Molina Singh

Born into a family of illustrious performers, it seems destiny's hand was already guiding Molina to become a performer.Her paternal lineage boasts of grandfather Mr. Ghanashyam Singh, who was the most famous instrumentalist of his times( the Manipuri string instrument 'Pena'). Her grand aunt was known for her mastery over the' Basok sakpi' form of folk singing. And father Guru Chandi Singh became a well known exponent of manipuri classical dance. He was a member of the first troupe of performing artists of independent india, to be sent abroad by the government. 

On the maternal side, the famous manipuri dancer smt. Binda sakhi devi is her grandmother, who had the honour of dancing with Sri Uday shanker, during the queen of England's visit to India . Her mother Smt. Serojini devi is also a manipuri dancer.

And so, at the tender age of three , Molina Singh was initiated into the art of dancing. Initially she learned the manipuri folk dance and various other Indian folk dances. Then she started learning kathak under the tutelage of Guru Smt Bina Moitra. After finishing her five year cours, she was awarded distinction by the 'Bangiya Sangeet Parishad'.

By now she had given several public performances in Jharkhand, Bihar, West bengal and Delhi. With such strong foundation she then applied to the prestigious National Institute of Kathak in New Delhi. She was not only readily accepted but also awarded the student scholarship. There she completed her diploma honors under  the leading kathak exponent of Jaipur gharana,Smt. Urmila Nagar and Pt. Birju Maharaj.She also did a six month refresher course in kathak under Pt. Ram Mohan Mishra, son of  late Pt. Shambhu Maharaj at Sriram Bhartiya Kala Kendra , New Delhi.

It was at this time that she came in touch with Mr. Ebrahim Alkazi, who had just started his academy for advanced training in acting, called The Living Theater Academy. There too she was awarded a scholarship and emerged as an accomplished actress after the four year course. She was then awarded scholarship for two years in the field of theater by Ministry of Human Resourses & Developement Government of india, Department of culture.

Currently Molina is learning another classical dance form,odissi under the odissi exponent smt. Daksha Mashruwala, desciple of Padmabhusan Shri Kelucharan Mohapatra.

Molina singh has also conceived and  directed her first Ballet 'STREE rupa/aparupa',showcasing women from history and mythology through Navrasa. 'Stree' was given a standing ovation on the premier show by the audience. It was invited to be performed at Haridas Sammelan and The Horizon series by Indian concil for cultural relations.

 

Molina Singh is also the first performing artiste whom ICCR ( Indian Council for Cultural Relation) invited to perform under outstanding non impaneled artist category. she  performed  first for the Horizon series followed by a special invitation by the Director General ICCR  to do a improvised fusion  with Thumri and Latin spanish music. The occasion was graced by wife of Vice president of India , Mrs. Salma Ansari .

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In 1997, Shriram Bhartiya kala kendra' s director Padmashree Smt. Sobha Deepak Singh offered her to join the ballet unit of the institute as the lead in the ballet 'Krishna Katha'. Her successful portrayal of Radha opened futureoffers for her to portray leads like Meera in ballet 'Meera', Draupadi in Krishna katha, Uttara and Kunti in, Chakravyuh and Karna respectively.

Sur Singar Parishad awarded her the title Singarmani for her outstanding kathak performance, and also invited  her to perform for the Haridas sammelan the same year.

Molina's desire to choreograph was fullfilled when she was invited to choreograph a thumri for the Yashraj film 'Laaga Chunari Mein Daag' , picturised on Smt. Hema Malini. She has also choreographed for plays and ads.

She performed in various festival and institutes. Her dance Performances are 

*   Festivals of National Institute of kathak,New Delhi e.g. Kalka Bindadin mahotsav, Chhatrotsav, Dikshant Samaroh, Sharad Chandrika, Kathak Samaroh.

*   Jaipur gharana kathak festivals organised by Sangeet Ganga at Delhi, Jaipur and Jodhpur.

*   Sur singar parishad's dance festivals 'Kal ke Kalakar', Haridas Sammelan,                                      

*   Nritya Bhushan Samaroh, Mysore 

*   Food Festival at Jakarta, Indonasia

*   Ballet productions of Shriram Bhartiya Kala Kendra, New Delhi as the main lead.   

*   'Meera' Umaid Bhavan, Udaipur.

*   Geeta Samaroh, Kurushetra.

*   Shri Sathya Sai Baba birth anniversary, Puthaparthy.

*   Summer Ballet festival, New Delhi.

*   Krishna Katha  Bangalore, Secundrabad, Hydrabad, New Delhi.

*   'Karna'Summer Ballet festival, New Delhi.

*   Chakravyuh Summer Ballet festival, New Delhi.

*   Ramlila - Annual Ramlila festival of the institute.

*   First Productions 'Stree rupa/aparupa'- Bhavans cultural center, mumbai 2011

                                            Haridas sammelan, sur singar samsad, mumbai    

                                            Vadukkanathan temple, Thrissur, Kerela  2012

*   Horizon series, Indian council for cultural relations, 2012 mumbai

*   Neemrana  Fort Palace,Alwar, 2013

*   Caravan-e-ghazal New Delhi, 2013

*   Fusion of Thumri by Dr.Soma Ghosh, Latin Spanish songs by Carlyta Maria and Kathak by Molina  singh.

This show was hosted by ICCR, and was honored by Mrs. Salma Ansari ( wife of vice president  of india) and DG ,ICCR Dr. Suresh Goel and Mrs Shalini Goel.                                                                     

She even has done Theatre :

*  under Mr. Ebrahim Alkazi's The Living Theatre - hree Sisters by Anton Chekhov , Royal Hunt of the Sun by Peter Shaffer, Street Car Named Desire by Tennessee Williams, Greek Tragedies by Euripedus ,   Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller

*  under Makarand Deshpande's Ansh Theatre Group - Chitra  by Rabindranath Tagore 

 

As a  Choreographer the following projects are on her name:

*  Harvest dance for Royal Hunt of the Sun(play) Dir: Ebrahim Alkazi

*  Chitra (Play) Dir: Makarand Deshpande

*  Pakistani ad film Dir: Aseem Mishra

*  Film: Laaga Chunari Mein Daag under' Yashraj Film's 'song:  Ehi thaeiya ( picturised on Hema Malini)

Molina Singh has also conceived and  directed her first Ballet 'Stree rupa/aparupa',showcasing women from history and mythology through Navrasa. 'Stree' was given a standing ovation on the premier show by the audience. It was invited to be performed at Haridas Sammelan and The Horizon series by Indian council for cultural relations.

 

Molina Singh is also the first performing artiste whom ICCR ( Indian Council for Cultural Relation) invited to perform under outstanding non impaneled artist category. she  performed  first for the Horizon series followed by a special invitation by the Director General ICCR  to do a improvised  fusion  with Thumri and Latin spanish music. The occasions was graced by wife of Vice president of India , Mrs. Salma Ansari .