Manthan

A Traditional Kathak Solo presented by Neeharika Tummala with the support of

Rachna Nivas - Teacher

Jayanta Banerjee - Sitar

Satyaprakash Misra - Tabla

Asif Khan - Vocal

Neeharika Tummala

I began my dance journey in undergrad under Joanna D'Souza, a senior disciple of Pandit Chitresh Das. It was Joanna di, who cultivated my love for Kathak, and developed my form and style. When I moved to India, Seema Mehta, another disciple of Guruji's continued to be a bridge for my education and exposed me to another facet of Guruji - his evolution in the last 2 decades. When I moved to New York, I was lucky to have Rachna Nivas, fortuitously relocate from San Francisco to New York, where I was able to build on my prior foundation and study this Gharana's dynamic style, technique and wisdom. During this time, I have also received a lot of love from Rukhmani Mehta, who trained me for readiness to be an apprentice dancer in the company, and from Seibi Lee, who transmitted knowledge during the covid years.
No other student in this lineage has been the product of so many elders, who have graciously poured their knowledge into me and have shaped me to become the dancer I am today. I am simply a product of their immense investments into me. With deep gratitude and blessings from the elders in my lineage, I walk into this stage, knowing that I am another link in a beautiful long chain.

Manthan

The Samudra Manthan, an epic of the churning of the ocean. The devas formed an alliance with the asuras to jointly churn the ocean for the nectar of immortality, and to share it among themselves. During this epic battle of churning, there is an emergence of incredible gems, poison and eventually Amrit (eternal nectar).

My journey towards the solo feels very much like this manthan, a churning of the self. In this journey, I had to turn within to find gems, get past difficult moments, and find joy. This show is to take you on that journey.