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EKATVA, A JOURNEY OF ONENESS FEATURING 16 CHILDREN FROM THE SLUMS OF INDIA

“After 2 long years of planning, EKATVA, a dance drama featuring 16
children from the streets of Ahmedabad, India, arrives in California!

June 2, 2012 | Saturday | 5 PM | John Muir Middle School, Los Angeles http://ekatvajohnmuirmiddleschool.eventbrite.com/

http://ekatvajohnmuirmiddleschool.eventbrite.com/

The message of Mahatma Gandhi to be shared by children from the slums of Gujarat through dance and music in 10 major US cities

EKATVA (www.ekatva.org) is an experiment to touch the lives and spirit of 16 underprivileged children ages 11 – 15 through dance, music and art, while inspiring the
souls of thousands across the world. Sixteen children from some of the largest slums of Ahmedabad, Gujarat were selected through a nine month audition process, and have been trained and developed by mentors from Manav Sadhna (www.manavsadhna.org), a non profit based at the Mahatma Gandhi Ashram, and teachers from Darpana Academy (www.darpana.com) to perform a 90-minute dance-drama production sharing Mahatma Gandhi’s message of ‘Oneness’. After a successful tour throughout India, The EKATVA show and tour will begin touring the United States and will be performing at Zellerbach Auditorium :

June 2, 2012 Saturday – John Muir Middle School, Los Angeles
5:00 PM – 7:00 PM (doors open at 4pm)
5929 S Vermont Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90044
Tickets: $10
http://ekatvajohnmuirmiddleschool.eventbrite.com/

Tickets: sliding scale; no one turned away for lack of funds!

The concept of the EKATVA tour is to share with the world the power and potential that exists in our underprivileged communities. The EKATVA children and show are examples of what happens when we provide love and opportunity to the children of our world,” says Nimesh Patel, EKATVA Director and Manav Sadhna volunteer.

The concept and choreography of EKAVTA is based on a similar experiment conducted over 10 years ago, called EKTA (“Unity”). In 2000, Manav Sadhna trained 14 slum children in partnership with Darpana Academy, to develop a theatrical/dance drama show that toured across the USA. Half of those children are now teachers at Manav Sadhna. Ten years later, over 250 children were auditioned at Manav Sadhna: 8 boys and 8 girls were finally selected to form EKATVA.

Over $150,000 in funds have been raised worldwide to support the tour, with major contributions coming from Project Ahimsa (www.projectahimsa.org) and Compassionate Chefs Café (www.compassionatechefscafe.org), two San Francisco based non profits committed to serving underserved children worldwide. “EKATVA represents the power of art and music to transform the lives of children everywhere. For each of the children involved with EKATVA, art and music have provided a means and a path to build self-confidence, self-reliance, and compassion…all central to the spirit and message of Mahatma Gandhi,” says Robin Sukhadia, Project Ahimsa International Grants Program Director.

For more information, tour schedule and event registration, visit www.ekatva.org.

http://ekatvajohnmuirmiddleschool.eventbrite.com/