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Established in
1989 as the Arpana Foundation, we have presented over 35 performances at
various venues in the Southland. The Arpana Foundation was renamed the
Ektaa Center in 2003 to reflect the new direction and initiatives of the
organization. The mission of the organization has been redefined as more
inclusive of the diverse arts and cultures of India and the name change
is part of an effort to build a new identity for the organization. Further,
it was to avoid confusion with similar named entities in the geographic
area of its operation.
In the mid 1980's,
there was an increasing number of people of Indian origin moving into Orange
County. As with most Indian families, cultural education is an essential
children's activity. Be it dance, music or learning the values through
'Bala Vihar' (special classes for Hindu philosophies), first generation
children began to be exposed to new cultural experiences. At this time
Ramya Harishankar who had been teaching Bharata Natyam (traditional classical
dance), saw the need for an active organization to present visiting dancers
and dance companies to local students and parents. With the help of her
husband Harish Murthy and an enthusiastic group of volunteers the Arpana
Foundation was formed. To provide a financial springboard for the organization,
Ramya presented 'Epics of India' in 1988 at the Plummer auditorium in Fullerton
as a fund raiser. The humble beginning of programming happened at the Sunny
Hills auditorium with the presentation of Kalanidhi Narayanan and a company
of dancers from Abhinayasudha in Chennai, India. About 125 patrons attended
the event but the ball had been set rolling.
Through the years,
we have presented renown artists from India such as Sanjukta Panigrahi,
the Dhanajayans, Sonal Mansingh, Prof. C.V. Chandrasekhar, Kelucharan Mohapatra
and Birju Maharaj. Along with them we have presented popular local US artists
such as Ramya Harishankar and the Arpana Dance Company, Mythili Kumar and
the Abhinaya Dance Company and Hema Rajagopalan and the Natya Dance ensemble.
We have also provided a platform for upcoming young dancers and dance companies
touring the US for the first time such as Revathi Ramchandran, Mavin Khoo
and the Cleveland Cultural Alliance.
We have also
served the broader community by holding the performances at a variety of
venues such as the Barclay, Fullerton College Campus Theater, Torrance
Cultural Arts Center or the Bellflower Civic Auditorium. We have grown
from our early stages when we had audiences of about a 100 to being able
to fill a house such as The Barclay with 750 enthusiastic and excited patrons
of the arts.
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