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Udavum Karangal (SFBA) in association with Sanhiti presents “Salangai to Salsa” – October 28, 2007
By Behindwoods News Bureau.
No minimum balance NRI account
October 24, 2007
Udavum Karangal (Helping Hands) was started in 1983 by Mr.Vidyaakar in Chennai India. What started as helping an abandoned eleven month old baby, as a professional social worker, in the slums of NSK Nagar, has led to caring for the two thousand residents today.
Udavum Karangal

Udavum Karangal extends help and succor and a new lease of life to nearly 2000 orphans from new born babies to old dying destitutes.

The Bay Area chapter of Udavum Karangal has been actively raising funds to support Udavum Karangal’s cause in India for over 4 years. They organize events every year to both entertain and encourage community participation. This being a completely volunteer driven chapter, has no administrative overheads and all proceeds from tickets sales and sponsorships are channeled back to benefit the family members of Udavum Karangal, Chennai. Udavum Karangal’s signature annual spring event is Galaata. Galaata is very well attended with around 1500 in audience attendance, popular amongst their shows are Galaata Idol (a singing competition), and fashion shows based on interesting themes. Galaata was conceptualized with the idea of promoting a fun and entertaining way to raise funds in support of a worthy cause.

The volunteers of Udavum Karangal (SFBA) in association with Sanhiti, a south indian dance troupe, proudly present “Salangai to Salsa” on October 28, 2007 at McAfee Center, Saratoga High School, 20300 Herriman Avenue, Saratoga, CA.

In a special message to the volunteers of Sanhiti, on the occasion of Salangai to Salsa, the Udavum Karangal Founder in India, Shri Vidyaakar says “It is the song of love that keeps the world moving. I am grateful to your voices that lend music to the souls of the deprived.”

The founders of Sanhiti, Janani Narayanan, Priya Krishnamoorthy and Roopa Parameswaran, trained bharathanatyam exponents, share a little bit about Sanhiti, the inception, the cause, and about Salangai to Salsa, the groups’ performance for charity for the year 2007.

Udavum Karangal

Who came up with the idea to form Sanhiti? What is the significance of the name?

Priya:

Janani, Roopa and I performed in the Thillana show in 2004 and we were pretty surprised to learn that there was no dance group that catered to the South Indian audience. It was Janani’s proposal to start Sanhiti with a view to provide variety entertainment for the Bay Area Indian community.

Sanhiti means ‘confluence’ in Sanskrit. From our perspective Sanhiti is different dance forms coming together to present South Indian culture to the audience.

What is Sanhiti’s mission?

Janani:

The mission of Sanhiti is to promote the rich and diverse South Indian dance culture in the bay area. Our main aim is to bring together dance enthusiasts and provide them an opportunity to perform. We are delighted to present fund-raisers that benefit non-profit organizations.

That brings us to our next question. You pick a charity to support every year. What is your motivation to do the same?

• Different organizations support different good causes and we think all of them are worthy of our support.

• Every year we learn something different by working with different institutions, which helps us grow as an organization.

• It gives us a chance to try new ideas, take up new challenges and get away from our comfort zone.

“Salangai to Salsa” is a potpourri of various dance forms. Can you elaborate further how your background in Bharatnatyam makes it easy to assimilate other dance forms into your performances?

Roopa:

Yes. Having been trained classically, the sense of rhythm and grace is already instilled in us, and since these are the two main components of any dance form, it helps to understand and grasp the techniques much faster. Bharatanatyam is also a disciplined dance form. It requires many years of practice and this discipline is very useful in picking up other dances like Jazz and Salsa.

Udavum Karangal

You have a number of artists performing in Salangai to Salsa? How do you select them?

Janani:

Yes we have around 35 dancers this year alone. It’s a floating population. We conduct auditions (usually conducted in spring each year), for people who are interested and have a flair for dancing. We have 2 rounds of audition; folk and hip-hop. Based on their performance in the audition we select them for a particular style of dance. We train them as we start choreography and practices, and fine-tune their skills as they progress.

Udavum Karangal

Thank you very much for your responses. Is there anything else you would like to add?

Janani,Priya, Roopa:

We are glad to be working with Udavum Karangal Bay Area Chapter this year, and would like all of you to come to our show and watch our performance.

Sit back, relax and enjoy Salangai to Salsa!

Sanhiti & Udavum Karangal Presents
"Salangai to Salsa - A potpourri of tamil film dances"
October 28th, 2007 (2pm and 6pm Two shows)
McAfee Performing Arts & Lecture Center
Saratoga, CA
www.salangaitosalsa.com

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