Mythili Kumar

Mythili Kumar is a dancer, teacher, and choreographer. She performs the Bharatanatyam, Kuchipudi, and Odissi styles of Indian classical dance.[1] Founder of Abhinaya Dance Company of San Jose and she is a lecturer in dance at University of California, Santa Cruz.[2]

Biography

As founder and Director of Abhinaya Dance Company of San Jose since 1980,[1][3] she has trained and presented over one hundred dancers in their solo debuts and has collaborated extensively with several multi-cultural organizations.[4] She has also taught classes at San Jose State University and Stanford University.[2]

Kumar's two daughter's, Rasika and Malavika are active in the dance company and have been trained in classical Indian dance since age 4.[5]

Collaborative performances include:

  • The Guru with Kathak maestro Chitresh Das and his dance company,
  • In the Spirit (1993) with Japanese drumming corps San Jose Taiko, with Margaret Wingrove and her modern dance company;
  • The Ramayana (1997) with the Balinese music and dance ensemble Gamelan Sekar Jaya and
  • Vande Mataram - Mother, I bow to thee (1997) featuring three different Indian classical dance styles;
  • The Power of Saturn (1999) with Shadow Master Larry Reed and Shadow Light Productions
  • Gandhi - the Mahatma (1995) for the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco.

Awards

In 2010 she was awarded the Malonga Casquelourd Lifetime Achievement Award by San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival.[4] Kumar received the choreographer's fellowships from 1989 until 1993 and a teacher's recognition certificate in 1998 from the National Endowment for the Arts.[2]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "San Jose South Indian Dancer and Teacher Honored for Lifetime Service". KQED Arts. Retrieved 2017-09-07.
  2. 1 2 3 "Mythili Kumar". UC Santa Cruz, Theatre Department. Retrieved 2017-09-07.
  3. ↑ "Passions: Mountain View woman is software engineer, also classical Indian dancer". The Mercury News. 2011-07-15. Retrieved 2017-09-07.
  4. 1 2 "Custodians of Tradition - India Currents". India Currents. 2010-08-05. Retrieved 2017-09-07.
  5. ↑ "Dance company kicks off its 30th anniversary season celebration". The Mercury News. 2010-03-29. Retrieved 2017-09-07.

Notes

  • "Dancer enlivens Indian culture", San Jose Mercury News, April 13, 1990 .
  • "Dance teacher to get award from Cupertino", San Jose Mercury News, September 16, 1992 .
  • "The muse that makes her dance: Mythili Kumar keeps her Indian heritage alive in a land of pop and pizza", San Jose Mercury News, February 15, 1998 .
  • "Los Gatans honored as women of achievement", Los Gatos Weekly-Times, November 11, 1998 .
  • Kaplan, Shari (January 27, 1999), "Dramatic Gesture: Mythili Kumar shares Indian traditions with the art of the dance", Saratoga News .
  • "Nurturing an Indian tradition in the Bay Area: how three teachers used varied approaches to an art form that takes years to master", San Jose Mercury News, November 15, 2003 .
  • "Keeping classical dance traditions alive - the Abhinaya Dance Company", Water, No Ice, November 15, 2008 .
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