Spirit Voyage Blog

Jai in her dance costume

There is something magical that happens when you see Jai dance - something joyful and expansive, and so there is a perfect synchronicity in the fact that she will be joining the Joy is Now Tour with GuruGanesha Singh.  Jai is one of those people whose step always has an extra bounce, whose eyes always twinkle with a hidden light, and whose smile takes you over. 

Jai will open each night of the tour with her spellbinding dance “The Birth of Joy”; referencing classical Indian dance in a way that is simultaneously ancient Eastern and contemporary Western.

I’ve known Jai for many years.  In fact, we lived in Bangalore, India at the same time when she was undergoing some of her dance training - I can remember seeing her practicing her dance in this beautiful outdoor pagoda, looking just like on of Krishna’s gopis.  I sat down with her recently to get her to share a little bit of the magic that she is.

Karan: How long have you been dancing? What do you like about dance?

Jai on Stage

Jai: You know, I feel like I’ve been dancing my whole life. It’s just always felt so natural, so innate, like breathing. What I like about it is the way it makes me feel. It opens up my eyes, my heart, my soul. My mother tells me that she can see my soul when I dance. It took me a while to understand what she meant, but I do now, and on a very deep level. Dancing feeds my soul, and in doing so, it unlocks the essence of who I truly am. Not to mention the immense gratitude it allows me to feel for my physical body as I discover what it is capable of doing. That amazes me every time I work in the studio or finish a performance.

Karan: Can you tell us about your formal dance training?

Jai: After graduating high school, I spent a year in the south of India soaking up the teachings of a Bharatha Natyam master by the name of C. Radha Krishna. He was so wonderful. I still have absolutely no idea how this little man in his seventies - who walked with a cane and taught all of his classes from a chair at the front of the room - managed to impart so much wisdom and crystal clarity about movement, energy, fluidity and precision. It’s incredible. I know that in his heyday he was given the title “The Gem of Dance”, so I can imagine he was really spectacular to watch, and I would have loved to see him perform. But I was fortunate to get to learn from him for that short time.

Jai performing in Washington, DC

When I returned to the States, I began studying with another gem of a person, a wonderful woman named Christel Stevens. She had been a student of the dance program at Kalakshetra, a unique and magnificent spiritual village in Chennai dedicated to a holistic training in the different ancient arts of India. I spent 5 years in her Bharatha Natyam classes in Virginia and performing with a troupe called The Megha Shakti Dancers at festivals and events all over DC, Maryland, and Virginia, and stepped out for some solo work in New York as well.

Karan: How did you get involved in the Joy is Now tour?

Jai at Summer Solstice

Jai: Cosmically. I can’t explain this very divine alignment any other way. In June, I performed at the International Peace Prayer Day celebration in New Mexico. In the days that followed my performance, I was approached by several yoga teachers and a concert producer who expressed an interest in having me come perform at their centers and venues. Then one day I got a call from GuruGanesha saying that Mahan Rishi Singh - who is producing the New Jersey and Pennsylvania concerts - had suggested inviting me to perform at his two venues. And somewhere between that seed having been planted and getting me on the phone, GuruGanesha had decided to invite me to be a part of the entire 5 weeks! In my heart, I immediately said “yes!”

And I’m so excited to be joining the tour. The message of this concert series is one I believe in very strongly, one I’m eager to help share. And my fellow “messengers” are some of my favorite people on the planet.

Karan: What would people be surprised to know about you?

Jai: I’m not really sure. Perhaps that I have an irrational fear of dinosaurs? Even I find that surprising!….. and I can’t believe I just shared it!

Karan and Jai in 2006

Karan: What are you most excited about in this upcoming tour?

Jai: Honestly? Everything. No exaggeration. I’m excited about going to places familiar and unfamiliar (Canada is at the top of that list!) with friends and family whom I adore, doing something that I truly love to do, and meeting as many magnificent people along the way as I can possibly meet. Just talking about it makes me joyful! If that’s not cosmic perfection, I don’t know what is.

About Jai:  A graduate of Yogi Bhajan’s foreign education program in India, and a member of the yogic community from her very first breath, Jai Khalsa has been surrounded by devotional music of the far East for as long as she can remember. While still a student overseas, she began to recognize the dancer in herself; percussion was her heartbeat, and the sounds of the sitar pulled at her heartstrings in a way nothing had ever done before. She knows now that her soul has been filled with this music for far longer than her own lifetime. She studied Classical Indian dance for a number of years before embarking on the journey that has led her to the creative expression she is now exploring. Her inspiration comes from Yogiji’s teachings, and is set to music ranging from ancient to contemporary, Eastern to Western, The Beatles to Bjork to Tabla Beat Science. Jai sets her body in motion across the floor in the same way a writer sets his or her pen in motion across the page, and with the same intention: to tell the stories that live within.

Click Here to see when the Joy is Now Tour is coming to your area