Dance
Ulka Simone Mohanty started dancing when she was three years old and simply never stopped. As a dancer and choreographer, she is classically trained in several forms of Indian classical dance (bharatanatyam, odissi, kathak, mohiniyattam), contemporary dance as well as in various martial arts (Shaolin White Crane Kung Fu, judo, kalaripayattu, chhau, fencing, canne de combat). She has a passion for performance, arts education and storytelling of all kinds, especially when she can combine dance with other forms including theatre, film, voice acting and martial arts.
She frequently performs in dance and theatre productions all across the globe which have included the 2008 Vancouver Cultural Olympiad, the IGNITE! Festival of Contemporary Dance in New Delhi, India, San Diego Repertory Theatre’s House of Joy, featuring daring sword-fights in the martial arts form of kalaripayattu, and most recently with bollywood dance company Blue13 for AR Rahman‘s live concert at Los Angeles’ prestigious Hollywood Bowl.
Her most acclaimed choreography work to date has been for Disney‘s Rivers of Light, The Jungle Book: Alive With Magic, and Disney-Pixar collaboration Up! A Great Bird Adventure. After a successful summer run at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, her choreography on The Jungle Book: Alive With Magic went on to be presented at The White House for the 2016 Kids’ State Dinner hosted by Michelle Obama for her Let’s Move! initiative for aspiring children chefs. (Watch the show, here!)
A member of the South Asian Dance Alliance of Canada (SADAC) she was featured in The Dance Current magazine as one of Canada’s notable dance artist practitioners of South Asian dance forms. She choreographs, performs, teaches master classes and workshops and is one-third of the Southern California based children’s dance-theatre performance troupe Dancing Storytellers.
In|Expiration
A highly rhythmic dance-theater performance that investigates issues of personal justice and identity, the imperative of breath, and the repercussions of race-fueled violence…
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The choreography features a hybrid movement vocabulary including South Asian dance forms Bharatanatyam and Kathak, in dialog with the rhythms, isolations and punctuations of both Tap and Jazz. Live text, stirring vocalizations and contrapuntal rhythmic-breathing are layered into and over the movement with twin-like precision by dancer/performers Sheetal Gandhi and Ulka Mohanty, who are accompanied by Mark Gutierrez on the upright and electric bass. These live musical elements are seamlessly integrated into an enveloping sound-score by Derrick Spiva and Ian Smith.
Concept and Direction: Sheetal Gandhi
Choreography and Performance: Sheetal Gandhi and Ulka Mohanty
Music: Derrick Spiva and Ian Smith
Lighting Design: Tony Shayne
The Tale of Kung Fu Panda
Retold in Bharatanatyam and Shaolin White Crane Kung Fu. Choreographed, performed and narrated by Ulka Simone Mohanty.
Silo
“Lost, constrained, propelled, my body is wracked with the warring duo of Archaic and New. In the confusion, I happily choose neither and both.”
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Inspired by a short film I made, I choreographed this piece based loosely on Montreal’s Grain Elevator #5, a heritage site. The movements hint at windows and mirrors in a round tower, a feeling of being trapped, but not in an unpleasant sense. A sense of having access to the outside world but not being in it.
(Performed at the Sandra Faire Theatre at York University, Toronto, as part of the Kalangan Series Artist Showcase).
Mudra Koala | idle hands in quarantine
A dance of hands. Choreographed and performed by Ulka Simone Mohanty.
Madras Postcard
Choreography by Shyamala Moorty in collaboration with the performers Ulka Simone Mohanty and Meena Murugesan
Original Poem “Madras Postcard” by Nirmala Nataraj and remixed by Shyamala Moorty
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Sound design by Loren Nerell
This piece was created within the DesiJam Dance Collective with Nirmala Nataraj using the Post Natyam Collective’s long-distance collaborative techniques.
Special thanks to Wendy Moorty, Monica Shah, Sheetal Gandhi and Cynthia Ling Lee
Antachara
Antachara, which in Sanskrit means “walking about the frontiers”, refers to the travels of each dancer at the frontiers of her style, where the traditional and the contemporary meet and where the distinction between diverse aesthetics and cultures becomes blurred…
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Antachara is a collection of dance pieces representing diverse forms of Asian and Afro-Asian aesthetics.
Choreographed by Manijeh Ali, Reena Almoneda-Chang and Ulka Simone Mohanty
Performed at Sinha Danse‘s “Roots ‘R My Revolution”
Rivers of Light
Nighttime spectacular “Rivers of Light” combines live performance, floating set pieces, a soaring musical score, fountains and more in a celebration of animals and nature. The story magically unfolds on the broad natural stage of the Discovery River, conveying the uplifting spirit of an ancient and timeless lantern ceremony and filled with symbolism, storytelling and plenty of heart.
The Jungle Book: Alive With Magic
In “The Jungle Book: Alive with Magic,” the excitement and fun of Disney’s hit live-action adventure “The Jungle Book” roars to life with live music and performance, dazzling special effects and production numbers inspired by Indian cultural traditions.
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The Jungle Book: Alive With Magic went on to be presented at The White House for the 2016 Kids’ State Dinner hosted by Michelle Obama for her Let’s Move! initiative for aspiring children chefs. (Watch the show, here!)
UP! A Great Bird Adventure
This uplifting show features Senior Wilderness Explorer Russell and his furry friend Dug, from the Disney-Pixar animated film “Up,” as they discover bird species from around the world. Led by senior Wilderness Explorer Anika, “UP! A Great Bird Adventure” features a close-up look at various bird species from around the globe – including the marabou stork with an impressive 10-foot wingspan.
Dancing Storytellers Shyamala Moorty, Sheetal Gandhi and Ulka Simone Mohanty have come together to forge a creative collaboration out of a shared commitment to artistic innovation, personal transformation and social change. The Dancing Storytellers specialize in performances that offer innovative and contemporary interpretations of South Asian stories, dance and music. Their show “Indian Mythology and Me” has touched thousands of students through The Music Center’s “The Music Center on Tour” and the Segerstrom Center for the Arts’ “Arts Teach Program.” They have also performed in theaters and festivals such as The Ford Amphitheatre and Artwallah.
Indian Mythology And Me
This dynamic duet artfully weaves foot rhythms, hand gestures and facial expressions into an interactive exploration of Indian mythology and its connections to our world today. Created, choreographed and performed by Shyamala Moorty, Sheetal Gandhi and Ulka Simone Mohanty.
The Sum Of All Things
The Dancing Storytellers’ newest show, The Sum of All Things, illuminates cycles in nature through imaginative South Asian dance, music, and stories. The Sum of All Things was written and directed by Shyamala Moorty, choreographed and performed by Shyamala Moorty and Ulka Simone Mohanty, composed by Neelamjit Dhillon, science consultation by Meredith Casalino, and created with support from Segerstrom Center for the Arts’ STEAM Integration Lab.