Flute Theory’s mission is to empower the underprivileged, one dance and one song at a time. Madhuri Murli is the artistic vision behind Flute Theory. The intent of this website is to bring the community of music & dance lovers closer. It’s a platform to share the creative mix of original music compositions, songs, dance routines and performances. Any money raised in the process will be donated to causes supported. (View supported causes on our mission page). The name “Flute Theory” was coined in honor of Madhuri’s father, “Murli”, which means “flute“. Her father has been and continues to remain the sole inspiration behind her creativity. Madhuri’s creative journey began at an early age of 10 in Mumbai taking part in several singing and dancing competitions and stage shows. She believes creativity truly comes alive performing live on stage and the energy it brings is unmatched to any other.
Glimpses into Madhuri’s creative journey till date:
In 2009, Madhuri played the female lead “Suhani” in Indian contemporary live musical “Mission Suhani”, in San Francisco which was storytelling through live singing. In 2011, She played the female lead character, “Meera” in a Bollywood musical, “NINE”, an entertaining blend of acting, singing and dancing.
In 2012, Madhuri partnered with Swapnil Mehta (a top finalist at Dance India Dance competition) to compete in San Francisco Utsav, a Star Plus Dance Competition. The team, “Velle Rockers” won the first place at the competition, bringing home the shining Star Plus award.
In May 2013, going beyond these competitions, Madhuri trained teams to prepare for notable Bay Area Bollywood dance performances and showcases. One such Bollywood Garba style performance got over a million hits on YoutTube.
To expand horizons, and to learn dance by technique, Madhuri trained in other dance styles such as Salsa and Flamenco. As part of the Salsa Montuno Protegé team, she had an opportunity to perform at the LA Salsa Congress in May 2014.
In 2014, Madhuri found her heart and home in Bollywood. She went back to roots and started teaching a weekly Bollywood class at Ariel Dance Productions. Her class performed at multiple showcases each year at Ariel.
Madhuri continues to partner with with Miss Simone Roberts, (Director, Ariel Dance Productions) and other instructors at Ariel to conduct workshops, showcases and prepare teams for competitions. She prepared a team in April 2016 from Ariel for the notable Charitable Care Foundation Competition in Bay area in 2016 to compete in the Bollywood category.
In September 2015, Madhuri released her first original music single, “Tera Khuda”, as a tribute to her father. Tera Khuda was written, composed and sung by Madhuri. The music video has earned over 2500 subscribers on YouTube.
This inspired her to come up with her second single “Dostiyaan – A tribute to friendship” in April 2016.
In November 2016, Madhuri performed with Arya Dance Academy to be part of the troupe for an opening act at Dodger’s stadium, Los Angeles. This was part of the opening ceremony to honor the All Star Cricket league that included notable Indian team cricket legends such as Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, etc.
In March 2017, Madhuri released her third music single “Khushi – The pursuit of Happiness”. This song was written, sung, composed and choreographed by Madhuri and performed along with students of her Ariel class tying together singing, music, dance and joy all at once.
In Aug 2017, Madhuri came up with her first ever duet along with her sister, Malini Murli, which was also her first take at a mash up of 3 songs. Like other 3 original compositions, this song was also released on across all platforms (iTunes, Spotify, Saavn, YouTube, Facebook)
Madhuri continues to choreograph/perform at multiple corporate events, dance showcases and Bollywood gigs in San Francisco Bay Area. She also spends time on the side expanding her horizons and learning new dance styles such as Russian folk and Flamenco, Bhangra, fusion jazz, etc.
Madhuri truly believes in giving back to the community through dance and Music. She has conducted programs such as “Zumba for a cause” to teach dance and raise funds for underprivileged kids in India joining hands with her mother and sister in their mission to support the Indian Development Foundation.
In April 2016, Madhuri flew to Morocco along with her mother to volunteer at an Child Care center and help spread the joy of dance and music with the beautiful children of Morocco. Till date, Madhuri has raised ~$1000 through dance & music to support organizations in India and Morocco. Additionally, she serves time weekly at Kaiser Permenante as a medical volunteer to help share smiles with patients.
In Oct, 2017 through Ariel Dance Production showcase, Madhuri and her students were able to raise money for 8 underprivileged causes . Additionally, with help of corporate matching programs, they raised over $1000 in just one show. The causes supported include: Blossom Birth, Teach to Lead, Indian Development Foundation, Brown Girls do Ballet, Humane Society of Silicon Valley, Cardiomyopathy, Nine Lives Foundation and St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital.
In Nov 2017, Madhuri conducted a 4-week workshop including dance instruction and choreography culminating into an informal showcase to raise money for Project WeHope, a shelter in Palo Alto, CA. The mission of Project WeHOPE is to help homeless individuals and families, and those at risk, to rebuild their lives. This workshop raised funds thanks to 20 contributors, over 15 students and 7 participants that finally performed on stage. Together, they not only met the fund-raiser goal but exceeded it.
In Feb, 2018 Madhuri Released her 4th Original Composition & Music video, “Ehsaas – A moment in time” on the eve of Valentine’s day to celebrate what defines this day. Not the person, not the relationship but that feeling. To celebrate that moment, to celebrate what it made you feel, to celebrate whatever “being in love” means to you, to celebrate YOU!
In April 2018, performers of Flute Theory raised over $800 in support of Children’s Cancer Association by contributing two exciting pieces to Ariel’s Dance Cinematique.
In June 2018, Madhuri had the joy of teaching and performing on stage with 3 year olds who made it worth their while by making a difference to their friends at Indian Development Foundation
In July 2018, YouTube did a 30 second promo video shoot on Flute theory thats now live to Flute theory’s YouTube channel globally
Flute Theory turned ONE year old in September 2018! Thank you everyone for the love, wishes and support! Year ONE has been amazing and looking forward to scaling more heights, making a difference to more causes in the years to come!
In September 2018, Flute theory was featured in its first ever press release
In September 2018, Madhuri released her sixth music video and second mashup of two soul-stirring songs, Teri Deewani (by Kailash Kher), Nachdi Phira (from Secret Superstat by Meghna Mishra) sung & choreographed by Madhuri, performed by Madhuri, Sweta Mehta and Maninee Vibhande
In October 2018, Madhuri trained a team of performers to raise funds for Bharat Ke Veer, (an initiative by the Govt. of India) to benefit the families of Indian martyrs. The team performed at Ariel Dance Product, 2018 showcase
In December 2018, Madhuri trained a team of performers to raise funds for Sneha Karma Foundation to support the underprivileged girls of India, for self reliance and self dependence. The team performed at Ariel Dance Productions, Holiday showcase.
In January 2019, Madhuri performed at her first ever gig in Mumbai, India. She performed the unplugged versions of all her original songs and mashups as part of Music Unfiltered at Adagio (Mumbai, India), hosted by Hooted1ce
In April 2019, Flute Theory partnered with Cancer Patient’s Aid Association, India to raise funds and support their noble vision to address the causes of exponential increase of cancer cases in India due to lack of cancer awareness. Madhuri trained a team to perform at Ariel Dance Productions, Spring Folic showcase.
In May 2019, Madhuri participated in Musical May campaign to support the Cancer Patient Aid Association to spread awareness for cancer caused by Tobacco and raise funds through music and singing. She was one of the top contributors and one of the winners of the campaign. Madhuri was awarded and facilitated for this honor at the prestigious Shankar Ehsaan Loy concert.
In June 2019, Madhuri trained a team of dancers and a team of little kids who came together to help support a little boy named Rudra, who at 17 months had a major brain injury from an accidental fall. She helped his parents raise fund by having the kids and adults trained for Ariel Dance Productions Dancepiration recital and in return, donate tuition for Rudra’s fundraiser
In Sept 2019, Madhuri partnered with Dharamsala Animal Rescue, that is helping eradicate the suffering of street animals in India, and humanely reduce stray population, end deaths by rabies, and promote better relations between humans and animals. Madhuri trained a team of 15 dancers for an 8-week dance for a cause that culminates into performing at Vision in Motion Dance Concert, on 9th Nov 2019.
In March 2020, Madhuri released her 5th Original composition and 8th music video, “Apnalein Zindagi”. This song like others, was also released across all major music platforms such as Spotify, Apple Music, JioSaavn, Gaana and Amazon Music. It crossed over 100K streams on YouTube.
In April 2020, Madhuri created a virtual dance for a cause event called “Best of Me” to help support and heal out of the painful Covid-19 time. A throwback to some of past choreographies in an easy to follow, fun, cardio compilation. Madhuri was supporting Aseema Charitable Trust , an NGO in India that helps children of marginalized community, impacted by Covid-19 to provide basic food & essentials.
2020, unlike any other year, had been eye-opening on what really matters. Like many, Madhuri decided to pick up a new skill for a creative outlet. A few moments of clarity & profound times have culminated into her first ever book, “The Prize and Price of Getting (Un)comfortable”.
Through Flute Theory, Madhuri hopes to achieve her goals of a philanthropist contributor to the community of dance and music lovers. Her motto in life is “Believe to Achieve” and she invites you to join her in this enriching journey. 🙂
