Jiva Dance’s first short film, Urban Nritta (pronounced: nrit-thah), presents classical Bharatanatyam dance against the backdrop of New York City. Nritta is the expression of rhythm through the body in dance, and in this setting we express the rhythms of Indian classical dance and music as well as the beat of the city where we live and create.
The piece we perform is “Into the Battlefield,” excerpted from our original work “Mayura: Blue Peacock.” This scene depicts the dance of the mighty peacock, the vehicle of the Lord Murugan, as it prepares to go into battle.
Jiva Dance produces living, breathing classical art for our time and place, in harmony with the rhythms of New York City.
Concept and Choreography: Sonali Skandan
Director/Cinematographer/Editor: Jesse Newman
Production Design: Kaela Hill
Dancers: Kumari Mayshark Patel, Maya Kappil, Njideka Emenogu, Poulomi Das, Sonali Skandan
Music Composition: Rajkumar Bharathi
Sound Design/Music Recording: Sai Shravanam, Resound India
Rhythm and Music Direction Input: Bala Skandan
Makeup: Kennisha Clayton
Produced by: Jiva Performing Arts, Athena and Giri Devulapally, Ramya and Nandu Narayanan, Arpana Gollapalli and Hans Deyssenroth
Thank you to all or Wonderful Film Patrons who helped us create our first Film!
© Jiva Performing Arts 2016 All rights reserved
