generational perspective. Anant was selected as an IndianRaga Fellow in 2016.

JUNE 13 AND 14-RECORDED MATERIAL

Ameya Performing Arts (Indian classical fusion dance)
Ameya had to cancel a performance in late March due to the shelter-in-place and restrictions on social gatherings, but their continued resilience has inspired them to document virtual rehearsals and share stories about their process. Many ensemble members are on the frontlines of the crisis-as doctors-and many are mothers. Founded in 2016 by seven women, Ameya is committed to bringing the vibrance, energy, and grace of Indian dance to audiences all over Chicago. The troupe blends together numerous dance styles, such as Bharatanatyam, Bollywood, Bhangra, contemporary, folk, and -classical to create a uniquely passionate experience for its audiences. Ameya's story is the evolution of its dancers' visions, talents, and ambitions translated into a troupe's culture, a defining movement, an art. Ameya strives to preserve the art of Indian dance by blending classical and modern styles and sharing it with a global audience.

Shalaka Kulkarni (storytelling + paint + movement)
Kulkarni, who also completed Bharatanatyam training with Mandala's Pranita Nayar, is an award-winning Chicago-based choreographer whose work is rooted in video and storytelling. She said, "My interest is in using movement and paint to build a series of multiple art works revolving around exploring what gets left behind in the human subconscious with a darker vs. a lighter memory. The pivotal question I am exploring artistically is: How does our memory evolve, devolve, and change in our imagination as time passes by? Time is an obvious element that factors in how we perceive any of our memories. For personal reasons, I am exploring the question: How do we inspect time when certain memories block our way of imagining how to live a life; does time feel stagnant or racing by?"

Geeta Rao (paint)
Rao shares work that reflects needs during a pandemic, created for social service and volunteer organizations. She said, "I have been trying to tell stories, as I observe and interpret them, through my art. I do so to bridge the gap between the old and new and different cultures, different age groups, different eras, and different thought processes. I intend to start conversations and thought processes that lead to better understanding of some common issues that don't get discussed unless they find a trigger. Basically, I try to provide the trigger without a shock factor, without it being controversial or depressing. The intention of my art is to be an object of beauty with a purpose."

Grishma Shah (digital storytelling + mixed media)
By championing stories about diversity, Shah's vision is to introduce new narratives on beauty and worth into the global community through the art of storytelling in cinema, paintings, and mainstream media. With the festival's move to a virtual platform, she plans to share work created in response to the effects of COVID-19.

SolAR* (animation)
Aqua Story is a recorded work in progress that, when it is presented at a later date, will include a live dance component.The animation is inspired by SolAR*'s ongoing training in classical Indian dance and the movement. Deep within Earth's oceans, roaring inside the stirring tide of changing temperatures, a special message from within the Earth's center is released and carried forth by nature, ignited by sunlight and brought to life by the human experience. But can the gift survive long enough in the human world to live out its mission? The aim of this story is to share a message of the true magic of nature, friendship, and the gifts one can awaken within when consciously wielding love.

SUNDAY, JUNE 14, 2-3 P.M.-LIVE ARTIST TALK-BACKS

Sol*AR
Shalaka Kulkarni
Grishma Shah
Sandeep Bharadwaj
Jitesh Jaggi
Chethan Anant

SUNDAY, JUNE 14, 4-5 P.M.-SOUTH ASIAN DANCE ARTIST PANEL

Ashwaty Chennat
Tuli Bera
Natalia Neha Khosla

All events are free; donations support participating artists and festival operations.
All programming is subject to change. For information, visit mandalaarts.org.

Mandala South Asian Performing Arts
Mandala connects audiences and students with the vibrancy, flavors, and colors of the performing arts traditions of South Asia, offering powerful engagement with unique and expert dancers, musicians, storytellers, artists, and educators whose origins reach from the Himalayan ranges to the Indian Ocean, from Persia to Indonesia. Mandala's ensemble dancers and musicians, teaching artists, and artistic collaborators and outreach partners bring folk and classical traditions, as well as current and hybrid innovations, to life. Mandala promotes cultural awareness and exchange through entertainment and education.

For more information about Mandala, visit mandalaarts.org.