Saturday, October 19, 2013

SILC, USA raises funds for Gurukulam School

We are very excited to share the news that School of India from Languages and Culture (SILC) at St. Paul, MN organized a successful fund raiser called "United Through Dance" on October 12, 2013 for Gurukulam School. It was indeed very touching to see the support and encouragement of the entire SILC community for our children.

The program "United Through Dance" was a culmination of a year long effort by SILC students of "Special Achievements Projects (SAP)" - Tarunika Anand, Anushka Mankunath, and Danielle Raikar, led by their coach and mentor, Siva Jasthi. It all started in 2012, when Tarunika Anand visited Gurukulam School in Chennai and became passionate about helping the Gurukulam children.

We sincerely thank Tarunika, Anushka, Danielle, their parents, and the SILC Board Members, Shiv Bhatia, Siva Jasthi, Sunita Mannamkunnath, and Manju Nayar, among others, and all the dance groups for their hard work and commitment to make this fund raising event a huge success!

The funds raised at the event helped sponsor the annual cost of education and meals for 14 children at Gurukulam School. The Trust Children Executive Committee and Trustees are grateful to all the organizers and donors to make a significant difference to the School.

Please find below the videos of all the 12 dance groups that performed for the fund raiser.
(Click on the title to view the video)

This is an invocation dance to receive Natesh's blessings and begin the program on an auspicious note.

2. Minessota Dance Theater - Wawshishijay
"Wawshishijay" means "Our Beginning". The piece is built from classic modern dance technique.

Gujju Twist is a youth group that performs Gujarati and Bollywood dances all over the Twin Cities. Tonight's performance is a medley of various 1960's Bollywood hits.

The dance is about a group of Miao girls who come to play along the creek of Blossom in early morning. They are melted by Mother Nature's beauty and dance freely along the small creek.

5. Ballet MN - Rite of Spring
The section you are seeing is the beginning of the ballet. This is about an ancient culture that sacrifices a young girl each spring to ensure a good harvest in the Fall.

This dance is from China's Yi Ethnic group. Three friends enjoy a summer's day - running, laughing and teasing each other. Let's watch them as they play an amusing game.

Bhama Kalapam is one of the most famous Kuchipudi items. This dance is of a mercurial nature that shows bravery, wit, haughtiness, love, and intelligence.

BFMA will be presenting a potpourri of folk dances.

This dance piece is to an African song called "The Thing". The style of African dance performed to this song is called Azonto (which is the newest style of modern African dance)

SILC ladies present a Bengali folk dance. Graceful movements accompanied by soothing music are the highlights of this dance.

GDDCMN will present a token of Colombian Folklore by performing a dance from the Atlantic region that combines Cumbia and Mapale in one song known as Chemapale. 

12. SILC Teens - Chunari Chunari/ Marjaani
Bollywood dance by the youth of SILC. Energetic movements and toe tapping music are the hallmarks of this performance. 

In addition to the above videos, please feel free to see other videos of the event below.


Thank you again everybody for your support and for making this event a huge success!!!

Sunday, October 6, 2013

Parents Teachers Meet - Oct 2013




The Parents Teachers Meet was conducted on the 5th Oct 2013.

Parents, teachers, students and the Advisory Board Members joined together in discussing the progress of students.

It was wonderful to see the enthusiasm in the parents to join in and contribute to the discussions. 

Mrs Shakila, Principal and Mr Mohammed, Vice-Principal exhorted the parents to be more pro-active.