Sandhya - Indian Classical Dance
Sandhya: a confluence of three styles of Indian classical dance
Saturday, August 29, 7 PM
UH Mānoa Orvis Auditorium
https://sandhya.eventbrite.com
Join us for this showcase of three celebrated styles of Indian classical dance —Bharatanatyam, Odissi, and Kathak—featuring three talented artists with ties to Hawaiʻi: Janani Lakshmanan, Akari Ueoka, and Naina Roy.
Sandhya is Sanskrit for "evening" or "joining," which can describe the confluence of these three dance styles, or the traditional Hawaiian ahupua‘a system—the flow of fresh water into the sea.
Supported by generous donors to the East-West Center Arts Program.
The Artists
Janani Lakshmanan
Acharya Dr. Janani Lakshmanan is a disciple of Smt. Nita Mallya, from Chandler, Arizona. Janani has been teaching and performing Bharatanatyam in Honolulu since 2022. As a co-founder of Aloha Natyam, Janani played a part in premiering Samam, Hawaiʻi's first Bharatanatyam margam presentation, as well as collaborating with various local organizations such as the East-West Center, the Still and Moving Center, the Middle Eastern Dance Association of Hawaiʻi, LOTUS, the University of Hawaiʻi, and Kamakshi Dance Co.
Janani received graded artist status from Doordarshan in 2018. In the same year, she participated in the confluence of classical dance at the Chidambaram Natyanjali festival. Since then, Janani has performed at national and international venues, seeking to showcase the beauty of rasa and bhava for new audiences.
Her choreographic style seeks to innovate within the grammar of Bharatanatyam, prizing novel aesthetics, musicality, and grace, all of which inspired the name of Nalina Natyakala Akademi, the Nalina Academy for Performing Arts, in 2025. A new East-West Center alumna and graduate of the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, Janani completed her doctorate in mathematics this year.
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Naina Roy
Naina Roychowdhury Green started her exploration of Kathak in 1994 at eight years of age, as Dr. Pallabi Chakravorty’s first Kathak student. Naina’s unique style of Kathak evokes a soft and subtle restraint combined with sharp lines, crisp footwork and evocative storytelling. Her dance company, “Naina Roy Kathak” offers a rigorous Kathak curriculum in academic and group formats along with a disappearing format of one-on-one apprenticeship.
Naina is a fixture in the local, national, and international dance community. She has sparked an important discussion on arts, activism, and abuse that was the impetus for a global #MeToo movement in Kathak that has led to agents of change such as journalists and filmmakers to take a closer look at the hidden and blatant abuse that lies in the pedagogy of Kathak.
Naina has performed on international television and was featured in J.J. Tiziou’s photographic installation “How Philly Moves,” that is permanently on display at the Philadelphia Airport as well as other Philadelphia landmarks. She conducts advanced abhinaya (emotive expression) training which is a fading skill in Kathak. Recently, she has been training professional Ballet and Modern dancers at the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre and Shana Simmons Dance.
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Akari Ueoka
Born and raised in Japan, Akari has been grateful to call Maui her home since 2001. Akari's life changed forever in 2005 when she met her teacher, Sarala Dandekar, on Maui. After falling in love with the classical Indian dance form Odissi, Akari began her apprenticeship under Sarala's guidance. Akari has also studied with Guru Vishnu Tattva Das and Guru Jhelum Paranjape, the founder of Smitalay in Mumbai.
In 2012, Akari had her Manchapravesh, a debut ceremony that marks the completion of formal training and initiates dancers to a further commitment to the art form. Akari has been teaching Odissi dance since 2016 and enjoys sharing this traditional art form with others.
https://sandhya.eventbrite.com
Event Links
Tickets: https://go.evvnt.com/3796202-0
Website: https://go.evvnt.com/3796202-2
Instagram: https://go.evvnt.com/3796202-3
Facebook: https://go.evvnt.com/3796202-4
