Krishna Kaur Khalsa: Difference between revisions

Khalsa, wasformerly bornknown as Thelma Oliver, inwas [[Los Angeles]], [[California]]born on May 6, 1941.1939, in Los Angeles, California. Her father, Cappy Oliver, played the trumpet with [[Lionel Hampton]]'s band and her mother triedexplored hervarious handpursuits, atincluding [[roller skating]], [[wrestling]], and singing, before settling down to raise five children. SheKhalsa studied dance at a school run by [[Jeni Le Gon]] beforeand majoringlater pursued a major in Drama and [[Theatre|Theatre Arts]] at the [[UCLA|University of California in, Los Angeles [[UCLA]].<ref>"New Girl on Broadway,name=":0">{{Cite Ebonybook Magazine,|last= October|first= 1966, p. 57 http|url=https://books.google.cacom/books?id=OkbpkXl3lMwC&pg=PA57&dq=for+thelma,+the+journey+was+uphill&hlpg=en&saPA57 |title=X&eiEbony |date=FiM3VODdIOXjsATqrYCoAQ&ved |publisher=0CCcQ6AEwAA#vJohnson Publishing Company |language=onepage&q=for%20thelma%2C%20the%20journey%20was%20uphill&f=falseen}}</ref>

Oliver dropped out of school in 1961 and went East to pursue her calling as a performer. Her [[off-Broadway]] stage debut was in the play ''[[The Blacks (play)|The Blacks]]'' by French dramatist [[Jean Genet]], where she performed the role of Virtue along with [[Louis Gossett, Jr.]]. Oliver also performed in the musicals ''Fly Blackbird'' and ''Cindy'', and the revue ''The Living Premise'', where in 1963 she replaced [[Diana Sands]] for two months.<ref>"New Girl on Broadway,name=":0" Ebony Magazine, October 1966, p. 52 http://books.google.ca/books?id=OkbpkXl3lMwC&pg=PA52&lpg=PA52&dq=thelma+oliver+actress&source=bl&ots=p1NKfk41fP&sig=SEY5SQkTY2R-VlMMsV77Oo9sV8M&hl=en&ei=ZFYiTvzmMpSWtwfL3-ifAw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CCcQ6AEwAjgK#v=onepage&q=thelma%20oliver%20actress&f=false</ref>

Oliver also took a number of film roles beginning in 1958 with a part as a "Negro woman" in the hit ''[[South Pacific (1958 film)|South Pacific]]''. Her contribution to the 1961 swashbuckler ''[[Pirates of Tortuga]]'' is not credited. In ''[[Black Like Me (film)|Black Like Me]]'', released in 1964, Oliver played the role of Georgie. She performed the role of "Ortiz's girl" in [[Sidney Lumet]]'s ''[[The Pawnbroker (film)|The Pawnbroker]]''. The cast included [[Rod Steiger]], [[Geraldine Fitzgerald]], and [[Brock Peters]], and [[Morgan Freeman]].<ref>Internet Movie Database httphttps://www.imdb.com/name/nm0647014</ref> It was Oliver's pivotal scene with Rod Steiger near the film's end, that drew controversy at the time, when Oliver exposed her breasts. The film was among the first American movies to feature [[nudity in film|nudity]] while the [[Hays Code|Motion Picture Production Code]] was enforced, and was the first film featuring bare breasts to receive Production Code approval. Although it was publicly announced to be a special exception, the controversy proved to be first of similar major challenges to the Code that ultimately led to its abandonment.

Thelma Oliver's biggest success as a performer came when she landed the role of "Helene" in the Broadway musical ''[[Sweet Charity]]'' with [[Gwen Verdon]]. ''Sweet Charity'' played at the [[Palace Theatre (New York City)|Palace Theatre]] from January 1966 to July 1967, 608 performances, garnering twelve [[Tony Award]] nominations, including an award for its choreography.<ref>Green, Stanley, ''Encyclopedia of the Musical Theatre'', Boston, MA: Da Capo Press, 1980, p. 409.</ref>

While a 1966 ''[[Ebony Magazine(magazine)|Ebony]]'' magazine profile mentions Oliver's study of "yoga philosophy and breathing," <ref>"New Girl on Broadway," Ebony Magazine, October 1966, p. 57 http[https://books.google.cacom/books?id=OkbpkXl3lMwC&pg=PA57&dq=for+thelma,%2C+the+journey+was+uphill&hlpg=en&sa=X&ei=FiM3VODdIOXjsATqrYCoAQ&ved=0CCcQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=for%20thelma%2C%20the%20journey%20was%20uphill&f=falsePA57 New Girl on Broadway]," ''Ebony'' magazine, October 1966, p. 57.</ref> yoga became her life's calling four years later when she met [[Yogi Bhajan]]. Yogi Bhajan renamed her "Krishna Kaur" -– meaning Divine Princess. Under his direction, she became a yoga teacher with a special dispensation to serve the Black community. Krishna Kaur established a yoga community in the Black [[Watts, Los Angeles]] neighbourhoodneighborhood with a live-in center, children's school, day care, twice weekly free kitchen and "Sat Nam Street Players" dedicated to bringing music and inspiration to the troubled streets of the ghetto.<ref>Shanti Kaur Khalsa (1995), ''The History of Sikh Dharma in the Western Hemisphere'', Espanola, NM: Sikh Dharma International, p. 29. {{ISBN|0-8263-1576-3}}</ref>

Krishna Kaur's radical spirit found full expression in her yoga mission. In her words: "The revolution is really one of the mind. Blacks have got to realize where the power really is. The struggle is not on a physical level. It is on the level of the mind." <ref>"Yoga: Something for Everyone, ''Ebony'' Magazinemagazine, September 1975, p. 102. httphttps://books.google.cacom/books?id=iVx7JXZQWgEC&pg=PA102&dq=thelma+oliver+krishna+kaur+kundalini+yoga+Ramdas&hlpg=en&sa=X&ei=DSI3VO3MK4eNsQSHi4GgBg&ved=0CCwQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=thelma%20oliver%20krishna%20kaur%20kundalini%20yoga%20Ramdas&f=falsePA102</ref>

Krishna Kaur's journey into Kundalini Yoga and the [[Sikh]] tradition of Yogi Bhajan took her to the spiritual capital of [[Amritsar]] and the "Golden Temple" or [[Harimandir Sahib]] in December 1970 and again thereafter. In August 1980 she made history when, through a combination of circumstances she became the first and only woman to have ever sung Sikh hymns within the strictly patriarchal precincts of the Golden Temple.<ref>Shanti Kaur Khalsa, ''The History of Sikh Dharma in the Western Hemisphere, Espanola, NM: Sikh Dharma International'', pp. 13-1513–15, 38. {{ISBN|0-8263-1576-3}}</ref>

In the 1990s, Krishna Kaur played a central role in the founding of the International Black Yoga Teachers Association. She also started up Yoga for Youth, dedicated to serving young people in trouble with the U.S. criminal justice system. Krishna Kaur is currently the Chairmanchairman of the Boardboard of Yoga for Youth.<ref>Stephanie Renfrow Hamilton, "Yoga in Black and White," ''Yoga Journal'', September–October 2000, pp. 104-105104–105.</ref>

Known for her musical talent, Krishna Kaur never gave up performing. In the 1970s, she toured and recorded with a group called "Sat Nam West." <ref> Gurubanda Singh Khalsa, (1979). "Music the Companion That Soothes Us and Moves Us," in Khalsa, Sardarni Premka Kaur; Khalsa, Sat Kirpal Kaur. ''The Man Called Siri Singh Sahib''. Los Angeles: Sikh Dharma.</ref> In 2014, she released an album, ''One Creator''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.krishnakaur.org/one-creator-album-listening-party/|title = Krishna Kaur}}</ref>

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