Krishna Leela - The Legend of Krishna

Dance ballet with live music and story telling. 

Krishna Leela is the story of the most beloved Hindu god: Krishna

From his childhood tricks to his greatest love story with the gopi Radha, the spectator is brought to the hills of Vrindavan through dance and music. Laughing when watching the young herdsman stealing butter from his mother’s kitchen, crying along with Radha desperately searching for her lover and enjoying the colors of Holi together in the great gardens of Braj, Krishna Leela takes the public on a journey to India.

Fanny Marquet - Meera and Priscilla Brülhart - Gauri, two Kathak dancers, along with their musicians present the main episodes of the life of Krishna in a rich palette of technical and narrative pieces. Helped by the musicians and the storyteller, the public will be able to enjoy the beauty of this Indian tale, navigating through the danced story to the sound of Indian instruments. 

In a way rarely done before, this project gathers musicians and dancers from the west. They all have been in love with shaastri sangeet (classical music and dance) for many years and have been involved in promoting this secular art around the globe. Their roots in the west along with their passion for Indian culture enable them to give to the European spectators an enjoyable step into the great Indian epic. 

Since the age of 12, Fanny is fond of the beautiful art of Kathak dance.

For 14 years, Fanny has been learning its subtleties with her dance master (guru) Pt. Ravi Shankar Mishra, one of the most active exponent of Banaras Gharana (Banaras style). She thus developed a surprising grace and ease in the interweaving of complex rhythms and graceful movements of Kathak.

Next to this education, she has also been trained for many years in various western dance styles such as hip-hop, jazz, ballet and modern dance, in the “Académie de danse de Genève” (since 2000) and in “Dance Area” (since 2009).

Since 2006, she goes regularly to India in her adopted home, where she lives in a traditional family of musicians and dancers passing their knowledge from one generation to the next. She became thus a trustee of the secular tradition of Banarasi Kathak (Kathak style of Banaras). Various stays of 5 to 6 months also allowed her to show her capacities on Indian stages, in different shows for the Maharaja of Banaras or for the association of late Pt. Kisan Maharaj : « Sangeet Sabha Kashi ». This is when she received her Indian artist name from her guru: Meera.

Since then, she is performing in Switzerland and in France for various festival such as  Poussière du Monde» in Geneva (2008) and the festival of Durga Puja organised by the Indian community of Geneva (2010). She also took part in the projects of the association …CulturAll.. : The Swiss and French tour of the dance theatre « Geet Govind » (2009) and « Beyond Skin » (2010).

She then came back to India to continue learning Kathak, from September 2011 to march 2012, and finally in the winter 2012-2013, again in the house of her Guru and could perform in the Faculty of performing arts in Banaras Hindu University and for Pt. Mahadev Prasad Mishra, with Priscilla Brulhart, her Gurubhain. In January 2013, they had the chance to perform in Rashtri Kathak Sansthaan, receving recognition from the local media.

She created the « Compagnie Sapana » with Annjali Shah, a young Kathak dancer as well. Joined by Priscilla Brülhart - Gauri in 2012, they created and presented their choreography around Switzerland. "Le Duel": meeting between their respective gharanas, Lucknow and Banaras. 

Meera now lives in Banaras since summer 2013. Above her regular work with her guru, she now works with other Indian artists (Pt. Arjun & Anuj Mishra Dance Company, Shri Vishal Krishna). 

Inhabited by the love for dance, Fanny is involved in the promotion of this art by performing on stage as well as by teaching in various schools, in India and Europe.