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Renu is well known for her original, energetic, elegant, artistic, and vibrantly choreographed modern Indian and Folk Dances. Her participation in charity shows is never-ending and her performances and choreography always leave her audience in awe. Her choreographic credits include innovative productions such as:
Seasons, Nine Emotions, Chitrahar (A Garland of Dances), Chandrika ( a story of love), Celebration of Life (based on a true story about cancer), Chowraha (Crossroads), Chabbhi Ka Guccha (Keys for the Global Peace), Chandani (Light) Chingari (Fire/Inspiration) Musical/ Bollywood dance drama, and Cauvery (River), performed on September 24th, 2011.
Renu and her students have performed at the prestigious Minnesota Twins stadium, IAM (Indian Association of MN), International Festival of Nations, Girls Scout (Brinerd), Pan Asian Dance (Asian Artist Alliance), Diversity Festival at General Mills, 12th Annual Award Gala of Big Brothers Big Sisters, Boston Scientific Company, Twin Cities Public Television (TPT), Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Hennepin County Human Services, and Public Health Department's Asia event. She also offered dance workshops at the Asian American and Pacific Islander Youth Leadership retreat, the Sewa group, US Gold Medalist Junior Ice Skating Braemar Team 2009. She was a cultural coordinator for the Hindu Society of MN in 1999. She was the team manager for Wayzata Central Middle School and Kimberly Elementary School Team for Destination Imagination (DI) for five years and took her team with another team manager to the global competition and placed at the state level.
At RGK, we celebrate youth and make learning fun!! We provide life enrichment to our students through the performing arts. We not only teach Bollywood dancing, but offer our students opportunities to preform and experience theater arts. In our dance classes we explain the different types of Indian music and dance and where they originate from and teach them how to do an original choreography. It's great to have such a strong representation of Indian dance here in Minnesota; a wonderful way to bridge the gap between American and Indian culture.
In order to bridge another gap between those who have and those who have not, every year for the past several, we have put our passion to work for charity. The proceeds from our annual performances, Bollywood dance dramas, are given to charity. With the help of many volunteers, we write, choreograph, direct, design costumes, and create sets and instruct our students on, as Kumar puts it, "a way to demonstrate the power of art." The shows take place in the Twin City area.
These musical dance dramas tell stories. Each has an over-arching theme based on the charity that will be the benefactor that particular year. For example, a few years ago, we presented Chandani (which means moonlight), in which a young girl played the role of a blind child. The charity which received our support that year was Unite For Sight, an organization that helped children with vision problems. "I love the feeling of creating something, of helping others create something," Kumar says. "I feel wonderful when I see my students performing."
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Renu has been the recipient of several awards for performances and paintings. Recently, she is one of the Minnesota artists who received a prestigious Travelers Grant for her newest project. She was honorary Judge for Vibha (A brighter future for children) of Minnesota for their dance competition Taal in 2009, 2010, and 2011. She received a trophy from the Hindu Society of Minnesota for her contribution.
Renu loves children and has a passion for teaching them to explore the rich culture of Indian culture through dances and art. She believes that every child deserves respect, love, food, and education. For her, dance is like a form of yoga, which synchronizes the inner biorhythms with the movements of the body. Besides dancing, Renu enjoys music, singing, and playing Indian instruments such as the Sitar and drum. She is passionate about all forms of art—paintings, photography, videography, graphic art, costume design, and theater arts.
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