2018 Events

Space City RaaS
Saturday, February 3 at 6 PM - 9 PM

Come out to the first ever raas-garba competition hosted right here in Houston, TX and watch our EIGHT powerhouse teams put on out of this world performances

RaaS All Star X
Saturday, March 31st at 6 PM - 9 PM

Kalakriti & Raas All-Stars hosts the Raas All-Stars National Championship for the top 8 elite Garba/Raas teams in the nation.

2017 Events

Ramleela 2017 (Houston)
Intangible Cultural Heritage Passed on to Houstonians by Kusum Sharma’s Ramleela!

Kusum Sharma’s Ramleela, an epic signature event of Kalakriti Performing Arts (501c non-profit), is one such picturesque and dramatic show that involves enlightenment on religious and ethical values that are not usually a part of school curriculum

Durga
Durga Puja Illuminates with Kusum Sharma as Goddess Durga in the Mahishasur Mardini Show

Kalakriti Performing Arts performed this show on Sep 30th to honor Goddess Durga during the festive celebration of Durga Puja, which was organized by Puja Samithi of Greater Houston at Shri Radha Krishna Temple from Sep 29th to Oct 1st 2017.

Ramleela 2017 (Austin)
Austin Sparkle’s in Diwali with Kusum Sharma’s Ramleela

Kalakriti Performing Arts under the direction of Kusum Sharma delivered an extravagant Ramleela performance on October 14, at the Radha Madhav Dham in Austin, Texas. A team of 80 volunteer crew members with all production items logistically commuted from Houston to Austin and delivered an opulent show.

RaaS All Stars
Kalakriti sponsored RaaS all-star championship in Dallas in 2017. Raas All-Stars established in 2009, is currently one of the largest collegiate dance organizations, uniting over a thousand dancers around the nation. Annually, Raas All-Stars hosts the Raas All-Stars National Championship for the top 8 elite Garba/Raas teams in the nation

2016 Events

Ramleela 2016
The 12th annual Ramleela in Houston directed by Kusum Sharma was acclaimed by audience of over 1000 Houstonians.

Ganesh Utsav
Kalakriti team performed a small skit titled "Live of Ganesha" to mark the occassion of Ganesh Utsav at Shiv Sakti Temple.

RaaS All Stars
Kalakriti supported bringing RaaS all-star championship to Houston again in 2016 for the 2nd time. Raas All-Stars, established in 2009, is currently one of the largest collegiate dance organizations, uniting over a thousand dancers around the nation. Annually, Raas All-Stars hosts the Raas All-Stars National Championship for the top 8 elite Garba/Raas teams in the nation

Maha Shiv Ratri
Kalakriti team performed a small skit dedicated to Shiv ji at the MahaShiv Ratri celebration at Shiv Shakti Temple in March 2016 

Other events and non-profit fundraiser
Kalakriti Performing Arts worked closely and conducted performances to raise funds for several non-profit organizations most notable being
  • Performed at the India Fest 2016 on a patriotic song “Sare Jahan Se Accha"
  • Performed at India's Independence Day celebration at Baylor Medical College

2015 Events

RaaS All Stars
Kalakriti supported bringing RaaS all-star championship to Houston in 2015 for the 1st time. Raas All-Stars, established in 2009, is currently one of the largest collegiate dance organizations, uniting over a thousand dancers around the nation. Annually, Raas All-Stars hosts the Raas All-Stars National Championship for the top 8 elite Garba/Raas teams in the nation.
 
Gitano Caminos
Kalakriti collaborated with a local Spanish group to promote Indian Dance form. Caminos Gitanos is an artistic and cultural representation inspired in the origin of Flamenco. Flamenco roots started in India, it merged with the Arabic and Jewish culture and it settled in the south of Spain "Andalucía". Kalakriti performed on Kathak & Rajathani folks dance.
 

Ramleela 2015
  • Ramleela this year was attended by over 1000+. It was the 11th year of Ramleela in Houston, the 1st Ramleela being performed in 2005. There were many new editions in this year Ramleela.
  • VPSS organized a field trip for their Sunday school students to come to watch Ramleela this year.
  • This year’s Ramleela also had many more young volunteers and performers who in their acknowledgement learnt a lot from their engagement with Ramleela, exactly the outcome we all want to encourage in our youngsters.
  • 2015 Ramleela got rave reviews from media & audiences and was considered to have surpassed the high standards of past years. Some comments.
    • Indo American News– In his article Sh. Jawahar Malhotra a senior journalist in the community, noted that Ramleela has explored the subtleties of Ramayana that are left untouched Rama Leela Explores the Subtleties of the Tales Behind the Epic Story
    • TV Asia – TV Asia covered Ramleela 2015 and did a 7 min program on their channel. Excerpts of the coverage is available at this link.  
    • Audience Member – The creativity of this year has surpassed those of Ramleela’s in the past, kudos to Kusum Sharma for keep raising the bar
    • Audience Member  – Marvelous production ! Congratulations many times over
    • Audience Member   - बहुत ही मन मोहनी रामलीला सही में गर्व करने योग्य
 
AsiaFest 2015
Kalakriti showcased multiple Indian dance forms at Asiafest 2015 including Bhangra, Kathak & Folk dance.



Other events and non-profit fundraiser
Kalakriti Performing Arts worked closely and conducted performances to raise funds for several non-profit organizations most notable being
  • Performed at Sewa Houston Fundraiser
  • Performed at the India Fest 2015 on a patriotic song “Vande Matram”
  • Performed at the 8th annual India House Gala
  • Performed at the Ganesh Utsav at Shiv Sakti Temple
  • Performed at 20th anniversary of Radha Madhav Dham
  • Performance as Krishna and Radha at the Krishna Janmasthami celebration at SRKT
  • Performed at the Bhagwat Paath by Banke Bihari Parivaar at SRKT temple
  • Performed at the Nepal Earthquake fundraiser organized by Nepal local community
  • Performed during Holi celebration at DFW Hindu Temple among 3000+ people
  • Performed at AIG cultural program
  • Collaborated with Shri Natraj School for fundraiser on Feb 14th 2015

2014 Events

Oct 2014 - Kalakriti Performing Arts performs at DOW Diwali celebration

Sep 2014 - Kalakriti Performing Arts performs the 10th Ramleela in Houston at VPSS Srinath ji Haveli

July 2014 - Kalakriti Performing Arts does a play on Rukhmini & Shri Krishna Vivaah on Jul 23rd as part of Acharya Mridul Goswamiji's Bhagwat Saptah

May  2014 - Kusum Sharma, founder of Kalakriti Performing Arts performs at Asian Society on opening of Deities Exhibition

Mar 2014 - Kusum Sharma, founder of Kalakriti Performing Arts performs & choreographs in series of Houston Grand Opera  play as Goddess Sita. This is part of HGOco’s East + West initiative that celebrates Houston's diverse Eastern and Western cultures

Mar 2014 - Kalakriti Performing Arts performed at 20th anniversary of Sanatan Hindu Center

2013 Events

Oct 2013 - Kalakriti Performing Arts in collaboration with Shri Natraj School of Dance presents 9th annual Ramleela in Houston

August 2013 - Kalakriti Performing Arts enacts Shri Krishna & Rukmini vivaah at SRKT temple

July 2013 - Kalakriti Performing Arts present "Meera a divine love story" at Brahin Samaj North America annual convention
On October 9, Houstonians witnessed an awe-inspiring regal dramatic folk re-enactment of the life of Rama at the VPSS Haveli. It was the 12th Annual Ram Leela, presented by Kusum Sharma’s Shri Natraj School of Dance, in association with Kalakriti Performing Arts.



Ramleela 2015 was a great success and per audience feedback the best Ramleela production by Kalakriti so far









Picture from Caminos Gitanos a program highlighting origin of Flamenco dance from roots of India.










Kalakriti Performing Arts does their 1st fund raiser to raise money in support of cultural events planned for 2015










Kalakriti Performing Arts performed "Meera" and Brahmin Samaj Noth American 18th annual convention. Complete story at http://www.indoamerican-news.com/?p=18456 




Kusum Sharma in the title role of Amarpali from the drama of the same name. A play to raise fund for Sewa, USA by Kalakriti Performing Arts. Complete story at  http://www.indoamerican-news.com/?p=28256
© Kalakriti Performing Arts