Shalaka Kulkarni
Chicago, IL
Dance / Performance / Playwriting / Interdisciplinary / Fiction / Poetry
Shalaka Kulkarni (she/her) is an interdisciplinary dance artist. Trained in Indian Classical dances, she creates experiences that bridge the ancient and contemporary, uplifting marginalized voices. As an actor, filmmaker, dancer and choreographer, she has toured original work and participated in collaborations in India, US and Europe. In Chicago, she has presented her work at various venues, events, and festivals, including the Harris Theater, Athenaeum Theatre, Columbia College, Chicago Cultural Center, Chopin Theater, Museum of Contemporary Art, McCormick Center, Links Hall, Ruth Page, Women in Dance, Fillet of Solo at Lifeline Theatre and Dance Chicago Festivals. Her passion lies in creating work in tune with her ideas as well as actively collaborating as a performer with other artists to fulfill their vision. Along those lines, she has produced and created work for other artists and performers. Kulkarni began training in Bharatnatyam as a child in India. After immigrating to the U.S., she continued her training under the international artist Sandhya Desai in Kathak and Mandala Arts Founder Pranita Nayar. She holds an MFA in interdisciplinary arts and media from Columbia College Chicago, where she worked closely with the Modern dance master Nana Shineflug. She is interested in creating and presenting a hybrid movement form that fuses techniques of Bharatnatyam and Kathak with other movement influences, writing, and technology. She recently concluded a multi-year project with a dance-based solo play called 'Nyra's Dreams' and a 2-year HCL Residency and fellowship. Currently, she is part of the Chicago Dramatists Playwright Network as their 2024 MEH Scholar. She is looking forward to Ragdale Residency to regather the intimate connection between her hybridized dance form and writing that calls upon the Fictional Documentary genre for her new work.