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Intergenerational Dance Workshop

Join Shaily Dadiala of Usiloquy Dance Designs for an intergenerational workshop integrating dance and culture at Asian Arts Initiative on 1219 Vine Street in Philadelphia. Ms. Dadiala will teach the basics of the Indian classical dance Bharatanatyam to children ages 7 to 10, and their accompanying adults. All are welcome, regardless of background or level of dance experience.

Bharatanatyam is a dance style that traces its roots to Southern India thousands of years back in time. It is a dynamic, percussive dance form characterized by striking the sole, heel, and ball of the foot in countless permutations and combinations with hand gestures-Mudras and multidimensional arrangements of arms and legs forming at once statuesque and fluid patterns. Emphatic facial expressions and body language reflecting the theme add further layers making it a myriad collage of text, poetry and movement

Shaily Dadiala was born in Bardoli, India. At the age of 9, she felt called to study Indian classical dance Bharatanatyam and to become a dancer. Ms. Dadiala founded Usiloquy Dance Designs in 2008; she is the Artistic Director, choreographer and Principal Dancer. She completed her B.A. in Dance specializing in Bharatanatyam from the Bruhad Gujarat Sangeet Samiti, India (1988-1994) and 2 year training in Hindustani Classical Music from 1987 to 1989. Ms. Dadiala choreographed and performed at several dance competitions and festivals in India between 1990 and 1996.

Ms. Dadiala has choreographed and performed special commissions at festivals such as the Philadelphia Geographical Society Festival of India, the Philadelphia International Festival of the Arts and the Experience Asia festival at the College of New Jersey. Her original works have been performed at The Queens Museum Theater in New York, The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, and the Painted Bride Arts Center in Philadelphia. Her work has been supported by the Philadelphia Cultural Fund, the Samuel S.Fels Fund and the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts. She is also a recent recipient of the Leeway Foundations Art and Change Grant.

Learn more about Usiloquy Dance Designs and Asian Arts Initiative at: usiloquydance.org and www.asianartsinitiative.org