Performances
2015
Bharatanatyam - Temple Legacy
Abhinaya's 35th Anniversary Year
Role: Soloist
DATES: Sunday, April 12, 2015 @ 4PM
VENUE: Cubberley Theatre, Palo Alto
Abhinaya celebrates its 35th anniversary this year, and we've chosen to start the year by looking back at the history of the art form and our personal artistic lineage. Guru Smt. Indra Rajan is my mother's guru, and is a well known nattuvangam exponent. I will be presenting a varnam featuring her jathis; having grown up with her jathi composition and choreography, this is indeed an honor to perform with her conducting the orchestra. Coming from a family of devadasis, Smt. Indra Rajan will also talk about her personal experience with the art form and the traditions she represents.
Smt. Nandini Ramani is a leading scholar, critic, and dancer and was a student of the legendary Smt. T. Balasaraswati. She will be giving an insightful lecture and demonstration on Bala Amma's style and legacy.
PHOTOS from the show
Love Exquisite
Presented by San Francisco International Arts Festival (SFIAF) and Asian Pacific Islander Cultural Center (APICC)
Role: Co-Artistic Director with Mythili Kumar, Principal Dancer
DATES: Sunday June 7, 2014 @ 3PM
VENUE: Cowell Theater @ Fort Mason, San Francisco, CA
"Love Exquisite" explores the timeless concept of love through traditional and contemporary poetry, elucidating ancient Indian and modern concepts. The production goes on a journey through the various stages of love, starting with the blossoming of emotion, followed by the intensity of longing, the pangs of separations and finally, the bliss of union. The well known concept of sringara-bhakti, or personification of the soul yearning to be one with divine as a women (nayika) longing to be one with her lord, plays a central role in our exploration of this theme.
PHOTOS from the show
APAture Festival
Presented by Kearny Street Workshop
Role: Selected Soloist
DATES: Saturday Oct 3, 2015 @ 8PM
VENUE: The Strand Theater, San Francisco, CA
Kearny Street Workshop, the Bay Area’s hub for Asian Pacific American arts, proudly presents APAture, a multi-day, multidisciplinary arts festival featuring a lineup of some of today's most exciting emerging artists from the San Francisco Bay Area. On Saturday Oct 3, there will be dance (me!), sketch comedy, multimedia art, and spoken word all addressing issues relevant to Asian Americans today. I'm presenting a Bharatanatyam piece on the life of Rosa Parks, called "Tired of Giving In". While on the surface, it's a depiction of her life and the events that shaped her, those same events are eerily similar to current events, reminding us that there is much yet to be done for civil rights.
Nritya Dhaara - The Flow of Dance
Abhinaya's 35th Anniversary Production
Role: Co-Artistic Director with Mythili Kumar, Principal Dancer
DATES: Saturday Dec 5, 2015 - 7pm
Sunday Dec , 2015 - 4pm
VENUE: Louis B. Mayer Theatre, Santa Clara, CA
The production contains 2 exciting thematic works: The first is Love Exquisite which explores the timeless concept of love through traditional and contemporary poetry, elucidating ancient Indian and modern concepts. Stories about Manmatha (the God of Love), the mythological couple Nala and Damayanti, and the charming Lord Krishna are presented by the company. The second is Earth and the environment. Beginning with an homage to Mother Earth, the dancers present stories of recent environmental travesties including deforestation and the terrible practice of elephant poaching with a plea to end these abuses and cherish nature around us.