Creating a Vision for Kathak with Rukhmani Mehta
Today on Movers & Shapers, we are joined by Rukhmani Mehta (previously Rina Mehta). Rukhmani is a choreographer, dancer, educator, Artistic Director of Leela Youth Dance Company, and the Co-Artistic Director of Leela Dance Collective, which brings together leading artists from around the world to advance a collective vision for kathak, a classical North Indian dance. In this episode, Rukhmani speaks about her love for creating community through dance and her deep interest in and curiosity for collaborative projects and processes. What stands out most is Rukhmani’s resounding passion for her work and art form, despite the struggles she has had along the way, as well as the thoughtfulness with which she has built her life in dance, from co-leadership of her company to teaching to creating the first-ever endowment to support kathak dance and music in the US and more. Tune in today for an inspiring conversation about the power of collaboration, community, and preserving culture!
Key Points From This Episode:
· How Rukhmani started dancing and when she fell in love with kathak.
· What she learned about the art form from kathak master, Pt. Chitresh Das.
· The profoundly transformational experience that studying kathak afforded her.
· How she learned to follow her heart and commit to starting a professional dance company.
· Steps Rukhmani took to build a life in dance, including teaching and the Leela Foundation.
· Audience development and creating a future for kathak as an educator.
· Unpacking Rukhmani’s belief in the power of collaboration.
· Where the name Leela comes from and how it speaks to spontaneous creativity.
· Insight into Rukhmani’s love for creating communities of young women through dance.
· The process of building Leela as a collective and how it was impacted by COVID.
· Joys and challenges of a dance career and what you can look forward to from Leela!
· The heartwarming story of why Rukhmani changed her name from Rina.
“My work is about being an artist and putting the art form out in the world but – it has also become about creating the infrastructure that the artists who are carrying these traditions forward need.” — Rukhmani Mehta
Rukhmani Mehta brings a singular voice and vision to the art form of kathak, a classical dance genre from North India; she is a dancer, choreographer, educator, and Co-Founder/Co-Artistic Director of Leela Dance Collective.
More on this episode: Movers & Shapers
Continuing a Modern Dance Legacy with Samantha Géracht
There are many legends in modern dance that are responsible for making the art form what it is today. But how do we continue their legacy? Today we hear from one of the people responsible for continuing the legacy of Anna Sokolow, Samantha Géracht. Samantha is the artistic director at the Sokolow Theatre/Dance Ensemble and in this episode, she tells us all about her incredible career, the multitude of amazing dance practitioners she has learned from and worked with, the difference between a Sokolow dancer and a Sokolow director, the challenges she faces in continuing Anna’s legacy, and so much more! From ballet to modern dance, Samantha has experienced it all as student, performer, and teacher. You don’t want to miss this one so tune in now!
Key Points From This Episode:
· Samantha tells us about her upbringing and what made her interested in dancing.
· What made her switch from ballet to modern dance and breaking the stigma about modern.
· Samantha shares her experience at the Nikolais/Louis Dance Lab and who taught her.
· Samantha’s early marriage and family life.
· Joining the Sokolow company and the teaching jobs she had while she was a dancer.
· Becoming a Sokolow artistic director and how it differed from being a Sokolow dancer.
· The legacy that Anna Sokolow left and Samantha’s special Sokolow choreography.
· Samantha shares the biggest struggles and challenges throughout her career.
· The support system Samantha has to help her continue Anna’s legacy.
· Some of the highlights of Samantha’s career and what she’s working on now.
· Where she sees the Sokolow Theatre/Dance Ensemble in the future.
“Being a dancer and a modernist in an era that’s not that interested in modernism is it’s own struggle…..[I’m] giving myself a voice and figuring out what it is I want to do with Anna’s legacy and what that means.” — Samantha Géracht
Samantha Géracht performed with Anna Sokolow’s Players’ Project for eleven years and is artistic director and a founding member of the Sokolow Theatre/Dance Ensemble. Catch In the Eye of a Dream, November 9-19, 2023 @ Theaterlab
Show Notes on this Episode: Movers & Shapers
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Translating Vision into Action with Alyssa Alpine
Whether it’s for communication, marketing, budgeting, scheduling, or meetings (and more!), we can attest to the level of detail, creativity, and make-it-happen-attitude required in the support to make dance happen! The role of the Arts Administration is dedicated to translating vision into action, and with great appreciation and admiration we introduce today’s guest, Alyssa Alpine. Alyssa, with her accompanying drive and passion, is the Founding Director of the CUNY Dance Initiative, a residency program for NYC choreographers on City University of New York (CUNY) college campuses. In our conversation with Alyssa today, we delve into the story of how her love for dance stems from both sides of her family and what has fueled her lifelong commitment. She takes us through her academic path and recounts the story of how she fell into a career as an Arts Administrator. Alyssa elaborates on the functioning of the CUNY Dance Initiative and highlights some of the challenges and peak moments she's encountered along her career journey. Tune in to this episode to hear more from Alyssa Alpine, a true master of wearing many hats (concurrently!) and doing them all successfully!
Key Points From This Episode:
· We get to meet Alyssa and explore her passionate journey in the world of dance.
· She talks about what got her started in dance and what made her stay
· Alyssa's perspective on the Midwest and why she’d find it difficult to replicate her current life elsewhere.
· Hopping from one school program to another and figuring out the dance world.
· Alyssa recounts the dream and plan she had had coming out of undergrad.
· We hear about her time at Columbia and her academic path.
· Her sentiments about living and working in New York.
· Where she went after the Limon Foundation (and having had enough of the Arts world!)
· She tells the tale of how she wound up at CUNY, managing the CUNY Dance Initiative.
· Her dance journey amidst working and what that looked like for Alyssa.
· The strengths and skills she brings to her role as an Arts Administrator.
· She elaborates on the inner functions (and systems) of the CUNY Dance Initiative.
· She highlights some of the challenges she’s had to overcome throughout her career.
· Alyssa shares some peak moments in her career journey.
· What Alyssa is energized for and currently looking forward to.
“Dance is a special thing. I think it grabs some people and others, of course, are like, ‘I don’t want to move I just want to sit and watch!’ But I think for those of us, as you know yourself, it touches something in you and it is just very compelling and it’s something unique.” — Alyssa Alpine
Alyssa Alpine, the founding director of the CUNY Dance Initiative, has spent two decades in NYC’s performing arts world, with a career that’s spanned everything from rolling out marley to rolling down the steps of the NYC Public Library.
More on this episode: Movers & Shapers: A Dance Podcast
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