A Chicago danseuse whose grandfather was one of the earliest immigrants to the US and who co-founded the Ghadar party is now making a name for herself as an avant-garde dancer and musician.

Trained in ballet from a very young age, Shanti Kumari's artistic interests have since evolved to encompass fields as varied as painting and photography, besides multi-ethnic music and dance.

This month Shanti is to perform with Chinese American dancer, Ching Yin Lo, in Chicago. Titled "Metamorphosis", the event is a mixed media presentation featuring dance, music, poetry and even a film that Shanti shot in Rajasthan and New Delhi.

"Metamorphosis will be more expressionistic than traditional, more avant-garde than anything else," Shanti told IANS in an interview.

A year back, Shanti said, her creative instincts led her to a new artistic mode. "I started painting after I heard of the unexpected death of my cousin in Mexico," she said, "This was my way of making an offering, in the Mexican tradition, to the departed soul."

But dance remains her first love. Although Shanti is a 'ballet mistress' at a dance academy near Chicago, she is unwilling to restrict herself to the conventional groove, notwithstanding the fact that this may win her easier acceptance in art circles.

She has, almost obsessively, indulged in innovation and experimentation. "My father says I have always been rebellious," Shanti said, "but I don't think I am rebellious. It is just that I like to look at the other side."

But if one goes by her ancestry, rebellion would seem to be in her blood.

Shanti's grandfather, Pandurang Khankhoje, who was born in Wardha, Maharashtra, entered the Indian freedom movement under the influence of Bal Gangadhar Tilak. He came to the United States at the turn of the 20th century and was one of the founders of the Ghadar party formed in the US by a group of expatriates supporting Indian independence from British rule.

In Delhi, Shanti learnt Bharatanatyam from Yamini Krishnamurthi. Later, she took lessons in classical music from Aashish Khan, Padma Shiva and Swapan Chaudhuri.

Her choreographic work has been nominated by the Chicago Dance and Music Alliance for dance achievement awards in 2004. In Chicago, Shanti co-founded the music group Tarima, which plays traditional Mexican music.

Shanti effortlessly straddles the world of music and dance, finding one inseparable from the other. "As a dancer, I realise that I cannot separate the two," she said.

Although ballet is the base for her dance performances, Shanti said she is defined, but not limited by it.

"I am deeply interested in all cultures and I feel I have a spiritual connection to dance. It is a medium through which you can communicate with the whole world and connect with all people," she said.

--Indo-Asian News Service