No Images? Click here Newsletter | November 2019From the Director's deskIt has been a busy and exciting autumn, for Akademi and our 40th celebrations and for Indian dance across the UK. London has never felt this rich with high-quality Indian dance performances. This is my last note in the newsletter. After more than 30 years of exhilarating and challenging directorship, I am stepping down as Artistic Director of Akademi South Asian Dance UK on 31 December 2019 to work in the wider creative sector. My successors, Subathra Subramaniam as Artistic Director and Kirsten Burrows as Executive Director, have already started planning the future of Akademi and I hope you will keep engaged with the organisation. Meanwhile my last working day at Akademi is 29 November 2019. I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to you for your interest in Akademi and generosity in supporting my efforts to take Indian dance to a variety of uncharted territories. Mira Kaushik OBE NewsHello and GoodbyeThis week, Akademi welcomed Peter Laycock into the team. Peter will take on the role of Interim Learning and Participation Manager, bringing with him fantastic experience from previous roles at The Place. At the start of December, we will say a warm goodbye to Rohanne Udall, who has been Akademi's Marketing Officer since early 2016. Rohanne will be taking up the role of Content and Communications Manager at Siobhan Davies Dance in South London, so we will no doubt stay in touch! Rohanne would like to thank all the artists, companies and organisations she's had the joy to work with whilst at Akademi. One Dance UK Awards 2019Our heartiest congratulations to Chitraleka Bolar, who was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award in South Asian Dance at the One Dance UK Awards 2019. This award was sponsored by Akademi to celebrate it's 40th Anniversary Year. Our admiration also goes out to long time friend of Akademi Sujata Banerjee MBE, who won the Lifetime Achievement Award in Dance Education & Participation. Congratulations to all the awardees, who were drawn from thousands of public nominations and represent the strength and vibrancy of the UK dance sector. Akademi at 4040 Under 40 and People that shaped AkademiTo mark the occasion of our 40th anniversary, Akademi have released a list of 40 under 40 South Asian dance artists to look out for in the UK and a series of lists celebrating the people who have shaped Akademi over the years. Since there are too many to mention, on this occasion we have chosen 40 names in each category to resonate with the theme of 40 years. Read on: 40 Under 40 and People that shaped Akademi Hampstead Heath PhotoshootEarlier in the year, we spent an afternoon and an evening on Hampstead Heath with photographer Souvid Datta. You can find a selection of images from that fantastic day on our Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Thank you to our dancers -- Aabha Sharma, Elena Odissi, Meera Patel, Pallavi Vijay, Parbati Chaudhury, Saloni Saraf, Shyam Dattani and Suhani Dhanki. See more: Photoshoot images on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram Akademi at 40 Events | Looking backOctober and November have been very busy months for our Akademi at 40 celebrations In October we were joined by Akademi's legendary founding Director Tara Rajkumar OAM at three events at The Bhavan, the Victoria and Albert Museum and Rich Mix. In Conversation with Tara Rajkumar OAM at The Bhavan, was an intimate evening of conversation and reflection on British Indian Dance in London since 1979, with performances from Tara's disciple Bindu Rajendren. RUMINATION at The V&A celebrated the 40 years of Akademi including tenure of Artistic Director Mira Kaushik OBE and introduced new leadership team Subathra Subramaniam and Kirsten Burrows. BROWN TANGLE was an exciting, exploratory and explosive weekend of young British Asian cross-arts at Rich Mix. In November, Akademi presented early career choreographers in SPARKPLUGS at Watermans Art Centre. The night featured dynamic new group pieces and solos from ReRooted Dance Collective and Subhash 'Viman' Gorania's Morph Dance Company. Finally, to close our celebratory season, classical Indian dance was performed in response to the South Asian Collection on display in the British Museum's stunning Hotung Gallery
in APOTHEOSIS. What's on in our world of danceAkademi AssociatedTo celebrate the breadth and richness of South Asian dance in the UK, we’ve invited artists to submit information on London-based events between 1 April 2019 and 1 April 2020 to form the Akademi Associated programme. NovemberNandavana Dance | Chinnadevi Srishti – Nina Rajarani School of Dance | Vichitra 2019 PerformanceNovemberSadler’s Wells | Darbar Festival Sona Lisa | Breaking Ground DecemberGemArts | Bollywood Dhamaka! GemArts | Goodness Gracious Me with Nikesh Shukla, Nina Wadia and Konnie Huq WorkshopDecemberVena Ramphal | Design Your Dance Career OpportunitiesSiobhan Davies Dance | Next Choreography course 2019/20 ClassesLooking for South Asian dance training and institutions in the UK?Our new South Asian Dance section of the website is the place to start. If you’re a student looking to start a journey in South Asian dance, we can start you off on the road to excellence. If you deliver South Asian dance classes in the UK and want to make an amendment to your listing or have your business included please email info@akademi.co.uk.
Kala Sangam | Bhangra Dance Classes in partnership with Punjabi Roots Academy Natyanjali Dance School | Bharatanatyam (Beginners) Images (from top): |