of North India
of North India
of North India
About Antonia
About Antonia
Sitara_Devi_gw
Sitara Devi
Antonia Minnecola is a leading exponent of Kathak, the dynamic classical dance style of North India. She is the disciple of the late, legendary Sitara Devi, widely considered the greatest female Kathak dancer of our time.
Antonia began her training with her Guruji under the auspices of two fellowships from the American Institute of Indian Studies, continuing to study with Sitara Devi for nearly three decades. Antonia has appeared in many tours and festivals worldwide including Jacob’s Pillow, Other Minds Festival, the San Francisco Jazz Festival, Stanford Lively Arts, Cal Performances, Montreal Jazz Festival, Auckland Festival,The World Drum Festival, Asian Pacific Performing Arts Festival, Percussion Currents Festival in Bahia, The Mystic Music Festival in Konya and The Sacred Music Festival in Fez.
Twice a recipient of the Marin Arts Council Individual Artist Grant for Choreography, she also employs Kathak to present contemporary works, collaborating with artists of different genres. As a solo Kathak artist, she is often accompanied by her husband, tabla virtuoso Zakir Hussain, and has also appeared with his biennial touring ensemble Masters of Percussion. She has assisted Zakir Hussain in his guest professor tenures at Princeton University and Stanford University, in several of his Meet the Composer residencies and at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute. Antonia has taught many workshops and classes, including sessions at UC Berkeley, Swarthmore University and for Lines Ballet’s BFA Program in Dance at Dominican University.
About Kathak
Kathak, the classical dance of North India, is a dynamic style which continues to refine and evolve while maintaining the rich cultural legacies of ancient and medieval India. Born in the temples, as is all classical music and dance of India, Kathak is unique among the classical dances since it has been deeply influenced by the cultures of both Hinduism and Islam.
The word “kathak” comes from the word “katha” meaning “storytelling”, and the storytelling aspect of the dance was propagated by kathaks or kathakars who lived in or near temples and rendered the ancient, timeless mythologies of Hinduism, often in a state of ecstasy. The dance was further influenced by the bhakti movement and is widely referred to as Natawar Nritya, the dance of Lord Krishna.
The Mogul invasions brought a different culture, dress and the distinction of secularism to the dance which flourished at the courts of India, developing especially in the 19th century at the court of Wajid Ali Shah into the form which we recognize today as Kathak. The pure dance or nrtta aspect is characterized by both subtle and vigorous movement, rhythmic expression and improvisation, including intricate footwork, parhant (recitation) and execution of toda and tukra (fixed compositions), and exhilarating chakkrs (spins). Katha Nritya is the term for the storytelling aspect of the dance, often rendered in song, replete with nuanced mime and expression (bhava or abhinaya), both delicate and powerful.
Press
“It was a rare treat to experience the delightful rasa of Sitara Devi’s legacy through her disciple Antonia Minnecola’s performance in Pune….the flavor of Sitara Devi’s artistry came alive in Antonia’s presentation: the energy, the interaction with the audience, the immediacy, the freedom of movement and use of space. It was a delight to see Antonia’s thought process each time she went to the microphone, filtering possibilities of myriad ways to expand on what had just come before. Her Meera bhajan beautifully captured the trials overcome by bhakti….we entered into Meera’s bliss in her love for Krishna.”
~ Asian Age, New Delhi
“Renowned American Kathak dancer Antonia Minnecola and her husband, tabla maestro Ustad Zakir Hussain, treated the audience at Kala Chhaya to a great jugalbandi of taal and footwork. The dancer’s first performance in the city left the audience spellbound.”
~ Sakal Times, Pune
“The most intriguing part of the program was a collective work, featuring dancer Antonia Minnecola, one of the rare American-born artists adept at Kathak, the classical dance style of India. Based upon an important episode in the Ramayana, the work told the story of the kidnapping of the Goddess Sita and her ultimate rescue by her consort, Lord Rama. In the center of the arc of musicians, the dancer’s elegantly stylized movements were the focal point for the unfolding saga. The piece was done as a kind of creative experiment in the use of a percussion ensemble as a story-telling medium. And it worked.”
~ The International Review of Music
Review of Zakir Hussain’s Masters of Percussion, Disney Hall, Los Angeles
About Kathak
Kathak, the classical dance of North India, is a dynamic style which continues to refine and evolve while maintaining the rich cultural legacies of ancient and medieval India. Born in the temples, as is all classical music and dance of India, Kathak is unique among the classical dances since it has been deeply influenced by the cultures of both Hinduism and Islam.
The word “kathak” comes from the word “katha” meaning “storytelling”, and the storytelling aspect of the dance was propagated by kathaks or kathakars who lived in or near temples and rendered the ancient, timeless mythologies of Hinduism, often in a state of ecstasy. The dance was further influenced by the bhakti movement and is widely referred to as Natawar Nritya, the dance of Lord Krishna.
The Mogul invasions brought a different culture, dress and the distinction of secularism to the dance which flourished at the courts of India, developing especially in the 19th century at the court of Wajid Ali Shah into the form which we recognize today as Kathak. The pure dance or nrtta aspect is characterized by both subtle and vigorous movement, rhythmic expression and improvisation, including intricate footwork, parhant (recitation) and execution of toda and tukra (fixed compositions), and exhilarating chakkrs (spins). Katha Nritya is the term for the storytelling aspect of the dance, often rendered in song, replete with nuanced mime and expression (bhava or abhinaya), both delicate and powerful.
Press
“It was a rare treat to experience the delightful rasa of Sitara Devi’s legacy through her disciple Antonia Minnecola’s performance in Pune….the flavor of Sitara Devi’s artistry came alive in Antonia’s presentation: the energy, the interaction with the audience, the immediacy, the freedom of movement and use of space. It was a delight to see Antonia’s thought process each time she went to the microphone, filtering possibilities of myriad ways to expand on what had just come before. Her Meera bhajan beautifully captured the trials overcome by bhakti….we entered into Meera’s bliss in her love for Krishna.”
~ Asian Age, New Delhi
“Renowned American Kathak dancer Antonia Minnecola and her husband, tabla maestro Ustad Zakir Hussain, treated the audience at Kala Chhaya to a great jugalbandi of taal and footwork. The dancer’s first performance in the city left the audience spellbound.”
~ Sakal Times, Pune
“The most intriguing part of the program was a collective work, featuring dancer Antonia Minnecola, one of the rare American-born artists adept at Kathak, the classical dance style of India. Based upon an important episode in the Ramayana, the work told the story of the kidnapping of the Goddess Sita and her ultimate rescue by her consort, Lord Rama. In the center of the arc of musicians, the dancer’s elegantly stylized movements were the focal point for the unfolding saga. The piece was done as a kind of creative experiment in the use of a percussion ensemble as a story-telling medium. And it worked.”
~ The International Review of Music
Review of Zakir Hussain’s Masters of Percussion, Disney Hall, Los Angeles