Mind the Gap by ArtYard: five-day workshop for actors, writers, directors, and all art makers

Bhumika Dube is an actor, writer, director, and acting coach.Daughter of veteran theatre artist Gopal Dube, she is a National School of Drama graduate (2015) and a junior fellowship awardee from the Ministry of Culture, India (2012). Trained in Bharatnatyam and jazz, she holds a theatre company, ‘BHOOMIKA’ in Bhopal, which works with various NGOs and juvenile prisons in the city. She has participated in more than 35 theatre productions and has worked with eminent directors such as Manav Kaul, Satyabrat Rout, Purva Naresh, and many others. She has also worked as an acting coach for films like ‘Joram’ and ‘Cycle’. In 2023, she wrote, directed, and acted in an eponymous solo show titled ‘KELA’ that continues to take shows in Jairangam and many theatre festivals to date. Bhumika has featured in popular films like ‘Phir Aayi Haseen Dilruba’, ‘Barah by Barah’, and the Netflix series ‘The Railwaymen’. Her passion for storytelling extends beyond the stage, as she actively engages in workshops aimed at empowering underprivileged youth through the arts. Her dedication to theatre has fostered a vibrant community of aspiring artists in Bhopal. Bhumika is currently settled in Mumbai, from where she runs ArtYard as a co-founder, along with donning multiple creative hats. Bhumika is passionate about the arts and aims to expand her reach, collaborating with artists and bringing Indian stories to a global platform.

Himaniie Panth is a versatile performer, theater maker, training specialist (POSH), and educator. Trained in Physical Theatre from Duende School of Ensemble Physical Theatre, Greece, and in Acting and Theatre Making from the Drama School, Mumbai. She is also a writer, and her very first self-written solo play, 'Hysterical Hysteria', earned her a place in Homegrown’s list of top ten Indian artists challenging gender and sex stereotypes. She was also part of the META award-winning play '777' in 2016. Since then, she has received multiple grants, including the Gender Bender by Max Mueller Bhawan Bangalore (2017) and NSAPG by DSM Foundation (2023). Her latest work, 'The Shunya Theory', an original play she wrote and directed, premiered in 2024 and completed a successful summer run in Delhi. In addition to preparing for a rerun of the show, Himaniie continues to work between Delhi and Mumbai, where she juggles between pursuing acting, teaching acting pedagogies and theatre curricula, and working as a social entrepreneur for educational, social development, and corporate sectors.Himaniie founded the collective titled ArtYard during the pandemic, through which she wishes to build a community of like-minded people who through the arts, try to empower and build psychically, physically and emotionally safe communities.