Community
Leela Dance Collective’s engagement programs bring kathak into conversation with audiences across the country, creating meaningful encounters that open up questions of identity, community, heritage and belonging in a pluralistic America. Whether in a university lecture hall, a performing arts center lobby, or a community workshop space, we meet people where they are, offering multiple points of access to a tradition that has been carried across generations and continents.
Artist Talks
Leela Dance Collective’s artist talks are invitations into the living heart of kathak — its philosophy, its history, and its urgent relevance to contemporary life. These talks range from intimate post-show conversations to standalone lectures tailored to diverse audiences, from university students and arts professionals to general audiences encountering kathak for the first time. Topics range from the living questions at the heart of the form — lineage and transmission, tradition and contemporary relevance, cross-cultural dialogue, and kathak as a practice of embodied presence — to broader conversations about the role of classical Indian dance in American civic and cultural life.
Lecture Demonstrations
Leela’s lecture-demonstrations offer audiences an immersive encounter with kathak’s full expressive range — its explosive footwork, intricate rhythmic structures, lyrical abhinaya, and the live dialogue between dancer and musician. Each presentation is tailored to the presenting context and may explore themes including improvisation within a classical framework; the mythology, philosophy, and spirituality embedded in the form; the history of kathak across temples, courts, and the diaspora; and the art of storytelling through gesture, rhythm, and expression.
Workshops
Leela Dance Collective offers hands-on workshops that bring participants into direct contact with the rhythms, forms, and ideas that animate kathak. Designed for a wide range of participants — from curious newcomers to students of other dance traditions — workshops can focus on an introduction to kathak technique, the expressive language of storytelling through movement, rhythm and improvisation, or embodied presence and attention drawn from kathak’s roots as a devotional practice.
Arts Education
Leela Dance Collective’s signature arts education program, Imagine India, introduces K-12 students to the world of North Indian classical art, weaving together dance, music, rhythm, poetry, and storytelling to tell the story of India across the ages. Accompanied by educator guides and supplemental classroom activities, the program is designed to educate and inspire young audiences. Leela has partnered with The Music Center, ASU Gammage, and Carnegie Hall in support of their arts education initiatives.
Leela Dance Collective
23650 Community Street
Los Angeles, CA 91304
E: info@leela.dance
