Mythili Kumar
Mythili Kumar is a dancer, teacher, and choreographer. She performs the Bharatanatyam, Kuchipudi, and Odissi styles of Indian classical dance.{{Cite news|url=https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/2015/04/09/san-jose-south-indian-dancer-and-teacher-honored-for-lifetime-of-service/|title=San Jose South Indian Dancer and Teacher Honored for Lifetime Service|work=KQED Arts|access-date=2017-09-07|language=en-us}} She is the founder of Abhinaya Dance Company of San Jose{{Cite web |last=Howard |first=Rachel |date=April 9, 2015 |orig-date=April 9, 2015 |title=San Jose South Indian Dancer and Teacher Honored for Lifetime Service {{!}} KQED |url=https://www.kqed.org/arts/10545681/san-jose-south-indian-dancer-and-teacher-honored-for-lifetime-of-service |access-date=October 8, 2024 |website=www.kqed.org |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Ts'ao |first=Aimée |date=October 31, 2018 |title=Abhinaya Dance Company of San Jose focuses new work on Martin Luther King Jr. |url=https://www.mercurynews.com/2018/10/31/abhinaya-dance-company-of-san-jose-focuses-new-work-on-martin-luther-king-jr/ |access-date=2024-10-08 |website=The Mercury News |language=en-US}} and a lecturer in dance at University of California, Santa Cruz.{{Cite web|url=http://theater.ucsc.edu/faculty/mythili-kumar|title=Mythili Kumar|website=UC Santa Cruz, Theatre Department|language=en|access-date=2017-09-07}}
Biography
As founder and director of Abhinaya Dance Company of San Jose since 1980,{{Cite web|url=http://www.mercurynews.com/2011/07/15/passions-mountain-view-woman-is-software-engineer-also-classical-indian-dancer/|title=Passions: Mountain View woman is software engineer, also classical Indian dancer|date=2011-07-15|website=The Mercury News|access-date=2017-09-07}} Kumar has trained and presented over one hundred dancers in their solo debuts and has collaborated extensively with several multi-cultural organizations.{{Cite news|url=https://www.indiacurrents.com/custodians-of-tradition/|title=Custodians of Tradition - India Currents|date=2010-08-05|work=India Currents|access-date=2017-09-07|language=en-US}} She has also taught classes at San Jose State University and Stanford University.
Kumar's two daughters, Rasika and Malavika, are active in the dance company and have been trained in classical Indian dance since age 4.{{Cite web|url=http://www.mercurynews.com/2010/03/29/dance-company-kicks-off-its-30th-anniversary-season-celebration/|title=Dance company kicks off its 30th anniversary season celebration|date=2010-03-29|website=The Mercury News|access-date=2017-09-07}}
Collaborative performances include:
- The Guru with Kathak maestro Chitresh Das and his dance company
- In the Spirit (1993) with Japanese drumming corps San Jose Taiko, with Margaret Wingrove and her modern dance company
- The Ramayana (1997) with the Balinese music and dance ensemble Gamelan Sekar Jaya
- Vande Mataram - Mother, I bow to thee (1997) featuring three different Indian classical dance styles
- The Power of Saturn (1999) with Shadow Master Larry Reed and Shadow Light Productions
- Gandhi - the Mahatma (1995) for the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco
Awards
In 2010, Kumar was awarded the Malonga Casquelourd Lifetime Achievement Award by San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival. She received the choreographer's fellowships from 1989 until 1993 and a teacher's recognition certificate in 1998 from the National Endowment for the Arts.
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
Notes
- {{citation|title=Dancer enlivens Indian culture|journal=San Jose Mercury News|date=April 13, 1990}}.
- {{citation|title=Dance teacher to get award from Cupertino|journal=San Jose Mercury News|date=September 16, 1992}}.
- {{citation|title=The muse that makes her dance: Mythili Kumar keeps her Indian heritage alive in a land of pop and pizza|journal=San Jose Mercury News|date=February 15, 1998}}.
- {{citation|title=Los Gatans honored as women of achievement|url=http://www.community-newspapers.com/archives/lgwt/11.11.98/LosGatansHonored.html|journal=Los Gatos Weekly-Times|date=November 11, 1998}}.
- {{citation|title=Dramatic Gesture: Mythili Kumar shares Indian traditions with the art of the dance|first=Shari|last=Kaplan|journal=Saratoga News|date=January 27, 1999|url=http://www.svcn.com/archives/saratoganews/01.27.99/CoverStory.html}}.
- {{citation|title=Nurturing an Indian tradition in the Bay Area: how three teachers used varied approaches to an art form that takes years to master|journal=San Jose Mercury News|date=November 15, 2003}}.
- {{citation|title=Keeping classical dance traditions alive - the Abhinaya Dance Company|url=http://waternoice.com/2008/11/15/keeping-classical-dance-traditions-alive-the-abhinaya-dance-company/|journal=Water, No Ice|date=November 15, 2008}}.
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Category:American artists of Indian descent
Category:Artists from San Jose, California
Category:American female dancers
Category:Indian female classical dancers
Category:20th-century American dancers
Category:20th-century Indian dancers
Category:Year of birth missing (living people)
Category:20th-century American women