Events
Shukrawar Social: Bhangra Night
Come out to Kalapriya’s first Shukrawar Social! Learn some Bhangra moves from Mandeep Kumar - the OG from Punjab! Bring a friend or come solo and make some new ones! Indian-Inspired mocktails and appetizers will be provided. Bring a bottle of your favorite wine or spirit to share!
We Are One Humanity
WHAT DO WE DO NOW?
A Community Discussion with We Are One Humanity’s founder Rajmohan Gandhi
Creative Roots: Spring Adult Paint & Sip
Unwind after a long week, grab a glass of your favorite beverage, and get your creative juices flowing at Kalapriya! Workshop fee includes art supplies, snacks, & non-alcoholic refreshments. Bring a bottle of your favorite wine or spirit to share!
MELA
Join us for a fantastic day of music, dance, food, crafts, and fun, at Kalapriya’s 2025 Mela!
Experience incredible local, national, and international artists, taste some South Asian food, enjoy arts and craft activities with the young ones, shop at local retail vendors and wear some art from local henna artists!
Sundays on State
The Kalapriya dancers will grace the stage once again at Sundays on State!
Diwali
Diwali (Dīvali, Dīpāwali, Deepavali, Dipabali) is a festival of lights and is a gazetted holiday in India. Followers of Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism and Sikhism observe various customs related to Diwali.
Celebrate with Kalapriya and enjoy south asian cuisine, music, and dance!
A South Asian Christmas
Sip some wine, relish some ethnic cuisine, enjoy some fusion bollywood music & let’s dance away!!!
Ragamala Dance Company
Our friends at Harris Theater in Millennium Park are offering a special discount to our Kalapriya community for Ragamala Dance Company!
Holi
Known as the Festival of Colors, Holi is an annual celebration of spring, love, and new life throughout North India. This exciting celebration is filled with dancing, singing, and - most famously - throwing of colored powder and water. Come celebrate Holi with Kalapriya! We’ll have dancing, music, food, arts & crafts, and more - lots of fun for children and adults!
Pehchaan
Our friends at Ishami Dance Company are offering a special discount to our Kalapriya community for Pehchaan!
See Chicago Dance Convening
Event Description
Join members of the Chicago dance community as See Chicago Dance shares exciting Chicago Dance Month updates and gives a first-time look at the brand-new See Chicago Dance website! In addition to these exciting See Chicago Dance updates there will also be time to connect and network with members of the Chicago Dance Community!
The Winter Community Convening is generously hosted at Kalapriya Center for Indian Performing Arts, located at 2101 S Wabash Ave Chicago, IL. The facility is wheelchair-accessible and served by several CTA transit lines. Click here to plan your commute using Google Maps. Street parking is available in the surrounding area.
ASL interpretation will be provided during this gathering. If other accessible accommodations are needed, please click here to contact Kennedy Ward.
Creative Roots: Adult Paint & Sip
Adult Paint & Sip @ Kalapriya
Date: Friday, January 31, 2025
Time: 6:00 - 8:00 PM
Venue: Kalapriya Studio
Address: 2101 S. Wabash Ave, Chicago, IL 60616
$45 Registration Fee (per person)
Unwind after a long week, grab a glass of your favorite beverage, and get your creative juices flowing at Kalapriya! Workshop fee includes art supplies, snacks, & non-alcoholic refreshments. Bring a bottle of your favorite wine or spirit to share!
In this session, we will be exploring Pichwai Painting and Mirror Work from Rajasthan with Kalapriya Teaching Artist Anshu Agrawal. Based in Naperville, Anshu is the founder of Artific Custom Arts for Indian-inspired art and decor.
Creative Roots is a workshop series that introduces families to South Asia’s rich visual and performing arts traditions. We offer both kids and adult classes, and each class will be centered around a specific South Asian art style.
Winter Harvest Fest
Winter Harvest Fest @ Kalapriya
Date: Sunday, January 26, 2025
Time: 3:00 - 5:00 PM
Venue: Kalapriya Studio
Address: 2101 S. Wabash Ave, Chicago, IL 60616
$10 Entry Fee (per person)
Harvest Festivals across India in mid-January, celebrate the end of the Winter Solstice and the arrival of Spring.
Each region of India offers unique customs and vibrant festivals, including:
Pongal festival in the southern state of Tamil Nadu is dedicated to Surya, the Sun God.
Lohri, from the northern state of Punjab, is a winter harvest and folklore festival celebrated around bonfires.
Magh Bihu is celebrated in the eastern region of India, focusing on the God of Fire.
Makar Sankranti is celebrated across India in various forms.
Join our Winter Harvest Fest with a cultural walkthrough of India’s vibrant festivals, a Bhangra dance workshop by our resident artist, Harini Nilakantan, and fabulous appetizers from different regions.
Event Menu:
Punjabi special "Sarson ka saag with makki ki roti"
A creamy blend of mustard greens with spices served with flatbreads made of maize/cornTamil Nadu special "Pongal"
A sweet dish made of rice, milk, jaggery & cashews flavored with cardamom & nutmegMakar Sankranti Snacks "Chikki". "Sabudana vada", "Rewdi", "Mumphali
Peanut-Jaggery brittle, Tapioca pearl beg patti, Sesame seed-jaggery balls, Roasted peanuts with shell
A South Asian Holiday Party
A South Asian Holiday Party @ Kalapriya
Date: Sunday, December 8, 2024
Time: 4:30 - 7:00 PM
Venue: Kalapriya Studio
Address: 2101 S. Wabash Ave, Chicago, IL 60616
$60 Holiday Party Admission
Event Details
Festive mingling
"Margom Kali" (Traditional Christian dance from South India)
Discussion on the history of Christianity in India
Authentic South Indian Christian Dinner
Bollywood dance party
Deepavali: A Celebration of Lights
Deepavali (also known as Diwali in the Northern part of India) is the Indian festival of Lights celebrating the victory of Light over Darkness, Good over Evil, and Knowledge over Ignorance. In some parts of India, Deepavali (Sanskrit for "row of lamps") also signals the return of Lord Rama to the city of Ayodhya post his triumph over Ravana, the King of Lanka in Valmiki's Epic - the Ramayana.
Join us at the Chicago Women’s Park & Garden for an evening celebrating joy and community with food, sparklers, and art
Navaratri at Kalapriya
Join us on October 6, 2024 from 4:00 - 6:00 PM for our annual Navaratri-Kollu celebration followed by a Garba Workshop for our tiny champions taught by Kavisha Prajapathi!
This is a kid-friendly event.
Please bring your Golu (miniature idol or toy) to place on our Kollu pedestals.
Bharatanatyam Master Class with Mythili Prakash
Bharatanatyam Master Class with Mythili Prakash
Saturday, September 28, 2024
Venue: Kalapriya Studio
Address: 2101 S. Wabash Ave, Chicago, IL 60616
Time: 12:00-3:00PM
$75 Workshop Fee
This Masterclass with Mythili Prakash will lead trained Bharatanatyam dancers through a technique class with live music, followed by a lecture- demonstration style approach to Mythili’s choreographic explorations, namely her relationship to conventional structures and narratives and how they shape her work. Participants will learn small excerpts of choreography from Mythili’s repertoire. For intermediate to advanced students and performers of Bharatanatyam.
ABOUT MYTHILI PRAKASH
Mythili Prakash belongs to a new generation of classical Indian dancers. She is one of the most celebrated and respected young Bharatanatyam dancer/choreographers today. A second generation Indian and American artist, Mythili has positioned herself as a global and cosmopolitan artist through her unique experiences and collaborations Her repertoire is an embodiment of narratives of the many worlds that shape her.
Under the watchful eye of her mother and teacher dance exponent Viji Prakash, Mythili began her performing career with her solo debut in India at the age of eight and has since performed extensively in prestigious venues and festivals throughout the world. She has studied with several legendary stalwarts from India, and is trained and mentored by of India’s iconic dancer/choreographer Malavika Sarukkai. Mythili has toured her own solo productions in the United Kingdom, Scotland, France, and Singapore, the United States and Mexico. Nominated by celebrated dancer/choreographer Akram Khan as “choreographer of the future” for UK-based Dance Umbrella’s “Four by four commissions,” Mythili premiered her solo work “HERE and NOW” at their 2019 Festival.
She is a recipient of the Creation to Performance Grant from the Irvine Dance Foundation and Artistic Innovation Grant from the Center for Cultural Innovation. In 2021 she received the National Dance Project Touring Grant from NEFA for She’s Auspicious, which previewed in Hamburg at the “Reflektor Festival” curated by musician Anoushka Shankar. Mythili was also a principal dancer in Akram Khan Company’s “Outwitting the Devil.” In 2022, she created a trilogy of pieces, beginning with AR | DHA – a commission for the 90th anniversary festival of Jacob’s Pillow, and concluding with ONE | ALL for “Festival in Motion” one of the first of its kind site specific dance festivals in Qatar, surrounding the World Cup 2022.
She’s Auspicious (Night 2)
A full-length dance and music work featuring an all-female cast, She's Auspicious blurs the lines between Goddess and Woman to explore the intricate interplay between goddess worship and the treatment of women in society.
The Goddess/Woman paradox allows the unraveling of socio-cultural myths, stories, and values that are beautiful and personal, but simultaneously deeply rooted in systemic power structures.
Kuchipudi Master Class with Kasi Aysola
Kuchipudi Master Class with Kasi Aysola
Friday, September 27, 2024
Venue: The Dance Center Columbia College Chicago
Address: 1306 S. Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL 60605
Time: 10:30-11:50AM
$10 at the door
This Masterclass led by Kuchipudi artist Kasi Aysola will explore the fundamental concepts of the Kuchipudi style. Kuchipudi hails from Andhra Pradesh and is steeped in a rich tradition of theater, music and movement. Participants will be introduced to basic techniques in movement and emotive aspects. This workshop aims to touch upon the salient features of this unique classical dance form of India while also offering a look into how the form is evolving in today's world of dance.
ABOUT KASI AYSOLA
Kasi Aysola is a dance artist who is making his mark in the United States. He co-founded Prakriti Dance with Madhvi Venkatesh in 2014. He currently serves as the Artistic Director of the company.
Kasi is a performer, choreographer, and nattuvangam artist whose foundational training in Bharatanatyam was under celebrated Guru Viji Prakash and Mythili Prakash. He had the great fortune to train in Kuchipudi under late Guru Vempati Ravi Shankar and Yamini Saripalli.
He has been privileged to study and work with leading exponents of Indian dance and has performed solo and group work in the US, India, and abroad.
She’s Auspicious (Night 1)
A full-length dance and music work featuring an all-female cast, She's Auspicious blurs the lines between Goddess and Woman to explore the intricate interplay between goddess worship and the treatment of women in society.
The Goddess/Woman paradox allows the unraveling of socio-cultural myths, stories, and values that are beautiful and personal, but simultaneously deeply rooted in systemic power structures.
Creative Roots: Adult Paint and Sip
Unwind after a long week with Kalapriya's Adult Paint & Sip! Grab a glass of wine or your favorite beverage, and get your creative juices flowing with Akanksha Maheswari. In this session, we will be exploring Madhubani Painting from Bihar, India.
NOITP: Through Fish Eyes at Berger (Albert) Park
“Through Fish Eyes” is a unique performance that utilizes dance, to create awareness and evoke empathy in audiences about the dwindling marine ecosystems and waterways.
NOITP: Through Fish Eyes at South Shore Cultural Center
“Through Fish Eyes” is a unique performance that utilizes dance, to create awareness and evoke empathy in audiences about the dwindling marine ecosystems and waterways.
NOITP: Through Fish Eyes at Eleanor Boathouse
“Through Fish Eyes” is a unique performance that utilizes dance, to create awareness and evoke empathy in audiences about the dwindling marine ecosystems and waterways.
NOITP: Through Fish Eyes at Clark (Richard) Park
“Through Fish Eyes” is a unique performance that utilizes dance, to create awareness and evoke empathy in audiences about the dwindling marine ecosystems and waterways.
Kalapriya Mela
Join Kalapriya on July 14, 2024 anytime between 2:00 - 8:00 PM for an authentically South Asian festival experience.
What you can expect:
Good food, great performances, vendors with beautiful wares
and an all-round good time!
Aarohana on State
Kalapriya Chicago is thrilled to be a mainstage performer for Sundays on State!
Ahimsa For Freedom
Ahimsa for Freedom
A play written by Gowri Ramnarayan based on the Novel by Supriya Kelkar, performed by the students of John J. Pershing Elementary School, that is centered around the Indian Civil Rights Movement through the perspective of a young girl witnessing history unfold.
AAPI Parent Assembly - Clinton School
Students of DeWitt Clinton Academy’s After School Bollywood 3-4 class perform a medley of contemporary Bollywood dances from the 2010’s.
Instructor: Harini Nilakantan
Origins Dance Championship: Exhibition
Kalapriya Center for the Indian Performing Arts is pleased to be performing as an Exhibition Act for Origins Dance Championship on April 21, 2024.
Holi at Kalapriya
Kalapriya welcomes you to celebrate the Indian festival of Colors, Love, and Spring on March 23, 2024 at the Chicago Women's Park & Garden
5:00 PM | Doors Open Holi color packets and food ticket sales begin
5:15 PM | Opening Performance Kalapriya Dancers
Food and beverage service commences; Arts and Crafts table opens
5:45 PM | Dance Along! Kalapriya Dancers
6:00 PM | Holi Toss
7:00 PM | Event Ends
Food Vendor: Siri Indian Restaurant
Veg and Non-Veg Food packets are available for sale. Scroll down in the ticket window to select. It is *strongly encouraged* to pre-order your food & beverage package to ensure availability
Pongal/Makar Sankranti
Pongal is a harvest festival dedicated to the Sun God Surya celebrated in Tamil Nadu, India, and corresponds with Makar Sankranti or simply Sankranti - marking the transition of the Sun from the zodiac of Sagittarius (Dhanu) to Capricorn (Makara).
Pongal and Makar Sankranti are celebrated either on the 14th or 15th of January.
The celebrations for both festivals are grand, bright, and colourful! The word Pongal means to "overflow" in Tamil, and refers to the dish of boiled milk, jaggery, and rice offered to the Sun God Surya. Please join us on January 14, 2024 to celebrate this auspicious festival with us at Kalapriya!
Festival of South Asian Classical Dances
DCASE! Chicago Presents!
Festival For Indian Performing Arts 2023
Deepavali
Deepavali (also known as Diwali in the Northern part of India) is the Indian festival of Lights celebrating the victory of Light over Darkness, Good over Evil, and Knowledge over Ignorance. In some parts of India, Deepavali (Sanskrit for "row of lamps") also signals the return of Lord Rama to the city of Ayodhya post his triumph over Ravana, the King of Lanka in Valmiki's Epic - the Ramayana.
Join us at the Chicago Women’s Park & Garden for an evening celebrating joy and community with food, sparklers, and art
Navaratri
Navaratri Celebrations
Navaratri literally translates into “Nine Nights” and is a celebration worshipping nine goddesses during nine days/nights. It is observed for different reasons and celebrated differently in various parts of India, most often in the post-monsoon autumn time. In all cases, the common theme is the battle and victory of good over evil based on a regionally famous epic or legend, but always by a female Goddess overpowering the demon or villain!
A community celebration, especially for families with children.
Arts and Crafts, Garba or Kolattam dances, Golu, and special snacks for the occasion.
Please drop in for a few minutes or the full two hours to celebrate with us!
