[NEW DATE!] JHOOM: A Joyful Movement Mehfil

NEW DATE: Sunday, November 2nd 2-5pm!

Join Chicago Mehfil for an afternoon of joyful movement and dance!

We kick off the afternoon with a Open Mic / Talent Show open to all attendees (signup link included below). This will be followed by a featured Bharathanatyam-fusion performance with professional movement artist Harini Nilakantan, accompanied by live music by Shruthi Kannan (carnatic vocals) and Randall Jamrok (tabla), and special guest Misha Talapatra. Then, we will come together to learn and dance some simple South Asian dance steps inspired by garba, bhangra, and kuthu with Harini and Kavisha Prajapati, ending our afternoon dancing ourselves clean to desi folk bangers. Come ready to move and be moved!

See you Sunday November 2nd, 2-5pm at the stunning Chicago Athletic Association (12 S Michigan Ave), White City Ballroom!

• 2pm - Open Mic / Talent Show
• 3:30pm - Featured Performance
• 4pm - Community Folk Dance Workshop + Dance Party

We're also excited to feature YOU at our open mic / talent show -- all styles, levels, and concepts welcome! Sign-up here: tinyurl.com/jhoomtalent

We will be collecting suggested donations of $10-15 at the door!

Chicago Mehfil is a friendly and accepting space for performers and enjoyers of South Asian and allied arts. We are a group of South Asian musicians, scholars, and organizers coming together across religions, ethnicities, classes, castes, nationalities, sexualities and genders. Mehfil aspires to be a space where music and art are revolutionary ways of building community, radical joy, and political solidarity against oppression.

Harini Nilakantan (she/they) is a Chicago-based professional dancer, movement artist, and choreographer from Chennai, India. Harini has over 20 years of training and experience in various dance forms, most notably in Bharatanatyam, Waacking, Hip Hop, and is currently studying Chicago Footwork. She is the Lead Choreographer for Movement Of Desis, the Program Head of Dance at the Kalapriya Center for the Indian Performing Arts, and the founder/director of the Chicago based dance collective, PatchWerk. She is a two time Headliner for World Of Dance, Chicago, and is the current Champion of the RedBull Dance Your Style Chicago City Qualifier 2025

Misha Talapatra is a dance artist based in Chicago IL specializing in the Indian classical dance form of Odissi. Misha has trained under dance maestros Manoranjan Pradhan, Ratikant Mohapatra, Jhelum Paranjape, Bichitrananda Swain and Bijayini Satpathy. Currently, she is a founder and board member of Aikyam ODC, a dance collective based in Chicago, and she teaches Odissi to students in the greater Chicago area.

Kavisha Prajapati is a dancer, lawyer, and poet based in Chicago. She did her training in Bharatanatyam in Los Angeles under Guru Smt. Paulomi Pandit and served as co-captain for Trojan Bhangra, USC's co-ed performance bhangra team. Over the years, she has organized and performed for various cultural events, appeared in a couple music videos, and dabbled in hip hop, contemporary, Ora Tahiti, and folklorico. Currently, she dances at Kalapriya.

Shruthi Kannan is a Carnatic vocalist and a union organizer living in Rogers Park. She sings with the band Do The Needful and is on the Chicago Mehfil team.

Randall Jamrok is an up-and-coming tabla player deeply rooted in the Chicago South Asian classical music scene. He began his tabla journey in 1999 in New York, studying under Pandit Samir Chatterjee of the Farrukhabad Gharana, whose guidance has been instrumental in developing Randall’s tonality and clarity on the instrument.

COVID Policy

To keep our community as safe as possible and protect our COVID-conscious attendees, please review and respect our event’s COVID-19 guidelines:

• Testing/Masks Required: Please get tested for COVID-19 on the day of the event. If you cannot show a photo of a negative test result at check-in, you will be required to wear a mask during the event.
• A very limited number of face masks and rapid tests will be available at check-in, so please come prepared!
• We’ll be using air filters provided by Clean Air Club to help improve indoor air quality.
• We aim to protect our most vulnerable community members to create a considerate, inclusive event space.

We won’t be policing, but trust you to help look after each other and our community’s health. Thank you!