Ep. 141: Sonali Loomba

Kathak is one of the eight major forms of Indian classical dance. The origin of Kathak is traditionally attributed to the traveling bards in the of ancient northern India known as Kathakars or storytellers.The term Kathak is derived from the Vedic Sanskrit word Katha which means "story", and Kathakar which means "the one who tells a story". Wandering Kathakars communicated stories from the great epics and ancient mythology through dance, songs and music. Kathak dancers tell various stories through their hand movements and extensive footwork, their body movements and flexibility but most importantly through their facial expressions. Stylistically, the Kathak dance form emphasizes rhythmic foot movements, adorned with small bells (Ghungroo) and the movement harmonized to the music

Sonali Loomba, the Artistic Director of Kaladharaa Dance established this dance company in 2017 in Utah and Washington D.C along with her sibling Nidhika Loomba, which focuses on imparting the nuances of this ancient form to others in the community as a way of passing it down to generations and aims at preserving this ancient dance style, which traces its roots back to 400 BCE.

Sonali Loomba completed her post graduate in Human Resource Management from India and worked at a multinational company there for over 6 years before she decided to quite and completely dedicate her self to Kathak as full time performing artist. She started learning Kathak in 2006 under the guidance of Gurus (teachers) Hari and Chethana from Bangalore, India. She believes Indian Classical Dance is like an ocean which is limitless. The deeper you dive in the more beauty you see of the form. It can take up-to several years to call oneself a master of this art form. She visits India often to advance in her studies of Kathak under her Gurus.

Sonali has performed at multiple leading festivals in the states as well as international, Such as TEDx Salt Lake City, North American Festival of Colors- (Utah & LasVegas USA), Living Traditions – (Utah, USA), Hampi Utsav – India , Nritya Utsav – Orissa, India, to name a few. Sonali is also the recipient of several state art grants which are a driving force in her mission to spread the knowledge of this art form , beyond.

Sonali Loomba is currently serving as a board member of the Salt Lake Arts Council.

Kaladharaa Dance has trained several dance enthusiast and continues to do so. The school host’s a bi-monthly open house event which is in invitation to all community members to come and experience this art form in a classroom environment. The school’s social media pages on facebook and instagram are constantly updated with upcoming events, we would encourage you all to follow our page to stay connected and hopefully learn this art form. ‘

Facebook & Instagram : Kaladharaa Dance

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