Dance Empowerment & Healing Arts

Dance Empowerment Video

This is a promo for the Women’s Empowerment Ashram I’m working to build in Brooklyn, NY.  This stems from my work as a #ClimateChangeWarriorYogini focused on protecting Mother Earth.  Now I’m interested in integrating Eastern and Western techniques to promote health and wellness among millennial women.  Only by spiritual cleansing through yoga, dance, music, and other art forms as well as proper nutrition, diet, workouts, and mental health and professional counseling can the young women of today avoid the pitfalls of today’s fast paced unhealthy celebrity focused social media platforms where bullying, comparisons and jealousies, and a race to the bottom are so dominant.  We will combat these unhealthy socialization patterns through creating holistic pathways for integrated health, happiness, and empowerment.

#CoolBigSisNYC

#ZoukFusion

#DanceEmpowerment

sonalipchitre.com

What Yoga Means to Me

I started doing Hatha yoga when I was a child with my mother - around 3 or 4 years old.  Then I did yoga daily at Chinmaya Mission in Maryland from the ages of 7 to 12.  It was very life changing for me - I was very flexible, and I loved meditating about Shiva - I could see his blue throat very clearly through my third eye.

I've always loved the body - mind - spirit connections that yoga builds.  Yoga is also not just about gyan (knowledge), but about bhakti (faith) and karma and dharma - or doing good works because they are your duty.  This devotion to a yogic lifestyle is why I decided to become a public interest international environmental lawyer.

I recently got back into yoga after only doing it sporadically during my college, law school, and NYC days.  I have tried Vinyasa Flow, Hot Yin, Bikram, and many other styles that incorporate different elements.  I’ve also been lucky enough to find a singing teacher who practices reiki and guided mediation.

The amazing thing about the throat chakra is that you really have to open your lower chakras first to access it.  I gained so much confidence from this latest yoga retreat in Colombia, South America organized by awesome teachers Loren and Bea from Yoga Works in LA.  We did a lot of kirtan, chanting and singing to mother Earth in English, Spanish, and Sanskrit!  The gorgeous voices of the faithful practitioners were so beautiful.

Yesterday I went back to the ballroom studio, Stepping Out in Manhattan, to work with Nikolai Shpakov on International Latin dancing - Rumba and Samba in particular.  I felt much more grounded, flexible, and lean and toned.  I love how yoga and dance go together!

New dress, ready to present new routine!

So I wanted to share some updates on my ballroom dancing.  Today was a very good day for me dance-wise.  I managed to get my completed dress from Valentina, a Russian dressmaker well known in the NYC community, and I got it for about half of what I think a lot of other ProAm International Latin competitive dancers pay for their dresses of equal quality and style.  It is based on an idea that I saw on Pinterest - of a beautiful blond professional dancer in a rhinestone body suit with pink draped material running across her body in an asymmetrical but very flattering shape.  So I showed the picture to Valentina a few weeks ago, and we decided to make me something similar but in blue.  I met with her so many times to get the exact sizing of the body suit and the cut of the draping just right.  Then today she appeared with the finished dress and accessories, fully studded with bright rhinestones!  I am so excited to dance in this new dress, which I did for the first time today!  I went to a lesson with my main teacher, Brook, where we worked on jive and our cha cha routine.  I'm going to perform the routine on Friday.  I really felt more confident dancing with my special dress on!  I think it really is a stunner - I got a ton of looks and compliments.  And some girls who work at the studio said that I'm a great dancer tonight - I think the dress affected their opinion!  But the routine just feels so right when in costume, and with full hair and makeup I think it will be even better.  I feel great about my improvement in straightening my legs, having balance and form, using my arms in a more fluid and balletic way, engaging my core and back, and also with the facial expressions that come when you really enjoy your body's movement. And cha cha cha!!!

Cha Cha Video

It's amazing how hard we dancers are on ourselves...after all these years nothing gives me more joy than perfecting complex footwork or mastering the inner coordination needed to execute a complex turn...and then of course I have to think about how I can improve them! Yesterday while working on my new cha cha routine in Flatiron, NYC, I started to really enjoy my shoulder and torso oppositional movements, feeling solidly grounded in my new Aida copper shoes, my legs straightening and bending with ease. My hips doing Latin motion as if it hadn't taken hundreds of hours of practice to show them the way to sway. My face started to light up as my arms naturally assisted in the movement - and this was all the solo section!

I have made so many friends through dance that inspire me in various ways - I wish some of these people could drop their facade more often to relax off the dance floor. Whether amateur or pro, the game is often one of competition and connections. I understand why when folks invest so many resources into being their best and inborn talent is never enough. But if you can truly dance like no is watching, then you can be free. And yet it is impossible to be free when one craves an audience...I believe in the democratizing of the arts - allowing each individual to express themselves through various mediums. I also believe that this is the only way forward. I now realize how lucky I am to have had the dance education I have received, and even I still crave a deeper understanding of various forms. 

Ballroom dance with Brook Metcalfe

Some favorite Kuchipudi dances:

Bhama Kalapam:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITxzKb2JWbo

Krishna Shabdam:

Hema Malini version:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DeaYBykUePM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbRX_cdTap8

Dancer Profile

Sonali is an ardent artist and dancer, in addition to working full time as a technology and environmental lawyer and entrepreneur in New York City. Born to Indian parents in the Washington DC area, she started learning ballet at the age of five, switching to Odissi at seven. She then started learning Kuchipudi at the age of eight from Anuradha Nehru at Kuchipudi Kalanidhi, and she also trained under Padmabhushan Guru Dr. Vempati Chinna Satyam. Sonali has danced at the Smithsonian Institute, the Dance and Music Festival in Cincinnati (Imprints of India), and performed in the dance drama Chandalika, directed by Anuradha Nehru, and in Ramayana jointly directed by Anuradha Nehru and Sukanya Mukherji. In addition, Sonali dances international Latin ballroom and American Rhythm, placing first in ProAm with her teacher, Brook Metcalfe, in the Empire Dancesport Competition in New York City. Sonali also performed as a company member of New York City's most innovative Bollywood troupe, Junoon, in its show, "Dil Se."