Philip Glass is an American composer and pianist. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential composers of the late 20th century. Glass's work has been associated with minimalism, being built up from repetitive phrases and shifting layers. Glass describes himself as a composer of "music with repetitive structures", which he has helped evolve stylistically.
Shobana Chandrakumar Pillai is an Indian actress and Bharatanatyam dancer. She acts predominantly in Malayalam films along with Telugu and Tamil films with a few Hindi, Kannada and English films. She has won two National Film Awards, one Kerala State Film Awards, two Filmfare Awards South, with 14 Nominations for Best Actress Category in three different south Indian languages, Tamil Nadu State's Kalaimamani Award in 2011 and numerous other awards.
Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love is a 1996 Indian historical erotic romance film co-written, co-produced, and directed by Mira Nair. The first portion of the film is based on "Utran", a short story in Urdu by the Indian writer Wajida Tabassum. The film takes its title from the ancient Indian text, the Kama Sutra. It stars Naveen Andrews, Sarita Choudhury, Ramon Tikaram, Rekha, and Indira Varma. The English-language film was produced by Indian, British, German and Japanese studios.
Mita Vashisht is an Indian actress. Known for her work on screen, stage and television, she has played a wide range of roles. Her most prominent appearances includes; sci-fi television series Space City Sigma (1989-1991), Pachpan Khambe Laal Deewarein, Swabhimaan, Alaan (Kirdaar) to Trishna in Kahani Ghar Ghar Ki and Jethi Maa in Kaala Teeka to film roles with a wide spectrum of directors with different cinema styles.
Natalie Jackson Mendoza is an Australian actress. She is best known for her roles as one of the main characters, Jackie Clunes, in the British drama series Hotel Babylon (2006–2008) and as Juno in the horror film The Descent (2005), as well as its sequel, The Descent Part 2 (2009). Mendoza has also performed in various stage productions across the West End and Broadway, including Miss Saigon, Here Lies Love, and Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark ("Arachne").
Azmyl Yunor is a Malaysian independent English and Malay language singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, academic and writer. He is also a journalist and filmmaker by training.
Kerry Jane Ellis is an English actress and singer who is best known for her work in musical theatre and subsequent crossover into music. Born and raised in Suffolk, Ellis began performing at an early age before training at Laine Theatre Arts from the age of 16.
Huzir Sulaiman is a Malaysian director and actor. He is the co-founder and Joint Artistic Director of Checkpoint Theatre. A critically acclaimed and award-winning playwright, his Collected Plays 1998-2012 was published in 2013. His plays have been translated into German, Japanese, Polish, Indonesian and Mandarin. His essays and commentary pieces have appeared in The Star, The Straits Times and The Huffington Post.
Sangita Kalanidhi Aruna Sairam is an Indian classical vocalist and carnatic music singer. She is a recipient of the Padma Shri award from the Government of India and was elected as the Vice Chairman of the Sangeet Natak Academy by the Government of India until 2022. In 2011, Aruna was the first Carnatic musician to perform at the BBC proms in London. She is also the first Carnatic musician to perform in Oud Festival of Israel (Jerusalem).
Yoonjung "Yoonie" Han is a South Korean-born American classical pianist.
Anita Ratnam is an Indian classical and contemporary dancer and choreographer. Classically trained in Bharat Natyam, she has also received formal training in Kathakali, Mohiniattam, and T'ai chi and Kalarippayattu, thus creating a dance style which she has coined "Neo Bharatam".
Alarmel Valli is a leading Indian classical dancer and choreographer and the foremost exponent of the Pandanallur style in the Indian classical dance form, Bharatanatyam. She is widely acclaimed for her ability to turn traditional grammar into deeply internalized, personal dance poetry.
Aditi Mangaldas is a Kathak dancer and choreographer, who is known for her classical Kathak as well as ‘contemporary dance based on kathak” repertoire. Mangaldas is hailed as one of the leading dancers in the field of Kathak in India as well as across the world.
Madhavi Mudgal is an Indian classical dancer known for her Odissi dance style. She has won several awards, including the Sanskriti Award, 1984, President of India's award of Padma Shri, 1990, the Orissa State Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, 1996, Grande Medaille de la Ville by Govt. of France, 1997, Central Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, 2000, Delhi State Parishad Samman, 2002 and the title of Nritya Choodamani in 2004.
Ileana Citaristi is an Italian Odissi and Chhau dancer, and dance instructor based in Bhubaneswar, India. She was awarded the 43rd National Film Awards for Best Choreography for Yugant in 1995 and became, in 2006, the first dancer of foreign origin to be conferred the Padma Shri for her contributions to Odissi.
Han Terra is a Korean-born inventor and musician. She has invented a 24 stringed musical instrument called TeRra, in the style of a traditional kayageum, incorporating artificial intelligence. She started taking piano lessons at the age of four, and performing by the age of six.
Annick Chaymotty, known by the stage name Devayani Kumari, is a French dancer who performs in the classical Indian dance style Bharatanatyam. She has performed in India as well as in festivals and concert halls in the UK, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Greece, Portugal, the Scandinavian countries, Estonia, and South Korea. Devayānī is an empanelled artist with the Indian Council for Cultural Relations. In 2009, she was awarded the Padma Shri.
Elam Endira Devi, is an Indian classical dancer and teacher, known for her expertise and scholarship in the classical dance form of Manipuri, especially in the genres of Lai Haraoba and Raas. The Government of India honored her, in 2014, with the Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award, for her services to the field of art and culture.
Low Ngai Yuen (劉藝苑) is a Malaysian film director, producer, actress and TV show host. She is also a women's rights activist and an entrepreneur in the arts industry. She directed the production of short films and documentaries that advocate women's rights. Low is the current President of Kakiseni, an NGO platform for the performing arts in Malaysia.
Nighat Chaudhry was born on 24 February, in Lahore, Pakistan and moved to London with her parents when she was one year old. She is a trained Sufi & Mystique Kathak classical dancer. She started her journey from London and has been active as a professional Kathak dancer for over three decades. She studied ballet and contemporary dance. She met Nahid Siddiqui aged 14, regarded as one of the greatest Kathak dancers, and trained under her guidance. Inspired to learn the classical forms of her own culture, she abandoned ballet to understand and absorb the nuances of the style. This required her to be closer to its origins and she moved back to Pakistan.
