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From the "ideal" to the "real": Sheetal Gandhi on Challenging Notions of Womanhood through the Sitayana
Manage episode 362631560 series 3434295
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Sheetal Gandhi is a Los Angeles based director/choreographer and multi-hyphenated artist (singer, dancer, actor, percussionist). As a performer and interdisciplinary artist, Sheetal’s career has spanned genres and disciplines.
In 2021, Sheetal was cast in a one-woman play - a transposition of the Hindu epic The Ramayana - called The Sitayana (Or How To Make An Exit). It's basically The Ramayana from Sita's point of view! She played all the characters, in a challenging virtual production.
In this interview, Sheetal talks about playing Sita and the dilemmas she faces, many of which mirror that of traditional Indian women's sacrifices in marriage.
About Sheetal:
Sheetal Gandhi is a Los Angeles based director/choreographer and multi-hyphenated artist (singer, dancer, actor, percussionist). As a performer and interdisciplinary artist, Sheetal’s career has spanned genres and disciplines. She was a lead character and creator for Cirque du Soleil’s Dralion, played a leading role in the Broadway production of Bombay Dreams, danced throughout Ghana with the traditional West African dance company Novisi, and currently sings with the L.A. based, 30-person a cappella group, The Over Tones. Her solo dance-theater work, Bahu-Beti-Biwi, has been presented in over 16 cities in the U.S. and in 5 countries.
She is the owner of The Well, a Pilates, Movement and Wellness Center, and a founding member of Dancing Storytellers, a group of artists that create assembly shows for schools in the greater Los Angeles area.
Sheetal is a proud MFA graduate of UCLA’s Department of World Arts and Cultures and has taught at various colleges and universities including Scripps College, Pomona College, Santa Monica Community College, UCLA, Cal State LA, Cal Poly Pomona and more. Stay in touch at sheetalgandhi.com
You can learn more about The Sitayana (Or How to Make an Exit) here: https://eastwestplayers.org/the-sitayana/
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