Shalaka Kulkarni

Sunday, June 11th | 5:20pm 

Asian-American, Shalaka Kulkarni is an interdisciplinary dance artist trained in Indian Classical dance who creates experiences that bridge the ancient and contemporary while uplifting marginalized voices. As an actor, filmmaker, dancer and choreographer, she has toured her work in India, US and Europe. In Chicago, she has presented her work at various events, venues and festivals, such as Athenaeum Theatre, Harper College, Chicago Cultural Center, Depaul University, Chopin Theater, Museum of Contemporary Art, Dance Chicago Festivals, High Concept Labs, Loyola University, The Mccormick Center, Lions Club 100th Anniversary, Links Hall, Elastic Arts, Ruth Page Performing Arts, Columbia College Chicago, Newport Theater, Dominican University as well as has created work for numerous independent performers and artists. She is a recipient of various awards for her choreography and dance work.

Kulkarni began training in the Tanjore style of Bharatnatyam as a child in India. After immigrating to the U.S., she continued her training under the international artist Sandhya Desai in Kathak and Mandala Founder and Executive Artistic Director Pranita Nayar. She holds an MFA in interdisciplinary arts and media from Columbia College Chicago, where she worked closely with the dance master Nana Shineflug, one of the pivotal voices from Chicago in American Modern and Contemporary dance style. She is interested in creating and presenting a hybrid movement form that fuses techniques of Bharatnatyam and Kathak with other movement influences, text and technology. She is a teaching artist for Mandala Arts.

See Shalaka perform at the Artist Showcase on Sunday, June 11th at Indo American Arts Center is: 6328 N. California Ave, Chicago, IL. 60659, during an evening of contemporary dance and music performance.

Images: Rich Rankin