Vishwakiran Nambi
A performer, choreographer, dance film-maker and dance academic.
Vishwa is the Director of LOKA Studio for Movement Practices and the driving force behind Vishwakiran Nambi Dance Education (VNDE). He was the principal dancer, head of training and one of the principal choreographers of ‘Nritarutya Dance Company’ for over 10 years.
His training is diverse ranging from Indian classical forms to Indian folk and martial dance forms. Though his foundation is in contemporary dance and Bharatanatyam, he constantly trains and explores the folk dimensions of South Indian dance and trains extensively in martial forms.
He has been a solo performer for over 5 years now and has choreographed and presented his solo ‘Stone Unturned’ at the prestigious ADA Rangamandira in Bangalore as part of ADHYAYA 2017. He has, from then, choreographed multiple short pieces for Nritarutya and has gone on to create his own repertoire after he moved out of the Company. His vision is to explore the possibilities in Indian dance framework particularly with the vast folk landscape. His creations are mostly experiences of regional authenticities and existential peculiarities.
He has explored the possibilities in taking contemporary dance to Indian cinema through several successful ventures as a choreographer in South Indian regional feature films and is also currently directing a folk based web series for a leading online streaming channel. He has successfully completed his directorial debut as a dance film-maker with his ambitious short dance film ‘The Kitchen’. He is now extensively exploring the possibilities of designing dance for lens and establishing a center for studying dance film-making in India.
Dance education is one of the things that Vishwa feels very passionately about and has resulted in his designing and executing dance education modules for Universities. He has envisioned and is currently executing the dance education syllabus for the B.Voc programme in Jyoti Nivas College, Bangalore. He is also conducting short-term dance education courses in other prestigious colleges in Bangalore.
He envisages a future in which dance education plays a pivotal role in our Universities.
At LOKA, he spearheads the entire gamut of educational programmes ranging from community classes to short courses to aerial silk education. He is also a pioneer in introducing aerial silk in Karnataka.
The journey so far…
Bachelor of Commerce from St. Joseph’s College of Commerce, Bangalore
- Trained in Bharatnatyam for 8 years under Smt. Minal Prabhu and Radhika Ramanujam
- Contact Improvisation techniques from Allen Kaeja and Erica Kauffman
- Modern dance from Cheryl Obal
- Release technique from Nakula Somana
- Aerial silk training from Luz Zoni and Tausif Iqbal
- Yoga under Sandeep Manur
- Extensively trained in Nritarutya’s style of dancing
- Training in kick-boxing under Ashwin Mohan
- Taek-won-do with Anoop
Brief training
- Kathak from Kumudini Lakhia
- Odissi from Ramli Ibrahim
- Kalaripayattu from Ranjan Mullaratt
- Thang- ta from Guru Anjum Singh
- Chau from Santosh Nair
- Yakshagana from Kishnamurthy
- Capoeira from Indian Capoeira Federation
Workshops
- Contemporary Dance with Hofesh Shecter Company, Scottish Dance Theatre, Wayne McGregor Company and Shobana Jeyasingh
- Flying Low with Narendra Patil
- Release Technique with Bruno Catalano
- Kamsale with Hidayath Ahmed
- Pattah Kunitha with Srinivas
- B-Boying with Shane Mendes
- Kuttuvarisai with Mahesh Kumar
- Jijutsu and Kalim with Ashwin Mohan
- Flamenco with Carmen Romero
- Salsa with Jeevi Anand
- Abhinaya with Smt. Bhanumati and Sri. Kiran Subramaniam
- Silambam with Jothi Kannan
Projects of Note
- Conceptualization and choreography for the “Mooga Manasulu” music track from the movie “Mahanati”
- Choreography for the trilingual music video “Neeye”
- Created and performed “Stone Unturned” at “Adhyaya”, a piece involving the intersection of technology with dance with the use of projection mapping
- Conceptualized and choreographed an ad-film for the bran “Twin Birds”
- Concept and choreography of the song “Kangalin” from the movie “July Kaatril”
- Choreography for the song “Khali Khali” from the movie “Kavalu Daari”
- Choreography for the band Lagori for their cover of the song “Hamsanava” from the movie “Bahubali”
- Involved as the Movement Director of a play called “Limbo”, directed by Manish Gandhi
- Choreographed for a play directed by Dr B Jayashree, titled “Baalura Gudikara”
- Featured in Young International Choreographers Festival, organized by Attakkalari Biennial, 2009
- Toured with the Company with the critically acclaimed solo piece “Trishankhu”
- Performed at the Make In India opening ceremony at Hannover Messe, Germany
- Lead dancer for the Pro Kabbadi 2017 opening ceremony
- Performed at the Isha Foundation on the occasion of Mahasivaratri, 2017
- Performed at the Golden Jubilee Celebrations for the Queen of London, Elizabeth-II, at Windsor Castle
- 70th birthday of Sri Amitabh Bachchan for Sri Hari Vansh Rai Bachchan’s poem “Madhushala” at Filmcity
- Part of the contemporary musical “Madhur Milan” as a part of Smt. Kokilaben Ambani’s 80th birthday celebrations at her residence “Sea Wind”
- One of the 2 dancers from India to be part of the DanceIntense, Toronto 2009, Choreography lab organized by Sampad Asian Arts, UK
- Performed at the ‘Celtic Connections’ Festival, Glasgow, Scotland in collaboration with the RDP Project
- Performances at Indian and international festivals such as Sama, Newcastle, and World Performing Arts Festival, Pakistan
- Lead dancer in Nritarutya’s mega productions, Prayog – 3 and 4
- Performed the Indian Musical – Shakuntala, commissioned by the Vedanta Group
Festivals
- Sama, New Castle
- World Performing Arts Festival, Pakistan
- Milaap Fest, Liverpool
- Bangalore International Arts Festival, Bangalore
- MAD Festival, Ooty
- Serendipity 2017, Goa
- Tunga Mahotsava, Theerthahalli
- Hampi Utsava, Hampi
- Soorya Festial, Trivandrum
- Sarvam Art Festival, Bangalore
- Dharmasthala Utsava, Dharmasthala
- Pune Contemporary Dance Festival, Pune
Here are links for some of the works:
Films:
- Neeve (Genre- Music Video)
- Mooga Manasulu Movie- Mahanati
- Hamsanaava (Cover by Lagori) Genre- Music Video
- EE Samayam Movie- 24 Kisses
- Srilakshmi Raave Movie- 24 Kisses
- Khali Khali, Movie- Kavalu Daari
- Twin Birds Leggings Genre- Online Ad Film
Stage:
- Trishanku (solo) ,Choreography- Madhuri Upadhya, Nritarutya Dance Company
- Stone Unturned (solo), Genre- Technology in Dance
- Dreamz (solo), Genre- Technology in Dance
- PYRE