UPAHAAR NEWS

Edition 12 - February 2022

Artistic Director : Shalini Shivashankar 

15th February 2022

 

To the Upahaar's families, friends, and the community

 

Wishing you all a belated Valentine’s Day and a year full of love in abundance… love for all our co-inhabitants of this planet and care to protect our ‘home’- the earth! For it is only love that will save us humans from the disasters that we bring upon ourselves.

I urge you all to support all causes that enable a conflict-free green planet, to increase our awareness of measures available to us in our own little homes that we can do to ensure we spread love and not pollute and destroy our home. If you are wondering why I’m into this outburst on protecting our home, it is triggered by a recent conversation I had with my daughter who is very particular that we recycle as much as possible and avoid the use of plastics, use food waste for composting to nurture plants etc. She said, “would you like the children and grandchildren of your large Upahaar family to be left with a polluted rotten world?” We can take small but significant steps towards ensuring we live in and
leave a world that is green, as clean as possible and filled with love.

 

Now, moving onto what is in store at Upahaar… Read on for all that happened in the first two months of this year and what lies ahead. We may not have mentioned this so far but there is a plan to create a platform for chamber concerts on a regular basis, to build on our philosophy that experiencing and enjoying classical arts must become part and parcel of our lives. Art is one thing that takes us into a different plane, another dimension that recharges our batteries for the every-day nitty-gritties. Look out on our social media and on our website for more on this.

 

Our students are gearing up for the performances ahead and for their dance exams, besides of course looking forward to the Arangetram of Diya Ponsudhahar which is on March 6th. Please do subscribe to our YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/c/UpahaarSchoolofDance) to enjoy and support all that we showcase there and stay tuned via our website, Facebook, and Instagram.If you cannot do any of the above, please do read though all our newsletters when we send them.

 

If at all any of you wish to just watch or try our classes, please do contact us and we will be happy to introduce you to the arts we practise and teach at Upahaar.

 

With loving regards,

Shalini Shivashankar
Artistic Director & Head Teacher
Upahaar School of Dance
+44 (0)7811823684 / +44 (0)20 86612865
upahaarschool@gmail.com
www.upahaar.co.uk

Upahaar Classes

NEW Tolworth Branch

Upahaar has opened a new branch in the South-West London, Tolworth area! The new beginners batch have begun their classes at Surbiton High School on Tuesdays.

 
Book a trial class here

Kathak Classes

Book a trial class to learn Kathak in Upahaar's Sutton & Orpington branches!

 

A snippet of Upahaar's Sutton Kathak class led by Abirami Eswar can be viewed on our social media below!

 

We would also like to congratulate Kathak students in our Sutton branch, for performing extremely well at the end of last term's examinations!

 
Watch the clip

Mohiniyattam Classes

Upahaar's Mohiniyattam classes are held in the Sutton branch on Saturdays and Mondays, for a range of levels from Beginners to Senior.

 

Watch a clip of the senior group practicing below!

 
Watch the clip here

Bharatanatyam Classes

Upahaar has Bharatanatyam classes available in Croydon, Sutton, Orpington, Twickenham, Crawley, Bromley and Tolworth!

 

Read the full class schedule to book a trial class on the Upahaar website, and visit the link below to watch a snippet of our Sutton class.

 
Watch the clip here

ISTD Bharatanatyam Exams

In early February, Upahaar Grade 1-5 students participants in their ISTD Bharatanatyam exams that were held online. We are very proud of our students who all passed with Distinctions!

Upahaar Merchandise

We are extremely excited to announce Upahaar has created branded merchandise including  a travel mug and tote bag.  

 

Shop these items on our Upahaar website  now! 

 
Shop the Upahaar store

Bharatanatyam Arangetrams

Bharatanatyam Arangetram of Diya Ponsudhahar

Diya Ponsudhahar's Bharatanatyam Arangetram will be held at Croydon High School, on the 6th of March 2022. 

 

Register now on the Upahaar website for your free ticket!

 
Book a free ticket here

Sanya's Bharatanatyam Arangetram Highlights 

Sanya's Bharatanatyam Arangetram highlights are now available to watch on the Upahaar Youtube Channel! 

 
Watch the video here

Bharatanatyam Arangetram of Anaga Murali

Watch the highlights from Anaga Murali's Bharatanatyam Arangetram, that went ahead with great success at The Bhavan in December!

 
Watch the highlights

Performances

Shalini Shivashankar in Manch UK's 'Footnotes'

Upahaar's Artistic Director Shalini Shivashankar was excited to be part of  Manch UK's project 'Footprints'! 

 

Tune in to her speak alongside many other accomplished artists in the field, discussing their experiences with the world during the pandemic

 
Watch it here

Mohiniyattam for The Croydon Pongal Festival

Daniella Zak Varghese performed Mohiniyattam for Pongal, a Tamil harvest and thanks giving festival. This event organised by the Croydon Tamil Community Organisation was in commemoration for Tamil Heritage Month in January.

Upahaar has a variety of upcoming performances in the coming months that our students are training for. Excitement builds up as we prepare for London Hindu Aikyavedi and the Orpington Telugu Kutumbam's events, as well as many more community programmes!

Resource Material

Bharatanatyam Theory

The Mushtischa Hastha Viniyogam written by Amiya Kumar, a Grade 5 Bharatanatyam Student from the Sutton branch.

 
Read it here

Student Articles

Pathra Prana Shloka

 

The Pathra Prana Shloka - or 10 qualities of a good dancer, is a Grade 4 piece of theory written by Saneeka Chitraka

 
Read the article here

Upcoming Performances

Upahaar would like to ensure all students and rasikas of the classical arts are aware of upcoming programmes, to inspire further practice and widen our appreciation of the Indian classical art forms.

Bharatakalanjali's Online Festival 

The prestigious Bharatakalanjali's new online festival 'Jharna', is scheduled to air over two weekends. Created to present some of the best young talents, and provide a space for creativity and innovation. 

 
Buy tickets here

Divya Ravi's Solo Performance at the Bhavan

Divya Ravi, a well established Bharatanatyam artist now living in the UK, will be presenting a solo Bharatanatyam recital at the Bhavan.

 

She will be presenting pieces choreographed by Sri Mavin Khoo, as she has been training under his guidance for the last two year.

 
Book a ticket here
Read Upahaar NEWS Edition 11 here!
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