Houston based Anjali Centre for performing Arts turns 30 this year.
And founder of Anjali, dancer Rathna Kumar is all set to celebrate this occasion with 'Laya and Lasya' an event on September 4, 2005 at Stafford Civic Centre, Stafford,
Texas, U.S.A.
It was in 1975, when Rathna Kumar moved to Houston from Chennai and established one of the first Indian dance schools in U.S.A.
Trained in Bharatanatyam under guru K.J. Sarasa and in Kuchipudi under Vempatti Chinnasatyam, Rathna Kumar has performed widely in the U.S.
Says she, "'Anjali' started with two students in the first class, and by the third, there were more than twenty. The first classes were taught inside Houston’s first Indian
Restaurant, Maharaja (established in 1972). The venue then moved to the ICC building off Beechnut, with stints at a few friends’ houses in between. Next came rented
spaces in different parts of the city, and the concept of ‘branches’ was established with classes at Clear Lake and Copperfield".
Soon Rathna was traveling to Dallas, Rochester, NY and Kansas City on a regular basis, conducting workshops three to four times a year. Some of the students from
these cities also had their Arangetrams. Students came from all over the US to stay at Rathna’s house and study both Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi. They have been
featured at many local and national events, dance competitions and receiving prestigious awards and scholarships for dance.
And today, classes are held in Sugar Land, Clear Lake and the Woodlands. Anjali now has its own premises, at 2615 Cordes, in Sugar Land. Besides dance, Hindustani
vocal and tabla classes have been added, with Pt. Suman Ghosh and Pt. Shantilal Shah as teachers. Periodic Yoga workshops, music and dance performances and
lecture- demonstrations are a regular feature too, here.
Rathna is currently a Board Member of Pratham USA (promoting literacy among slum children in India), APAHA (Asian Pacific American Heritage Association), World Dance Institute of the Houston Community College, MACH (Multicultural Arts Collective of Houston), and the Artistic Director of Sasmskriti, Society for Indian Performing Arts. Rathna has taught dance at the University of Houston, the Houston Community College, the Houston Ballet Academy, the Jewish Community Center, the High School for Performing and Visual Arts, and Rice University.
For more information on the September 4 event, check out www.anjalicenter.org
E-mail: anjali@wt.net
