Performances are on Friday and Saturday December 3rd and 4th at Highways Performance Space at 18th Street Studios (1651 18th Street, Santa Monica).

Sheetal’s performance of Bahu-Beti-Biwi wraps North Indian music traditions and family characters into a contemporary tour de force that glides between humorous portraiture and active resistance. Sheetal mines the texts and subtexts of centuries-old women’s songs to create an arresting vision of generational shifts that are reshaping our definitions of freedom and compromise, desire and longing, duty and love.

In 2008, Sheetal presented an excerpt of Bahu-Beti-Biwi at the ArtWallah Festival in Little Tokyo.  She has since toured excerpts of the work in cities across America and internationally in places like Amsterdam, Israel and India.  Sheetal is pleased to bring the work back to Los Angeles where it has not been seen in its entirety since 2008!

Here’s what critics and the public have been saying about the work:

…ravenously beautiful. Thank you.
- Taisha Pagette, choreographer and writer

The collective narratives of a daughter-in-law, daughter and wife, weaved through the storyline like a needle puncturing through the past to complete a “quilt” that only Gandhi could create with her unique ability to reach into your chest and evoke an emotion through Indian dance.
- Lauren Joseph (examiner.com)

The piece was an incisive commentary on the traditional role of Indian women, and it was offset by brilliant touches of humor.
- Kiran Rajagopalan (Narthaki)

I encourage you to continue growing this “one woman” show, that actually represents millions of women around the world…I was blown away.
- Heather Baer, Performer and Aerialist with Project Bandaloop

Her inventive vocal work, precise percussion and genuinely passionate stage-presence draw viewers in with their immediacy while she cleverly and humorously defies expectations.
- George Lugg, Associate Director, REDCAT

Don’t miss this show! Reserve your tickets today!
Web: www.highwaysperformance.org
-OR-
Call: 310-315-1459

Sheetal Gandhi is an intercultural, multidisciplinary choreographer and performer. She creates work that is reflective of a life that embraces diversity, observes human experience and yearns to tell a story. Gandhis career has spanned genres and disciplines for the last fifteen years. She worked as a creator and performer in Cirque du Soleils Dralion, and toured with the international cast performing over 700 shows. Gandhi was Co-Artistic Director of the modern dance company California Contemporary Dancers in San Francisco from 2001-2004, after which she moved to New York to play a leading role in the Broadway production of Bombay Dreams. Most recently, Gandhi was awarded the prestigious C.O.L.A. Grant by the Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs (2010). She was also chosen as a fellow for the APPEX International Residency in Bali (2009).

For more information about Sheetal or her work, visit her at: www.sheetalgandhi.com.

Shyamala Moorty

Shyamala Moorty is an interdisciplinary artist and activist with a background in contemporary Indian and western dance forms and theater. Shyamala has been a company artist with TeAda Productions since 2003, where she has created two interdisclinary solo shows. Her first show, RISE, was acclaimed as a “tour de force” by the LA Times (1/17/04). Her second solo show, Carrie’s Web, recently premiered in Los Angeles, and was made in partnership with a community organization for Muslim women and families, NISWA.

Shyamala is also co-founder of the Post Natyam Collective, a multinational community of dance artists critically and creatively investigating contemporary approaches to South Asian dance forms and aesthetic concepts. Shyamala has performed her collaborative work with Post Natyam in the UK, Germany, the Czech Republic, and India.

Shyamala holds an MFA in dance from UCLA’s Department of World Arts and Cultures. She danced with Iyengar’s Rangoli Dance Company from 1994-2004, and was a soloist and principal dancer with the Aman International Music and Dance Ensemble from 1997 to 2004. When she’s not creating and performing, she’s sharing yoga and dance and interdisciplinary approaches with college students. She also designed Artwallah’s summer arts development program, YouthWallah, and served as the first Executive Director of WYSE.

ArtWallah 2010: Afterlife

North America’s decade-old, internationally renowned arts festival of the South Asian diaspora will present the freshest Cultural-Art-Collision on June 18^th to 20^th 2010 at the venerable Highways Performance Space in Santa Monica.

Co-presented by The South Asian Artists Collective and Highways, the tenth anniversary festival celebrates the theme of “Afterlife” with a presentation of original artist collaborations and multi-disciplinary performance – and an engaging children’s program for families.

Tickets are now available online at www.highwaysperformance.org or via the Highways box office at 310-315-1459.

EVENT GUIDE

Festival date: June 18-20, 2010
Venue: Highways Performance Space
Location: 1651 18^th Street, Santa Monica (at 18^th Street Art Center one block North of Olympic)

Box Office Reservations: 310-315-1459
Purchase Tickets Online: www.highwaysperformance.org

Show Times: Fri. + Sat. 8:30pm, Sun. 7:00pm
Children’s Program: Sun. 1-4pm

Program: music, film, dance, theater, stand-up comedy, readings, exhibit gallery, childrens’ workshops

Tickets: $20 evening show ($15 students/seniors); $10 children’s program (ages 6+)

Official Website: artwallah.southasianartists.org

Yatin Parkhani

Yatin Parkhani is a short format director and TV editor with an indie film background. He’s directed, edited and produced segments for Toon Disney, CBS, VH-1, MTV, Telepictures and many more.

ArtWallah 2010: Afterlife

North America’s decade-old, internationally renowned arts festival of the South Asian diaspora will present the freshest Cultural-Art-Collision on June 18^th to 20^th 2010 at the venerable Highways Performance Space in Santa Monica.

Co-presented by The South Asian Artists Collective and Highways, the tenth anniversary festival celebrates the theme of “Afterlife” with a presentation of original artist collaborations and multi-disciplinary performance – and an engaging children’s program for families.

Tickets are now available online at www.highwaysperformance.org or via the Highways box office at 310-315-1459.

EVENT GUIDE

Festival date: June 18-20, 2010
Venue: Highways Performance Space
Location: 1651 18^th Street, Santa Monica (at 18^th Street Art Center one block North of Olympic)

Box Office Reservations: 310-315-1459
Purchase Tickets Online: www.highwaysperformance.org

Show Times: Fri. + Sat. 8:30pm, Sun. 7:00pm
Children’s Program: Sun. 1-4pm

Program: music, film, dance, theater, stand-up comedy, readings, exhibit gallery, childrens’ workshops

Tickets: $20 evening show ($15 students/seniors); $10 children’s program (ages 6+)

Official Website: artwallah.southasianartists.org

Adnan Hussain

Adnan Hussain spent his formative years in the US, as well as Pakistan. A childhood fascination with writing stories combined with a steady diet of comics, cartoons and books warped his brain forever. After years of visual effects and animation work, “Gul” marks his directorial debut.

ArtWallah 2010: Afterlife

North America’s decade-old, internationally renowned arts festival of the South Asian diaspora will present the freshest Cultural-Art-Collision on June 18^th to 20^th 2010 at the venerable Highways Performance Space in Santa Monica.

Co-presented by The South Asian Artists Collective and Highways, the tenth anniversary festival celebrates the theme of “Afterlife” with a presentation of original artist collaborations and multi-disciplinary performance – and an engaging children’s program for families.

Tickets are now available online at www.highwaysperformance.org or via the Highways box office at 310-315-1459.

EVENT GUIDE

Festival date: June 18-20, 2010
Venue: Highways Performance Space
Location: 1651 18^th Street, Santa Monica (at 18^th Street Art Center one block North of Olympic)

Box Office Reservations: 310-315-1459
Purchase Tickets Online: www.highwaysperformance.org

Show Times: Fri. + Sat. 8:30pm, Sun. 7:00pm
Children’s Program: Sun. 1-4pm

Program: music, film, dance, theater, stand-up comedy, readings, exhibit gallery, childrens’ workshops

Tickets: $20 evening show ($15 students/seniors); $10 children’s program (ages 6+)

Official Website: artwallah.southasianartists.org

In FADE TO INFINITY Agarwal and Deon spin a story of love, betrayal, and survival to an original score composed by Juhi Bansal. Musical accompaniment by Juhi Bansal on piano and Anand Dika on tablas.

Shilpa Agarwal

Shilpa Agarwal is the author of the bestselling novel Haunting Bombay, a literary ghost story set in India and a winner of the First Words Literary Prize.

Born in Mumbai to a family uprooted by India’s Independence movement and subsequent Partition in 1947, Shilpa’s early writings explored how colonialism and the chaos of dislocation shaped human interaction.

Her current writing is informed by glimpses into moments of alienation and awakening, especially during geographic and metaphoric crossings: east meets west, centers meet the peripheries, the living meet the dead. She writes to call up the haunting utterances of the excluded, to excavate fragmentary memories that edge consciousness, and to imagine a more nuanced narrative of history.

ArtWallah 2010: Afterlife

North America’s decade-old, internationally renowned arts festival of the South Asian diaspora will present the freshest Cultural-Art-Collision on June 18^th to 20^th 2010 at the venerable Highways Performance Space in Santa Monica.

Co-presented by The South Asian Artists Collective and Highways, the tenth anniversary festival celebrates the theme of “Afterlife” with a presentation of original artist collaborations and multi-disciplinary performance – and an engaging children’s program for families.

Tickets are now available online at www.highwaysperformance.org or via the Highways box office at 310-315-1459.

EVENT GUIDE

Festival date: June 18-20, 2010
Venue: Highways Performance Space
Location: 1651 18^th Street, Santa Monica (at 18^th Street Art Center one block North of Olympic)

Box Office Reservations: 310-315-1459
Purchase Tickets Online: www.highwaysperformance.org

Show Times: Fri. + Sat. 8:30pm, Sun. 7:00pm
Children’s Program: Sun. 1-4pm

Program: music, film, dance, theater, stand-up comedy, readings, exhibit gallery, childrens’ workshops

Tickets: $20 evening show ($15 students/seniors); $10 children’s program (ages 6+)

Official Website: artwallah.southasianartists.org

Sheetal Gandhi

Sheetal Gandhi is an intercultural, multi-disciplinary performer and choreographer. Her first concern as an artist is to create work that stirs deep within the human experience. She worked as a creator and performer in Cirque du Soleil’s DRALION, and toured with the international cast performing over 700 shows.

In 2004, she played a leading role in the Broadway production of BOMBAY DREAMS and for three years was Co-Artistic Director of the modern dance company California Contemporary Dancers in San Francisco. Her solo and group work has been presented in theaters and festivals around the country and in Mexico, Canada, Ghana, Israel and India.

Sheetal draws on her strengths and professional successes from an African village to the subway platform to the Broadway stage to create work that blurs cultural and disciplinary boundaries, promoting intercultural understanding through artistic excellence.

ArtWallah 2010: Afterlife

North America’s decade-old, internationally renowned arts festival of the South Asian diaspora will present the freshest Cultural-Art-Collision on June 18^th to 20^th 2010 at the venerable Highways Performance Space in Santa Monica.

Co-presented by The South Asian Artists Collective and Highways, the tenth anniversary festival celebrates the theme of “Afterlife” with a presentation of original artist collaborations and multi-disciplinary performance – and an engaging children’s program for families.

Tickets are now available online at www.highwaysperformance.org or via the Highways box office at 310-315-1459.

EVENT GUIDE

Festival date: June 18-20, 2010
Venue: Highways Performance Space
Location: 1651 18^th Street, Santa Monica (at 18^th Street Art Center one block North of Olympic)

Box Office Reservations: 310-315-1459
Purchase Tickets Online: www.highwaysperformance.org

Show Times: Fri. + Sat. 8:30pm, Sun. 7:00pm
Children’s Program: Sun. 1-4pm

Program: music, film, dance, theater, stand-up comedy, readings, exhibit gallery, childrens’ workshops

Tickets: $20 evening show ($15 students/seniors); $10 children’s program (ages 6+)

Official Website: artwallah.southasianartists.org

A poem by Bhargavi Mandava and a drawing by Mark Sylbert simultaneously unfold and converge as they explore the intersections of identity in time before and after a student’s suicide.

BEFORE emerged from concerns about the incidence of suicide among young people enrolled at colleges, ranging from Cornell University in New York to Kasturba Medical College in India. When a person commits suicide, it is not a choice, but an inability to see choices that leads them to a point of utter despair, confusion and death. BEFORE conjures a life before a suicide, a life that is filled with excessive pressure to excel academically while the wounded soul is left to struggle in isolation. Through this collaboration, Bhargavi and Mark hope to communicate the incredible potential in each and every one of us.

Bhargavi Mandava

Bhargavi C. Mandava was born in Hyderabad, India and grew up in NYC. She is the author of the novel Where the Oceans Meet. Her essays, poetry and fiction have appeared in various reviews and anthologies.

Ms. Mandava’s first reading was in 1993 at NYC’s St. Mark’s Poetry Project, where she read with Sapphire, author of the novel Push. Some of Ms. Mandava’s poems were recently published in the poetry anthology, Indivisible (University of Arkansas Press, 2010). “Moments of graceful resiliency are captured again and again, and Indivisible becomes an unbroken map of lyrical recollection. There are lived lives behind these marvelous poems.” –Yusef Komyunakaa

ArtWallah 2010: Afterlife

North America’s decade-old, internationally renowned arts festival of the South Asian diaspora will present the freshest Cultural-Art-Collision on June 18^th to 20^th 2010 at the venerable Highways Performance Space in Santa Monica.

Co-presented by The South Asian Artists Collective and Highways, the tenth anniversary festival celebrates the theme of “Afterlife” with a presentation of original artist collaborations and multi-disciplinary performance – and an engaging children’s program for families.

Tickets are now available online at www.highwaysperformance.org or via the Highways box office at 310-315-1459.

EVENT GUIDE

Festival date: June 18-20, 2010
Venue: Highways Performance Space
Location: 1651 18^th Street, Santa Monica (at 18^th Street Art Center one block North of Olympic)

Box Office Reservations: 310-315-1459
Purchase Tickets Online: www.highwaysperformance.org

Show Times: Fri. + Sat. 8:30pm, Sun. 7:00pm
Children’s Program: Sun. 1-4pm

Program: music, film, dance, theater, stand-up comedy, readings, exhibit gallery, childrens’ workshops

Tickets: $20 evening show ($15 students/seniors); $10 children’s program (ages 6+)

Official Website: artwallah.southasianartists.org

Ghalib Shiraz Dhalla

Los Angeles-based writer Ghalib Shiraz Dhalla is the author of the novel Ode to Lata, hailed by by The Los Angeles Times as “an accomplishment” and The Library Journal as “brilliant.” An excerpt from Ode to Lata was featured in the anthology, Contours of the Heart (Rutgers), which went on to win the 18th Annual American Book Award. The novel created milestones as the first South Asian gay novel ever to be reviewed by The Los Angeles Times Book Review and to be excerpted by Genre Magazine. It was also the first account of the South Asian gay experience from an author from the African continent. The cultural and academic impact of Dhalla’s debut novel was further recognized when it was presented at the Between The Lines Festival at MIT (Boston) in 2004, and added to college syllabuses around the country.

Dhalla went on to adapt and produce the novel into the feature film, The Ode starring Sachin Bhatt, Wilson Cruz and Sakina Jaffrey (Watch trailer). The Ode premiered at the Outfest Film Festival on July 17th, 2008 to a sold-out audience. It was called “a beautiful portrait of the American experience for many first and second-generation Indian-Americans” (CineQueer, July 18th, 2008) and a film with performances that are “memorable” and filled with “cinematic intensity” (Planet Homo, July 19th, 2008). The UCLA Asia Institute praised it as a film that inspired “after-film contemplation” and boasting performances that are “noteworthy” (Asia Pacific Arts, August 8th, 2008).

ArtWallah 2010: Afterlife

North America’s decade-old, internationally renowned arts festival of the South Asian diaspora will present the freshest Cultural-Art-Collision on June 18^th to 20^th 2010 at the venerable Highways Performance Space in Santa Monica.

Co-presented by The South Asian Artists Collective and Highways, the tenth anniversary festival celebrates the theme of “Afterlife” with a presentation of original artist collaborations and multi-disciplinary performance – and an engaging children’s program for families.

Tickets are now available online at www.highwaysperformance.org or via the Highways box office at 310-315-1459.

EVENT GUIDE

Festival date: June 18-20, 2010
Venue: Highways Performance Space
Location: 1651 18^th Street, Santa Monica (at 18^th Street Art Center one block North of Olympic)

Box Office Reservations: 310-315-1459
Purchase Tickets Online: www.highwaysperformance.org

Show Times: Fri. + Sat. 8:30pm, Sun. 7:00pm
Children’s Program: Sun. 1-4pm

Program: music, film, dance, theater, stand-up comedy, readings, exhibit gallery, childrens’ workshops

Tickets: $20 evening show ($15 students/seniors); $10 children’s program (ages 6+)

Official Website: artwallah.southasianartists.org

YOGA/COMEDY IMPROV WORKSHOP

A 45-minute class for kids aged 4-10 exploring movement, yoga, creativity and imagination with improvisational techniques such as trusting yourself and group games. Taught by Rasika Mathur. Advance registration required.

BOLLYWOOD BHANGRA DANCE CLASS

Dance class for children by Achinta S. McDaniel of blue13 dance company. Ages 6+ are encouraged to join in the fun: learning the basics of Bhangra and Bollywood, with an emphasis on choreography.

CRY AMERICA’S MY VISION CAMPAIGN – CRY (Child Rights and You)

America’s presents a creative platform for children to express their vision of a just world through paintings, poems and essays. Arts and craft supplies will be provided.

ArtWallah 2010: Afterlife

North America’s decade-old, internationally renowned arts festival of the South Asian diaspora will present the freshest Cultural-Art-Collision on June 18^th to 20^th 2010 at the venerable Highways Performance Space in Santa Monica.

Co-presented by The South Asian Artists Collective and Highways, the tenth anniversary festival celebrates the theme of “Afterlife” with a presentation of original artist collaborations and multi-disciplinary performance – and an engaging children’s program for families.

Tickets are now available online at www.highwaysperformance.org or via the Highways box office at 310-315-1459.

EVENT GUIDE

Festival date: June 18-20, 2010
Venue: Highways Performance Space
Location: 1651 18^th Street, Santa Monica (at 18^th Street Art Center one block North of Olympic)

Box Office Reservations: 310-315-1459
Purchase Tickets Online: www.highwaysperformance.org

Show Times: Fri. + Sat. 8:30pm, Sun. 7:00pm
Children’s Program: Sun. 1-4pm

Program: music, film, dance, theater, stand-up comedy, readings, exhibit gallery, childrens’ workshops

Tickets: $20 evening show ($15 students/seniors); $10 children’s program (ages 6+)

Official Website: artwallah.southasianartists.org

Rasika will perform CREMATION at the ArtWallah 2010 arts festival as part of the three-night (June 18-20) performance of Afterlife, co-directed by Shishir Kurup and Sheetal Gandhi. Showtimes are Friday/Saturday at 8:30pm and Sunday at 7pm.

Rasika will also be leading a YOGA/COMEDY IMPROV WORKSHOP for kids aged 4-10. Starting at 1pm on Sunday June 20 the 45-minute class will explore movement, yoga, creativity and imagination with improvisational techniques such as trusting yourself and group games. $10 each for children ages 6+. Participation is limited for this workshop and advance registration is required.

Rasika Mathur

Rasika Mathur can be seen in MTV’s Wild N Out, My Name is Earl, Weeds, [adult swim]’s Children’s Hospital and the 2010 Sundance-selected feature The Taqwacores.

Rasika boasts a talent for developing characters, writing/performing sketches & stand-up material. Her latest adventures in the world of musical comedy has attracted international attention, through her first self produced music video, ‘The Sari (W)rap’ – a film festival favorite.

ArtWallah 2010: Afterlife

North America’s decade-old, internationally renowned arts festival of the South Asian diaspora will present the freshest Cultural-Art-Collision on June 18^th to 20^th 2010 at the venerable Highways Performance Space in Santa Monica.

Co-presented by The South Asian Artists Collective and Highways, the tenth anniversary festival celebrates the theme of “Afterlife” with a presentation of original artist collaborations and multi-disciplinary performance – and an engaging children’s program for families.

Tickets are now available online at www.highwaysperformance.org or via the Highways box office at 310-315-1459.

EVENT GUIDE

Festival date: June 18-20, 2010
Venue: Highways Performance Space
Location: 1651 18^th Street, Santa Monica (at 18^th Street Art Center one block North of Olympic)

Box Office Reservations: 310-315-1459
Purchase Tickets Online: www.highwaysperformance.org

Show Times: Fri. + Sat. 8:30pm, Sun. 7:00pm
Children’s Program: Sun. 1-4pm

Program: music, film, dance, theater, stand-up comedy, readings, exhibit gallery, childrens’ workshops

Tickets: $20 evening show ($15 students/seniors); $10 children’s program (ages 6+)

Official Website: artwallah.southasianartists.org