Phirki: Online Summer Camp, 2020, Batch Four

Phirki: Online Summer Camp, Batch 4

Phirki (Hindi for Pinwheel), Shoonya’s multi-art summer camp finds its way into the realm of the interwebs. Yes, we will miss having your children in our expansive, sunlight – drizzled space over looked by palm trees. Nevertheless, the magic still remains, as we have a host of our brilliant instructors stitching together an online summer camp to keep your child engaged and work off all that extra quarantine energy.
We are grateful for your overwhelming response to the first batch that started on the 29th of April, the second batch which began on the 8th of May and the third which began on 21st May.
The online sessions, though new and challenging have been engaging, energetic and exciting. We are delighted to announce the fourth batch starting on the 22nd of June.

Indian Standard Time : 6.30pm – 9.30pm (with a 30 min break between activities)

For US Students:
East coast : 9am – 12 noon (with a 30 min break between activities)

For ages 8 – 11 years

Fees: $150

Bank Account Details for transfer

Name: Shoonya
Bank Name: Bank of India
Branch: SME Branch
Current Account no: 842620110000475
IFSC: BKID0008426
Swift Code: BKIDINBBBGL

Summer is here and we have the best recipe for your little ones! Think fun, think learning, think exposure, access and creative freedom. Add some colourful phirkis to your imagination too. And the happy sounds of bouncing bare feet (in your own living room)!

Storytelling is fast being recognised as an essential tool in today’s ever-changing world. The art of communication is key, whether its using words written or spoken, movement, song, on stage or in a visual medium. And the Arts are one of the most powerful mediums to explore just that.

We have lined up some wonderful workshops with amazing facilitators and artists who will help your children tell their stories. Stories using their hearts, their imaginations, their bodies, their voice, their environment and each other.

Activities will cover storytelling, theatre, dance & movement, art & craft and cooking. Conducted by artists and facilitators who absolutely love what they do, have years of experience and insight, and can’t wait to share their art with your minis.

Phirki in its current form has been curated by a mum who just happens to have a masters degree in Psychology and has a PhD in the area of Human Behaviour and Organisational Development

– Movement
– Theatre
– Learn the art of story telling
– Craft
– Cooking

Limited to 10 children per batch.
Some sessions are also available for individual bookings,

for registration/enquiries call: +91 9899563800

Camp Schedule

Here’s introducing our fabulous faculty:

Ronita Mookerji : Creative Movement

Ronita Mookerji is an Independent Performing Artist/Choreographer/Teacher exploring and practicing Contemporary Dance. She has been trained in Bharatanatyam for over 25 years and she did her Arangetram (graduation) in the year 2006 in Kolkata and still continues training in it.

Ronita also plays a major role as a Teacher/Facilitator/Choreographer in Attakkalari’s Education Outreach Program and is a Senior Artist in the Citizens of Stage Co Lab, A collective of dancers created in collaboration with Shoonya. She also teaches her Kids’ Contemporary Dance Classes and Adults’ Contemporary Dance Classes in Attakkalari, Shoonya and LshVa art spaces and several schools and corporate houses in Bangalore and has taught in several cities nationally. She has done many workshops and teaching modules in Bangalore city-wide schools. She has also taught classes/workshops/intensives in Bharatanatyam and Contemporary Dance both nationally and internationally, namely, Japan and Germany.

About the session :
The Movement Sessions will be based on learning Contemporary Dance with special emphasis on elements of Martial Art including Basics of Kalaripayattu and Capoeira. The classes will be designed to fit in restricted spaces and small rooms due to the present condition we are in. Through fun tasks and movement learning, the kids will be training in strengthening of body, flexibility,motor skills and coordination of their overall body. Elements of creativity, space awareness, body rhythm and musicality will also be introduced, thereby integrating mental capacity and mind-body connections. So while we are indoors due to the lockdown, let the kids have some fun and engage with their own selves developing physical intelligence and creative skills.

Vikram Sridhar : Story Telling Techniques

Sitting behind temple elephants, nursing wounded puppies, working with various theatre groups, Vikram today combines his various interests and work over years in his Storytelling journey. He is a co-founder of Tahatto and the Bangalore Storytelling Society. Through folktales, he is trying to discover our rich heritage of oral literature and tradition which is slowly being lost and just sitting in books. He believes in storytelling as a strong medium of conservation from nature to human relationships. And strongly believes A STORY A DAY KEEPS THE DOCTOR AWAY… NOT AN APPLE!

About the Session
Techniques of Story Telling :
Can we tell a story , Can we create our stories , Can we write a story …..It’s all about it . Vikram will facilitate the children to create stories through their own mediums. Be it writing, or telling , or even a comic strip , the story idea is the first spark . Through the course of the workshop children will create their bag of stories and express it in their favourite mediums

Mercy Kurian – Art and Craft

Mercy has a background in graphic design and has worked in advertising agencies in Mumbai. Many years later, painting and music took a more dominant role and the next step in that adventure was in teaching art and music to adults and children as a vocal instructor at Harmony school of music and creative catalyst at ‘be thoughtful’. She has also been a guest lecturer at Mt. Carmel College for many years teaching advertising and page design. At the moment, under the umbrella of ‘Teal and ochre’ she conducts workshops in watercolour, acrylic, mixed media and use these media to explore creative expressions and experiences while also dabbling in graphic design.

About the session :

Art Activity – Warli painting is a style of tribal art mostly created by the tribal people from the North Sahyadri Range in India. This tribal art was originated in Maharashtra, where it is still practiced today. Originally all art was a means of communication or a transference of ideas. Warli art uses simple motifs to create story or scene. During this session we will learn some the motifs and create a painting using just a limited palette

Craft Activity – Dreamcatchers were supposed to be a protective talisman that was used to protect children from nightmares and bad dreams. Mandalas have the effect of centring the person and enabling calmness of spirit and mind. In this session we will combining the two and creating a Dreamcatcher mandala.

Nayantara Singhdeo – Cooking

Nayantara SinghDeo has a background as a Trained Primary School Teacher. She subsequently worked in Fashion and the Contemporary Arts world; leaving to follow her passion for food. She caters and cooks to order under the label ‘NAYLA’ and spends her time experimenting with recipes that remind her of her childhood, growing up in a particularly foody family. She also now teaches and shares those recipes. The Phirki Summer Camp is a chance for her to merge her passion for food with her love for children and her training as a teacher. Join her to discover the simple and enduring joy that can come from sharing a meal well put together, or the confidence that comes from being at ease in a kitchen and learning to trust your own skill.

About the Session :
These quarantine cooking classes/modules aim at showing children that you don’t need elaborate recipes or complicated ingredients to make something delicious.
A little self confidence and a few simple ingredients can turn out great dishes. Basic kitchen safety and skills, practical application of uncomplicated methods is the focus. The idea is to help them feel comfortable and confident in the kitchen, growing to adapt what they learn and personalizing it to their own and family’s tastes. To feel like they are actively contributing in taking care of family in the most basic way by feeding the people in their lives.

Karen D’mello – Theatre

Karen D’mello is a theatre maker and educator based out of Bangalore.
She is currently a drama instructor at Head Start Educational Academy.
As an educator, she has conducted theatre workshops for students in schools and colleges over the last 5 years and has designed theatre curriculums for schools. In 2018, she received the Charles Wallace India Trust scholarship to study an MA in performance making from Goldsmiths college.

About the session:
In this workshop we will be working with everyday found objects to create short sketches. Participants will explore: creative use of everyday objects, expression through an object, manipulation techniques to convert objects into a characters, and creating stories. The workshop is aimed at finding expression through movement and voice, imagination and creativity.

Paridhi Bihani – Creative Movement

“Dance enables you to find yourself and lose yourself at the same time”

Paridhi Bihani has completed her Diploma in Movement Arts and Mixed Media Intensive training in Flying low(Feb 2019), she is also currently training in Kathak.

She has been a part of various Contemporary and Kathak Performances in the past 3 years of her career in Dance. How Long is Forever, Sketches, Locks throughs and avoids, Dataprint, Homelandia, Hugs in Space, Ram Katha Vismaya, Silver to Silicon.

She is also a guest faculty for TEP at Christ University, Attakalari Centre for Movement Arts, Mallaya Aditi International School.

She is currently a part of the Collective called Citizens of Stage Colab headed by Diya Naidu.

About the session :
The Movement Sessions will be based on learning Contemporary Dance with special emphasis on elements of Martial Art including Basics of Kalaripayattu and Capoeira. The classes will be designed to fit in restricted spaces and small rooms due to the present condition we are in. Through fun tasks and movement learning, the kids will be training in strengthening of body, flexibility,motor skills and coordination of their overall body. Elements of creativity, space awareness, body rhythm and musicality will also be introduced, thereby integrating mental capacity and mind-body connections. So while we are indoors due to the lockdown, let the kids have some fun and engage with their own selves developing physical intelligence and creative skills.

Shreya Biswas – Storytelling

Shreya Biswas is a performance storyteller and story educator, motivator ,trainer, and a patron of art & theatrics . She is the founder of Katharangam, an organisation that specialises in using storytelling as an effective tool in education, business and communication. She has her audience in kids, young adults and adults from the world of education to the corporates, across domains. She works regularly with schools, training teachers, and introducing storytelling into their regular curriculum, conducting workshops, and thus establishing an instant and interactive connection between the audience and the storyteller. Shreya has been working regularly with special needs children, underprivileged kids and students of government schools, helping them to learn concepts through stories. Katharangam has carried out over 1000 man hours of workshops with leading global corps (Mercedes Benz, Renault, Metro Cash & carry, Asian Paints, Urban Ladder, Sironix India, Zeus Career & performance Coach etc.…) along with British Council and leading schools and educational institutes across India geography.

About the session:

Stories are treasures that we can carry in our minds and hearts. They make you sing with the sun and dance with the moon, dive deep into the sea and swim, fly with the birds, explore the forest and climb the rainbow as the stories unfold before you . Come get lost in the world of stories and take the treasure away with you. We will discuss the story after the session and follow it up with a fun activity related to it .

Aditi Sen – Mask Making

“Creativity is putting your imagination to work and it’s produced the most extraordinary results in human culture” – Ken Robinson

Aditi Sen has followed her childhood passion and is a trained artist and sculptor. She has been teaching children for the past 22 years having taught across many Indian and international schools. She has also conducted workshops for employees in different organizations. She believes in taking on projects with a cause and has done so on many occasions. She enjoys working at the grassroot level with the children from the villages. She loves to try out new ideas and encourages children to be original. Some of the classes she holds are African mask making, pottery and portait with Djembe as music in the background. She also uses art in therapy and has helped many people with ADHD and stress related illnesses.

About the session:
Due to the pandemic, Aditi has improvised and will get children to make masks from things available at home. Children will learn to make the dough, they will learn all the steps involved in making a mask, the highlight will be to actually carve out a face, keeping in mind proportions.