For over four decades, proud daughter of Oaxaqueños, Maria Luisa Colmenarez has played a large role in ensuring Mexican folk dance remains accessible to the community while advocating for a larger presence in the performing arts space. She currently serves as the executive director of Danzantes Unidos de California, a…
Guru Vidushi Smt. Naina Shastri is the Artistic Director of Ushanjali School of Dance, a premier Tri Valley-East Bay based South Indian Classical Dance academy. Students are trained in the Mysuru style of Bharatanatya and taught both theoretical and practical aspects of this ancient art form. Students of Ushanjali have…
Evie Ladin is a percussive-dancer, choreographer, singer, songwriter, banjo player and square-dance caller with a lifetime of experience in traditional American cultural arts and intercultural music/dance performance and education. Based in Oakland, CA, Evie grew up in a traditional folk scene on the East Coast of the US, and early…
Mel was born and raised in Vallejo, CA. He has been a martial artist since 1972. He teaches Balintawak Arnis, Filipino Martial Art, in the context of Philippine and Filipino culture and history. He’s is also the author of “Filipinos in Vallejo.” Mel is a member of the Mark of…
Gayatri Subramanian is the Founder/Artistic Director of KA Academy of Indian Music & Dance. She is a professional Bharatanatyam dancer, choreographer and instructor is one of the senior most disciples of Guru Smt. Padmini Radhakrishnan, the Founder-Director of the institute “Soundarya Natya Kalalaya Foundation”, Mumbai. She has undergone intensive training for over…
Indian-American percussionist and composer Dr. Rohan Krishnamurthy is one of the leading voices of Indian classical and cross-genre music in the South Asian diaspora. Acclaimed a “musical ambassador” and “pride of India” by The Times of India, Rohan received advanced mridangam training from maestro Sri. Guruvayur…
Charya Burt is an acclaimed master dancer, choreographer, vocalist and teacher of Classical Cambodian Dance. After the Khmer Rouge genocide, Burt trained extensively with Cambodia’s foremost surviving dance masters, eventually joining the dance faculty of Cambodia’s Royal University of Fine Arts. As a member of Cambodia’s…
Snigdha Venkataramani is an established Bharatanatyam dancer, choreographer, teacher, Carnatic Vocalist and music composer. She has received training in Bharatanatyam art form for over three decades under the tutelage of the world-renowned dance Guru Padmabhushan Dr. Saroja Vaidyanathan at her institution Ganesa Natyalaya, New Delhi. She has also had the…
Amelia Butler is an indigenous Māori woman of Ngātiwai, Ngāti Awa and Ngāpuhi descent. She attended Kōhanga Reo (Māori language preschool) at a young age and grew up in Auckland, New Zealand. Amelia studied Māori by correspondence at secondary school and led her school’s kapa haka (traditional Māori performance) group.
