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DANCE AND CHOREOGRAPHY

Trained in various styles of Dance, I currently practice Fusion Belly Dance.

Styles I am sufficiently proficient at: Belly Dance, Jazz, Contemporary, Kathak, Kalbeliya.
Other forms explored in the past: Bollywood, Hip-hop, House, Tango, Ballet, Odissi

Below are some of the Videos I have either conceptualized and  choreographed or performed in.

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You can see more improvs on my Instagram Stories

TO UNFURL- CONCEPT, CHOREOGRAPHY AND COSTUME.

 

I stand up, and this one of me

turns into a hundred of me. 

They say I circle around you,

Nonsense. I circle around me.

-Rumi

 

​‘To Unfurl’ is the story of a girl in pursuit of Freedom and Harmony. She knows what it takes to be set free, yet is being held back by things/ excuses/ extensions of herself/projections of herself. She wants to be able to do whatever she wants, but is afraid to let go and truly free herself and venture into the Unknown. Every time she thinks of getting up and setting herself free, all of these self-imposed images of herself circle around her and she lets them hold her back. She thinks she needs them and they need her.

 

Original Song: Coward- Yael Naiem

Mix by: Antra Lodha & Aditi Chordia

Style: Kathak Bellydance Fusion

TRIBAL FUSION SOLO- CONCEPT, CHOREOGRAPHY AND COSTUME.

Song: Three Sisters by Beats Antique

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A Tribal Fusion Belly Dance Choreography where I try to fuse my skills as an amateur Kalbelia (Rajasthani Folk Dance) dancer and a trained bellydancer for a informal community performance (360 degree audience). Performed at the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad.

SINGING IN THE SIN- CHOREOGRAPHY 

 

This music video is the outcome of an Open Elective course 'Singing In The Sin' offered at NID, Ahmedabad, India by Arun Gupta and Prahlad Gopakumar in January, 2020, around the theme of Bollywood Cabaret song & dance, especially of the late 60s and early 70s. Through a detailed examination of the concepts of sin, seduction and sexuality, and gender stereotypes, the Open Elective course explored the notions of the prohibited and the enticing, in Indian Art, Society and Culture, and of course Bollywood. It looked at in awe at the personalities of Helen, Bindu, Padma Khanna, Mumtaz, Sharmila Tagore, and other cine actor/dancers of that era, as embodiments of an ahead of their times feminine assertion and projection.

SHEDDING THE BLOOD OF LIFE

-Conceptualized, Choreographed and Performed by Antra Lodha, Nitisha Nanda and Vastvikta Chaubey

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With her first drop of blood, a woman meets her pain and her power

Her magical ability to bleed profusely yet rise like a pheonix

A sacred cycle that honors her sexual,emotional and spiritual needs.

A blessing by the universe, where 'PMS' in is the only time of the month where she can be herself;

Uninhibited , uncompromising and absolutely wonderful.

We present to you the menstrual cycle with all its ups and downs, glories and dooms

As we very fondly call it

SHEDDING THE BLOOD OF LIFE

 

The Music

The live music takes you on the menstrual journey with us. The meditative Tibetan Singing Bowl in the background is symbolic of the cycle, that although initially new, becomes an irreplaceable part of us, through repetitions and practice, through routine and monotony. After a period of lull and downtime, this journey of mood swings takes us to a more confident space. To make sense of the things around us we try to bring order and structure to it. The dancers adding the Sagaat to the monotonous background is a representation of this. As our energies continue to rise we become braver, more confident and want to try new things. We experience joy as we slowly hear the Rain Maker join the music, a symbol of new life (within and without) and adventure. But it is a cycle afterall, and all this outgoing energy, our hormones make us direct inward. We ponder and introspect, there may be chaos and confusion or clarity and success. Or there may be all of this. This Journey of moods and emotions shows us how the cycle is the same and yet so different for every woman. Each woman sings her own tune as the Xylophone takes us through these ups and downs with her and finally plunges us back to the beginning. We pick ourselves up again as we learn to breath through all of this. This, this cycle that we learn to ride through this course of life.

On the Tibetan Bowl- Mrs. Snigdha Nanda

On the African Rain Maker and Xylophone- Siddhant Singh Arya

CLASSICAL ORIENTAL / RAQS SHARQI

Choreographed and Performed by Antra Lodha and Nikita Sehgal 

Song: 'Aghdan Alkak' by 'Oum Kalthoum'.

 

However, the real challenge was interpretation of the music in the correct manner. This required us to listen to a lot of Sharqi music and after studying enough Sharqi dancers online we started to feel a kind of connect with the music. During the process of choreographing a lot of our steps came from how our bodies reacted to the music, and it was a surprise for us as well. We ended up with a choreography which was a blend of some typically old school 'latkas and jhatkas' combined with the attitude of and transitions of the now modern Sharqi. This is probably a result of us greedily lapping up and absorbing bits and pieces from whatever we were able to study over this short period of time. Every Sharqi dancer has a flavor of her own and in the process of this project we have only started to realize our own.

TRIBAL FUSION BELLY DANCE

Conceptualized, Choreographed and Performed by Antra Lodha, Damini Sahay and Nikita Sehgal 

Song: The Fairy and the Labyrinth by Javier Navarrete and The Drowned Girl by Yann Tiersen

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A humble attempt at fusion of tribal belly dance and psychoanalytic expression. The human mind is the creator doer and destroyer all in itself. The most potent weapon we possess. The id, our unconscious layer of the mind, is that part of us which creates wants, desires and must have its way met one way or another, it follows the pleasure principle only. The superego is our sense of conscience, the complex internalisation of our parents, always on the right path. The tension between these opposing forces is balanced by the doer, our ego. It brings us in harmony. This theatrical tribal fusion belly dance narration of the nature of human psyche tries to show how the trio forces apex at one time or another and finally seek harmony and unison.

ISHQ BINA- GROUP PERFORMANCE (Banjara School of Dance)

Song: Ishq Bina from the movie Taal

Choreography: Meher Malik

PREET- GROUP PERFORMANCE (Banjara School of Dance)

Song: Preet from the Movie Khoobsurat 

Choreography: Meher Malik

Skip to 3:55 for just the performance

KYA KYA KHAREEDOGE- GROUP PERFORMANCE (Banjara School of Dance)

Song: Kaho Ji Tum Kya by Mohd. Rafi, Balbir, Lata Mangeshkar, Geeta Dutt

Choreography: Meher Malik

YAI RE (RANGEELA)- GROUP PERFORMANCE (Banjara School of Dance)

Song: Yai Re by A. R. Rahman

Choreography: Meher Malik

RABBA MAINU MAAF KARIN- MUSIC VIDEO 

Song by Sagar Bhatai

Choreography: Vandana Sharma, Meher Malik, Rishi Sufi, Manwar Bist

AFGHAN JALEBI- GROUP PERFORMANCE (Banjara School of Dance)

Song: Afghan Jalebi by Asrar and Swag se Swagat by Vishal Dadlani and Neha Bhasin

Choreography: Meher Malik

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