Ankle Bells and Painted Faces (2001, 2007, 2008, 2009)

Murali Mohan Kalvakalva (India)

Madrid Theater, Canoga Park, Ca

‘Ankle Bells & Painted Faces’ celebrates Folk Traditions of India featuring folk dance and music from Maharashtra, Gujarat & Rajastan. Folk dances are choreographic works of K. Murali Mohan, guest artist from India. These have been commissioned for Rangoli Foundation presentation. The event features musicians, dancers from India, Rangoli Dance Company members and Rangoli Junior Dancers. The event is presented as a part of the Los Angeles County Arts Open House and is partly supported by the California Council for the Humanities.

Artistic Direction – Malathi Iyengar, Choreography – K. Murali Mohan
Dancers – Neewin Hershall, K. Murali Mohan, T. B. Unnikrishnan, Ronald Burton, Sandra Chatterjee, Lakshmi Iyengar, Malathi Iyengar, Shyamala Moorty, Alia Rice, Soumya Sundaresh, Elizabeth Kurien, Chitra Prasanna.
Shivani Aysola, Shayan Chalan, Sara Mathews, Arathi Rao, & Luciana Tarantino.
Musicians – Mysore Srinath – Vocal, Sudarshan Chalan – Vocal, K. Murali Mohan – Vocal, Gurumurthy – Percussion, Mysore A. Chandan Kumar – Flute.
Other Ankle Bells & Painted Faces performances
August 14, 2008, Levitt Pavilion, McArthur Park, Los Angeles, California
Ranjith Babu, Neewin Hershall, Murali Mohan, Ronald Burton, Navia Natarajan, Musicians from India, and Rangoli Dancers including Sheila Aula, Shivani Aysola, Vyshnavi Aysola, Anjali Gopalan, Lakshmi Iyengar, Sumathi Nanguneri, Shaheen Sheik, & Soumya Sundaresh.
August 3, 2008, Hindu Temple Society of Southern California., Calabasas, California
Ranjith Babu, Neewin Hershall, Murali Mohan K., Musicians from India and Rangoli Dancers including Sheila Aula, Shivani Aysola, Vyshnavi Aysola, Anjali Gopalan, Lakshmi Iyengar, Hema Iyer, Shilpa Mantri, Karisma Nagarkatti, Sumathi Nanguneri, & Soumya Sundaresh.
July 26, 2008, Zalk Theatre, Ojai, California
Presented by Beatrice Wood Center & Happy Vally Foundation.
Cast: Ranjith Babu, Neewin Hershall, Musicians from India, & Rangoli Dancers including Sheila Aula, Shivani Aysola, Vyshnavi Aysola, Anjali Gopalan, Lakshmi Iyengar, Hema Iyer, Karisma Nagarkatti, & Soumya Sundaresh.
August 11, 2007, Ford Amphitheatre, Hollywood Ca.
‘Ankle Bells and Painted Faces’ features folk dances from the states of Karnataka (Kamsale), Gujarat (Raas & Garba), Rajasthan (Ghoomar), and Punjab (Bhangra). The performance includes Marital Arts (Kalari) from the state of Kerala.
Dancers:
Folk Dances – Choreography & Performance by Murali Mohan Kalvakalva
Kalari – Martial Arts by Ranjith Babu and Neewin Hershall.
Rangoli Dancers: Sheila Aula, Shivani Aysola, Sheel Jagani, Anjali Gopalan, Lakshmi Iyengar, Hema Iyer, Sandhya Rajan, Aarti Rao, Shaheen Sheik, Soumya Sundaresh & Katya Viswanadhan.