Shakti
Born in 1957 in Kyoto , Japan to an Indian father and Japanese mother, Shakti grew up with rich cultural heritage of Japan and India . She studied yoga with her father and dance with her mother and with foremost gurus of India .
While earning an M.A. in Indian Philosophy at Columbia University in New York City , Shakti studied modern dance with Martha Graham and jazz with Luigi.
Upon returning to Japan , Shakti developed a unique hybrid form of dance blending an array of Eastern dance traditions and yoga with Western jazz and contemporary rock resulting in an exotic, erotic, and shocking effect.
She has been performing worldwide to great critical acclaim. Her unique and mesmerising performances have touched and tantalised audiences everywhere.
She is called the "Dancing Phoenix"(New York Times), "Camp Asian Vamp" (London Time Out), and "Nymph of Sensuality" (Yomiuri Press).
Shakti was nominated into the top 3 in "100 Japanese the World Respects", by Newsweek Japan .
Appassionata Team
VasantaMala
VasantaMala is the founder and director of the VasantaMala Indian
Dance Institute in Kyoto. She is the first Japanese woman to introduce
Indian Classical Dance in Japan.
Shakti and all the other dancers have been trained under her. She and Shakti work together to continue to create new shows. She is the artistic director of the Company.
VasantaMala has received the highest award in Japan for her dedication to her art. She is known to be a "living national treasure".
Keisuke Watanabe
Watanabe's paintings are based on rhythm, repetition, balance and disrusption. Above all there is the vitality and the overflowing feeling of life that comes from the motion and tensed up energy. He paints what matters to him the most and at this time it was the the survivors of the Earthquake. He was moved by the determination and strength of the human soul in times of such disaster.
Watanabe specialises in nudes. The naked human body is the ultimate beauty. His works have been exhibited worldwide in various museums.
Jorg Hacker
Jorg Hacker is the director and chief scientist of Airborne Research Australia, Australia's only National Research Aircraft Facility engaged in using and operating aircrafts for atmospheric and environmental research.
His research work spans a wide area with special emphasis on the atmospheric boundaary layer and the development of innovative instrumentation and measurement strategies using airborne platforms.
Jorg is also the managing director of The Garage International and lighting designer of Shakti's shows.
VasantaMala Dance Company
The dancers in the company have been trained under VasantaMala and Shakti. Most of them have been training for 20-30 years in Bharata Natyam (under VasantaMala) and Yoga and contemporary dance forms (under Shakti) They have performed worldwide.