Reetu Patel will be offering Move Bollywood Musical Theatre classes in acting and film dancing at the Ektaa Center in Irvine, CA on Sundays from 11:30am to 12:30pm and 12:30pm-1:30pm. She guarantees that her students will live their Bollywood dreams while they dance, sing, laugh and cry. She will also offer an adult Bhangra and Garba Workout class on Tuesdays from 11:00am to 12:00pm. Reetu is from Mumbai, India, and has been dancing for 23 years as well as making numerous Indian television appearances. To enroll in Reetu's classes, call 909-289-1203 or email ash7ree@yahoo.com. Classes start March 29. For more information, visit www.movebollywood.com.
Also new at the Ektaa Center -- enjoy classical yoga taught in an easy, natural way by Kshemi from the Yoga Center of California. The Yoga Center of California has been the leading center for classical yoga in Orange County since 1970 and this is the first time their sought-after classes will be offered in an auxiliary location. Kshemi's yoga classes at the Ektaa Center are great for beginners and are being offered on Mondays from 10:30am-12:00pm and Fridays from 1:00pm to 2:30pm. She offers postures focused on the body/mind connection and also offers meditation instruction and energizing and breathing practices. Kshemi studied with yoga master Ramakrishna Ananda for 21 years and has been teaching at the Yoga Center for 13 years. To enroll for yoga classes at Ektaa, you may visit www.yogacenter.org and use paypal to purchase a 4- or 8-class or unlimited monthly card, or pay by check on the day of class. Multi-class cards may be used at both the Yoga Center in Costa Mesa and Ektaa. For more information, contact Kshemi at kshmx-yoga@yahoo.com.
The Ektaa Center is the first and only center in Southern California for the arts and culture of India. This multi-use space in Irvine presents dance, music, theater, classes, lectures, and film screenings, and specializes in offering afterschool arts education to the many children in public schools that do not have arts programs. Students at Ektaa gain not only an appreciation of the arts, but also a new respect for cultural diversity, the gift of self-confidence and countless life-long friendships.
The Ektaa Center offers classes seven days a week in the traditional Indian arts, including:
- Bharata Natyam, the classical dance of Tamil Nadu in South India
- Kathak, a classical North Indian dance
- Bollywood dance
- Vocal and instrumental music, including tabla and harmonium
- Punjabi and Kannada language
- Yoga and meditation
- Visual art
The arts of India have been front and center in pop culture recently. Currently, instructor Nakul Dev Mahajan has been seen as a choreographer on the hit television program Superstars of Dance. Mahajan, known as "Hollywood's Bollywood Choreographer", has appeared on many other television programs including So You Think You Can Dance. The Ektaa Center's instructors also include Ramya Harishankar, founder of Irvine's Arpana Dance Company, and Jhothi Prakash Mistry of the Dhwani Academy of Percussion, founded by the world-famous Abhijit Banerjee.
For more details or information about the Ektaa Center call Harish Murthy at (949) 300-8912
