San José Poetry Festival, Day 3: Bauchhaar’s Poetry ‘n’ Movement
Bauchhaar’s Poetry ‘n’ Movement
(Interpretation of Poetry through various dance forms)
Music performed by Sparsh Johri (Piano), Prasad Jogalekar (Sitar).
Anshu Johri (Curator and Poet)
Anshu Johri authors short stories, poems, and plays in Hindi and English. She has published three poetry and short story collections in Hindi, and a short story collection “Scareped” in English. Her work in English has appeared in “SAGE”, “Caesura”, “Soul-Lit”, “Dukool”, “Vine Leaves Literary Journal”, “Calliope”, and “Creation and Criticism”. She is a hardware engineer with a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering from San Jose State University. She is on the advisory board of Poetry Center San Jose and is the curator of “Bauchhaar,” a monthly reading series. Her work is available on Amazon, Kindle, Audible, and Apple Books worldwide. https://www.amazon.com/Anshu-Johri/e/B00N5KJUXK
Poppy Charnalia (Poet)
Poppy Charnalia is an established poet and artist based in Lexington, Massachusetts. She writes in English and Hindi. In 2018, she launched her poetry book ‘Yeh Sach Anwarat’ at the DeCordova Contemporary Art Museum.
She recently exhibited at the May 2023 Cannes Film Festival Contemporary Art Biennial and at the Louvre in Paris in October 2024. Her upcoming art exhibitions are in Boston, New York, Rome, Venice, London, and Switzerland in 2026
Now, a retired investment professional, she volunteers to help families with investment portfolios. She attempts to raise funds and awareness for Autism through her art and poetry.
Kalpana Singh Chitnis (Poet)
Kalpana Singh-Chitnis is an Indian-American poet, filmmaker, and author of seven poetry collections, including Trespassing My Ancestral Lands (Finishing Line Press, 2024); LoveLetters to Ukraine from Uyava, a 2023 International Book Awards finalist and the winner of the prestigious Hryhorii Kochur Award, a State Award of Ukraine, for its Ukrainian translation; and Bare Soul, recipient of the 2017 Naji Naaman Literary Prize. Her work has appeared in notable journals such as World Literature Today, Columbia Journal, Tupelo Quarterly, The Los Angeles Review, Poetry International, Indian Literature, and Stanford University's Life in Quarantine.
Her poems and poetry film were archived in the Lunar Codex, landed on the moon with NASA–SpaceX–Intuitive Machines and Aerospace Firefly missions in 2024 and 2025. Website: www.kalpnasinghchitnis.com
Monica Korde (Poet)
Monica Korde is a poet, artist and community builder amplifying youth voices and cultural connection. As founder of Project POETRY 360, she creates spaces where BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, AAPI, and immigrant voices thrive through movement, music, and verse. Her practice bridges poetry and performance, inviting audiences to engage deeply with identity, belonging, and collective creativity. Appointed in 2021 as the Poet Laureate of Belmont, California, Monica is proud to be the city’s first South Asian immigrant to hold the title.
Saswati Das (Poet)
Saswati Das, an engineer by profession and a poet by heart, lives in the Silicon Valley. She writes poems in English, Bengali, and Hindi and aspires to touch human lives through poetry. Her published works include a poetry collection
in English, “Fragrant Flute of Fire”, and another in Hindi, “Kalpanain”. She has performed her poetry in various reading series in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Chandreyee Mukherjee (Poet of Movements)
Chandreyee Mukherjee began her classical Manipuri training at age six under Guru Debjani Chaliha in Kolkata. She later studied Odissi under Guru Niharika Mohanty in the US. Chandreyee has performed extensively in India and the US and is passionate about experimenting with traditional forms as a creative vocabulary of expression. Actively involved in Bay Area theatrical and dance productions. She has choreographed and directed several productions and collaborative artistic initiatives.
Dipanwita Sengupta (Poet of Movements)
Dipanvita Sengupta has a Master’s in Engineering and a Bachelor's in Kathak. She is the founder-director of "California Nupur Dance Academy".
A member of the International Dance Council, she has received a certificate of Special Congressional recognition from the Cupertino Chamber of Commerce, “Naari-Celebration of Women” Award from the Association of Indo-Americans, and the Indian Consul General, a gold US Presidential award.
Dipanwita is regularly invited to lecture on Kathak at UCSC.
Lauren Baines (Poet of Movement)
Lauren Baines is a choreographer, performer, and nonprofit arts leader whose work has been presented throughout the Bay Area, in New York, and internationally. She holds an MFA in Dance/Choreography from Mills College and BA and BS degrees in Theatre Arts (Dance Emphasis), Art History, and Psychology from Santa Clara University.
Pragya Dasgupta
(Poet of Movement)
Pragya Dasgupta, founder of Tarana Dance Academy, is a gold medalist Kathak artist and holds the prestigious “Sangit Praveen” title from Prayag Sangit Samiti. She has received awards, including Kala Bharati, the President's Volunteer Service Award, and Jayavarman IV (honoring the Cambodian king). Pragya has choreographed acclaimed productions like Mahabharat, Geet Ramayan, and Meera. Her work has earned widespread recognition, and she has been featured in interviews with Radio Mirchi USA, Comcast TV, and Doordarshan India.
Saheli Ghosh (Poet of Movement)
Saheli Ghosh began dancing at age 3, trained in Bharatanatyam, and later studied Uday Shankar Dance Style under Smt. Mamata Shankar for 15 years. This has helped her perceive dance as a medium of emoting and storytelling. She also explored Manipuri and Indian folk dance. Although known for her forte in expressive style and bold movements, folk dance is still the closest to her heart. Saheli is actively involved in Bay Area dance productions and loves the stage.
Depanwita Seal (Poet of Movement)
Depanwita is a trained classical and creative dancer skilled in Bharatnatyam, Manipuri, and more. She teaches dance and has performed in India and the US. She trained under renowned dancers and gurus Kohinoor Sen Barat and Sanjib Bhattacharya. She values innovation in dance and continues learning diverse styles
Aynakus (Poetry itself)
Aynakus is an artist, performer, and animal lover. Non-believer in picture promotion, so stop by to check her performance. :-)
Sangita Das, a dedicated Kathak artist of the Lucknow Gharana, trained under Kathak Maestro NrityaSiromani Guru Bandana Sen and Guru Suchandra Banerjee. She is the founder of Kathak Kala Vihar (2005, Bay Area) and brings over 20 years of teaching experience. An early childhood special educator, she has performed internationally in Bali, Morocco, Greece, Sri Lanka, and India, promoting inclusive arts education and personal growth through dance.