7th Annual Mandala Makers Fest at the Athenaeum Center, Sept. 5-7

The history of South Asian folk and traditional dance dates back thousands of years, yet Mandala South Asian Performing Arts continuously find new ways to innovate within these ancient art forms. Case in point, this year’s Mandala Maker’s Festival, presented by Mandala South Asian Performing Arts and running Sept. 5-7 at the Athenaeum Center for Thought and Culture, invites attendees to dance the night away to the magnificence of South Asian-inspired Electronic Dance Music (SAEDM) following concerts by the Mandala ensemble and a plethora of guest artists and musicians performing works of classical, folk and contemporary dance in the styles of Bharatanatyam, Kathak, Odissi and more.

In its seventh year, Mandala Makers Festival is better than ever. Formerly produced in bank parking lots and public parks, this year’s festival has secured the historic Athenaeum theater, promising a more comfortable experience. The addition of Bollywood and SAEDM dance parties is a first for the festival and reflects the evolving tastes of the South Asian diaspora. “[SAEDM] is picking up steam in the U.S.A.,” says Pranita Nayar, company director of Mandala, in an interview. “As the South Asian population is increasing in the country, more people want to platform this music for their own expression.”

“Art will continue. You can’t stop a bird from singing, can you?” – Pranita Nayar, Mandala Company Director

Festival headliner DJ Atish and two other guest DJs blend House and Techno music with popular Bollywood tracks and South Asian instruments and harmonic scales, called ragas, to create music that is guaranteed to get your toes tapping. (Both dance parties are ticketed events open to the public, but the performances are FREE.)

Mandala soldiers on despite cutbacks in funding for cultural programming by the U.S. government. “We would have kept our dance parties free if our government funding awards had come through,” says Nayar, “but we are very dependent on community and individual donors to fill the hole.” Sponsors like the Goodman Theatre’s “100 Free Acts of Theater” program, the Lakeview Chamber of Commerce and the Driehaus Foundation have picked up the slack left by the government. “The art will continue,” says Nayar. “You can’t stop a bird from singing, can you?”

Friday’s concert features contemporary works of dance by the Mandala Ensemble alongside guest artists Talha Waqar, a genre-fluid vocalist originally from Rawalpindi-Islamabad in Pakistan, who mixes South Asian-inspired indie rock, ‘90s grunge and lyrics and beats and themes of the South Asian diaspora. Raji Venkat, coloratura soprano, opera singer and Bharatanatyam dancer, with also make a guest appearance—check out Venkat performing at Mandala’s 10^th anniversary celebration by clicking HERE.

Following Friday’s concert is the SAEDM Dance Party, giving the audience a chance to show off their moves in their own signature dance style.

Saturday is Folk and Bollywood Day, featuring performances by Mandala, Shakti Queen Beats and RVD Academy, with live music performances by Bengali music group, Ochin Pakhi, Nate Torrence on the alghoza, a South Asian double-barreled woodwind instrument, and Do The Needful, who play vintage Bollywood and Ghazals (Indian pop music) in a garage punk style. The folk-dance program highlights dances that are mainly done in rural parts of India, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka and Pakistan with both RVD Academy and Shakti Queen Beats combining their music with traditional Bollywood and Bhangra, a vibrant musical genre from the Punjab region of India and Pakistan, but also with influences of hip-hop and pop music.

Folk and Bollywood Day culminates with the Bollywood Dance Party. “Everyone wonders, ‘What is Bollywood?’” says Nayar. “Bollywood dance parties are common in South Asian weddings, but we’re taking it out of that context so that people can experience it on their own. Without having to attend a wedding (laughs).”

Sunday’s “Classical” program is a mélange of traditional South Asian dance styles—Bharatanatyam, Kathak and Odissi dance forms— from across the region. Highlights include Navrasa Dance Academy performing the Thillana, a type of Bharatanatyam dance and song but with the modern twist of using this ancient dance form’s superb storytelling principles to address the modern problems brought to light by the Black Lives Matter movement. Also on Sunday, Anindita x Sreevidhya perform a rare collaboration that combines the fluidity of Bharatanatyam with the syncopated foot percussion of Kathak, and Aikyam dance company perform in the Odissi style, a dance genre often overlooked but is nonetheless an essential part of the South Asian canon of classical dance.

South Asian dance is not only alive in Chicago but is thriving thanks in part to the efforts of Mandala Arts and the Mandala Makers Festival. Despite funding setbacks and a competitive dance landscape, Mandala continues to grow and find new ways to bring people into the fantastic world of South Asian music and dance. This weekend, whet your whistle with concerts featuring a broad range of traditional and classical South Asian dance, then lace up your dancing shoes and get ready to boogie like never before.

Mandala Makers Festival runs Sept. 5-7 at Athenaeum Center for Thought and Culture, 2936 N Southport. All performances are FREE. Tickets for the South Asian EDM and Bollywood Dance Parties are $34 each. For tickets and more information, visit the event page by clicking HERE.