Festival of India Artist Highlights
Join us in celebrating the 39th Annual Festival of India in the heart of downtown Toronto. The festival consists of an upbeat, colourful parade down Yonge Street (beginning at Bloor and continuing south to the lake) and two days of celebrations at Centre Island expected to draw nearly 40,000 people!
The festival is FREE
and open entirely to the public. The biggest highlight is the amazing, FREE
vegetarian feast served to all who attend! The festival will also
feature a stunning musical, dance and drama
showcase, a spiritual yoga festival, a South Asian bazaar,
cultural exhibits, a children's area, face-painting, and much
more!
When: July 16 - 17, 2011
Time: Saturday Noon - 9pm | Sunday Noon - 5pm
Time: Saturday Noon - 9pm | Sunday Noon - 5pm
Where:
Parade on Saturday, July 16th starting at 11am, down Yonge Street from Bloor to Queensquay. FREE festival at Centre Island all weekend.
See below for highlights of artists and performances at this year’s festival.
Ellora & Devraj Patnaik:
Kumari Ellora Patnaik has won international acclaim as an Odissi dancer and actor. She has been teaching dance and performing professionally since 1980. Ellora is also a talented choreographer of Odissi and various folk and film dances, and has created several beautiful works. She also received the prestigious Kalashri award from the Orissa Society of Americas in July of 1999.
Guru Sri Devraj Patnaik is a prodigious Odissi dancer and percussionist. He has taught Odissi since 1986, has been performing professionally since 1988, and has taught tabla since 1991. In 1994 he founded the Chitralekha Dance Company (now Chitralekha Odissi Dance Creations or CODC) and has numerous productions to his credit. Currently, Guru Sri Devraj Patnaik is engaged in the creation of new Odissi works, for both music and dance.
Together, Ellora and Devraj Patnaik constitute the ideal union of two dancers, combining technical mastery and conceptual brilliance to form what is arguably the most requested duo in the Odissi world.
Enakshi Das:
Enakshi Das Sinha an Odissi dancer originally from India now based in Canada, Ontario. Her training has been under eminent Gurus and her experience spans almost 18 years in the course of which she has performed in individual capacity and also with her group and students at major international Festivals in Tokyo, Bangkok, Dhaka and all around Canada. Watch Enakshi dazzle the audience with her stunning Odissi performances.
Menaka Thakkar Dance Co
mpany:
Menaka Thakkar is a master dancer in three classical Indian styles – Bharatanatyam, Odissi and Kuchipudi. She settled in Canada over 38 years ago at the peak of her career as an international soloist and is credited as having been one of the first artists to introduce Indian culture to Canadian audiences. After performing all across Canada, she formed the Menaka Thakkar Dance Company which is now known as Canada’s premiere Indian dance company. Ms. Thakkar has created groundbreaking choreographies which reflect both her exposure to western dance styles and her background in classical Indian dance and has collaborated with many of the best modern dancers in Canada.
Panwar Dance Company:
Panwar Dance and Music Productions is a non-profit and charitable organization that aspires to enrich the lives of youth, adults and communities at large that it touches. The company creates innovative and traditional dance pieces that involve not only the artistic directors Hemant and Vaishali Panwar and their professional team but also concerts, workshops, and seminars by visiting artists from around the world. The company is involved in a genuine promotion of traditional Indian music of aesthetically high standards by arranging musical concerts.
Uma Vasudevan:
Ellora & Devraj Patnaik:
Kumari Ellora Patnaik has won international acclaim as an Odissi dancer and actor. She has been teaching dance and performing professionally since 1980. Ellora is also a talented choreographer of Odissi and various folk and film dances, and has created several beautiful works. She also received the prestigious Kalashri award from the Orissa Society of Americas in July of 1999.
Guru Sri Devraj Patnaik is a prodigious Odissi dancer and percussionist. He has taught Odissi since 1986, has been performing professionally since 1988, and has taught tabla since 1991. In 1994 he founded the Chitralekha Dance Company (now Chitralekha Odissi Dance Creations or CODC) and has numerous productions to his credit. Currently, Guru Sri Devraj Patnaik is engaged in the creation of new Odissi works, for both music and dance.
Together, Ellora and Devraj Patnaik constitute the ideal union of two dancers, combining technical mastery and conceptual brilliance to form what is arguably the most requested duo in the Odissi world.
Enakshi Das:
Enakshi Das Sinha an Odissi dancer originally from India now based in Canada, Ontario. Her training has been under eminent Gurus and her experience spans almost 18 years in the course of which she has performed in individual capacity and also with her group and students at major international Festivals in Tokyo, Bangkok, Dhaka and all around Canada. Watch Enakshi dazzle the audience with her stunning Odissi performances.
Menaka Thakkar Dance Co
mpany: Menaka Thakkar is a master dancer in three classical Indian styles – Bharatanatyam, Odissi and Kuchipudi. She settled in Canada over 38 years ago at the peak of her career as an international soloist and is credited as having been one of the first artists to introduce Indian culture to Canadian audiences. After performing all across Canada, she formed the Menaka Thakkar Dance Company which is now known as Canada’s premiere Indian dance company. Ms. Thakkar has created groundbreaking choreographies which reflect both her exposure to western dance styles and her background in classical Indian dance and has collaborated with many of the best modern dancers in Canada.
Panwar Dance Company:
Panwar Dance and Music Productions is a non-profit and charitable organization that aspires to enrich the lives of youth, adults and communities at large that it touches. The company creates innovative and traditional dance pieces that involve not only the artistic directors Hemant and Vaishali Panwar and their professional team but also concerts, workshops, and seminars by visiting artists from around the world. The company is involved in a genuine promotion of traditional Indian music of aesthetically high standards by arranging musical concerts.
Uma Vasudevan: An accomplished dancer Uma Vasudevan hails from a family in which music and dance have been the focus of life for many generations. Her dance is a replete with textured grace and a structurally fine understanding of handling body architectonics. Tall and poised Uma has a combined centered strength that gives her style a definitive impact. Over the course of her career Uma has been a dedicated performer, choreographer and teacher. She has been a professional dancer for the past 25 years and has performed extensively in India, Afghanistan, Europe, US and Canada. Since moving to Canada in 1993 she has been performing as well as teaching dance. In the year 2001 she performed for “Poussieres d'etoiles” produced by Music Multi Montreal touring the region of Quebec, performing with her musician husband.
For more information, click HERE or call 1-888-535-FEST (3378).
MyBindi.com is a proud sponsor of this event.
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