Asian Avenue magazine

Anyone who has watched Mudra Dance Studio perform is left feeling energized, thoroughly entertained and simply…happy. This is a testament to the founder, dance instructor and choreographer, Namita
Khanna Nariani, whose love of dance, music and humanity is woven into every performance. With each performance, Nariani shares her message of tolerance, diversity and inclusiveness to captivated audiences.

A residential and commercial architect by day, Nariani, who’s East Indian American, founded Mudra Dance Studio, a non-profit organization that promotes classical, folk and contemporary forms of Indian dance.

You’ve studied dance since the age of three. How has this shaped your thinking towards life in general?
Music, dance and performance have been a part of my life from a very young age. My parents were a part of a performing group part-time and my mom was in a few plays while she was pregnant with me. I am told that at the age of one, I would expect my grandparents to perform a drum concert, while I danced, and only then would I agree to eat. I guess the choreographer in me came to life before I could even walk. Dance was my outlet. As long as I can remember, I loved seeing the look in people’s eyes when they watched me dance. The look of joy, happiness, amazement and acceptance was the best compensation anybody could have given me. That is when I realized that people could learn, accept and love others, if they were educated through a medium that really touched their heart.

You are an architect by trade. In what ways does your dance training and philosophy influence your designs?
I think both my passions have influenced each other. Architecture is the true blend of science and art. To me, so is dance. As I tell my students, the technical aspects of a step or turn, “is all physics.” They always laugh at me. Choosing architecture, since I already was a dancer, was basically continuing in the same path. The geometric aspect of architecture does truly influence my choreography.

In my choreography, I use movement, shapes, angles and forms in every way I can. Visualization of colors and costume designs come naturally, since I have been trained to observe the minutest detail and the result of any change that may occur. Dance has helped me understand fluidity of design. And, my eastern influence from dance definitely helps in creating color schemes and warmth of spaces through my designs.

What exactly is “Mudra Choreography” and how does it differ from other forms of Indian choreography?
Mudra means expression and traditionally in Indian Dance, it is the word that describes the different expressional gestures of the hand. For me, it is the expression of the soul through your hands and body.

Mudra Choreography is a style that we’re very proud of that’s developed over the past 30 years. My teacher, Guru Bhima Shankar, had an incredible influence on my ability to choreograph and teach. My classes with him were three hours long, every Sunday. Instead of just doing classical Kathak, a disciplined and formal style, he broke the class into three parts; an hour for Kathak, an hour for body isolation with stamina building, and the last hour was learning a dance of my choice: folk or classical. India is such a diverse country that you can travel 50 miles and be exposed to a different style of living, music, language and culture. I was able to understand the different sounds of music, steps and movements that were associated with that style of music. I love telling the story of the lyrics through the expression of the face, eyes, hands and body movements.

Mudra style combines diverse styles from the various regions of the country, with a classical as well as contemporary twist. We believe that it’s important for the audience to connect with us and our dances, even though the music and language is completely alien to them. The Mudra Dance Studio is a 501(C)(3) non-profit organization.

What do you hope to accomplish?
We are the only Indian Dance School in Colorado that is a non-profit organization. Our first big production was a benefit show for the massive earthquake in India around 2000. We donated every penny to the Red Cross and had zero expenses. That experience was very satisfying for us. We want to use dance and culture to go beyond visual and mental stimulation. We wanted to make tangible contributions to different grassroots organization and others who are less fortunate than us Americans. None of my dancers are paid and are all in this for the love of it. We are funded through grants, corporate sponsors, and dance classes.

Your stated goal is “to promote the beauty and love of diversity, acceptance and tolerance through the universal language of dance.” In what ways does tolerance grow from these types of cultural events?
Dance and music is a universal language. People who watch our performances may not understand the lyrics, the beat pattern or the actual technicalities of the movement, but they can understand how watching the performance makes them feel. They watch these people in costumes they have never seen before, dancing movements they themselves have never seen or done before, they hear music they have never heard before, but their hearts feel connected to those dancers, to their eyes, to their movements. They feel a certain connection to that culture that they had never thought they could have.

Also, the language of love is always understood, and we Mudras love dancing about love and its complexities. Every human being understands that. After experiencing a performance, a person feels a certain level of acceptance for that culture they had thought was so far away and alien to them. Hence, the tolerance and actual love of a new culture.

Where and how can we see some of your group’s performances and concerts?
During the summer, Mudra Dance Studio performs at international cultural fairs and festivals all over Colorado. Throughout the year, we perform at various schools and colleges, as well as, teach workshops for different undergraduate and graduate programs. Our biggest performance is our annual concert and this year will be our 10th. This year’s production, “MILAAP….Amalgamation…” This universe, world, country, community and our own Mudra family, at its core, is made of people from all shapes, sizes, colors… to create an amalgamation, a MILAAP of beauty, spirit and soul!

This concert is really a unique one. We will be dancing, in combination with an audio visual display on the screen, along with the fabulous Denver Taiko Japanese drum group. It has been my dream to combine the talent and diversity of the different cultures and bring them together on stage. So finally, our dream is coming true. Wish us the best!
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“MILAAP…Amalgamation…” shows are on November 8th and 15th at 5:00pm; and November 9th and 16th at 2:00pm at the Lakewood Cultural Center. Tickets can be purchased at: www.mudradancestudio.us or www.lakewood.org.

By Derek Brou and Erin Yoshimura
Asian Avenue magazine