Mission Statement

Ektaa Center is committed to create an awareness and understanding of the traditional arts of India, using diverse medium such as dance, music, theater and other related arts to help build better communities in Southern California.

The Ektaa Center strives to foster cross-cultural exchange in this multi ethnic community. We believe education and knowledge of cultures creates better communities. At the same time, we strive to preserve ancient cultures through education, community involvement and sponsorship of the performing arts

History

Established in 1989 as the Arpana Foundation, we have presented over 35 performances at various venues in the Southland. The Arpana Foundation was renamed the Ektaa Center in 2003 to reflect the new direction and initiatives of the organization. The mission of the organization has been redefined as more inclusive of the diverse arts and cultures of India and the name change is part of an effort to build a new identity for the organization. Further, it was to avoid confusion with similar named entities in the geographic area of its operation.

In the mid 1980's, there was an increasing number of people of Indian origin moving into Orange County. As with most Indian families, cultural education is an essential children's activity. Be it dance, music or learning the values through 'Bala Vihar' (special classes for Hindu philosophies), first generation children began to be exposed to new cultural experiences. At this time Ramya Harishankar who had been teaching Bharata Natyam (traditional classical dance), saw the need for an active organization to present visiting dancers and dance companies to local students and parents. With the help of her husband Harish Murthy and an enthusiastic group of volunteers the Arpana Foundation was formed. To provide a financial springboard for the organization, Ramya presented 'Epics of India' in 1988 at the Plummer auditorium in Fullerton as a fund raiser. The humble beginning of programming happened at the Sunny Hills auditorium with the presentation of Kalanidhi Narayanan and a company of dancers from Abhinayasudha in Chennai, India. About 125 patrons attended the event but the ball had been set rolling.

Through the years, we have presented renown artists from India such as Sanjukta Panigrahi, the Dhanajayans, Sonal Mansingh, Prof. C.V. Chandrasekhar, Kelucharan Mohapatra and Birju Maharaj. Along with them we have presented popular local US artists such as Ramya Harishankar and the Arpana Dance Company, Mythili Kumar and the Abhinaya Dance Company and Hema Rajagopalan and the Natya Dance ensemble. We have also provided a platform for upcoming young dancers and dance companies touring the US for the first time such as Revathi Ramchandran, Mavin Khoo and the Cleveland Cultural Alliance.

We have also served the broader community by holding the performances at a variety of venues such as the Barclay, Fullerton College Campus Theater, Torrance Cultural Arts Center or the Bellflower Civic Auditorium. We have grown from our early stages when we had audiences of about a 100 to being able to fill a house such as The Barclay with 750 enthusiastic and excited patrons of the arts.