Artistic Director | Choreographer | Co-Founder
As an Artistic Director of the company since 2012, Nadhi’s work through Nava has been supported by CounterPulse Performing Diaspora, CA$H Grants, Zellerbach Family Foundation, Dancers' Group, East Bay Community Fund and others. Her recent freelance work include performances and collaborations with Randee Paufve (Oakland), Seeta Patel (London), Graham Lustig (Oakland) and Sujit Vaidya (Vancouver.). Nadhi received her foundational training from Guru Smt. Sundara Swaminathan at Kala Vandana Dance Company in San Jose. In 2006, she had the opportunity to join Nritya School of Dance in Houston, under Guru Smt. Padmini Chari. In 2012, she started training under Guru Sri. A. Lakshmanaswamy (Nrityalakshana, Chennai.) She returns to Chennai each year to perform in the Annual Music and Dance Festival.
Dancers
Shruti Abhishek
Company Dancer | Manager | Rehearsal Director
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Shruti is a Bharatanatyam dancer and teacher. She is the founder and artistic director of Kshetram - a holistic dance institution based in Pleasanton and Livermore, California. Shruti has a bachelor's degree in Performing Arts from Nalanda Nritya Kala Mahavidyalaya, Mumbai, India. She trains with Guru Shri Vaibhav Arekar in Mumbai, India. Her formative years were spent learning dance with Guru Smt. Rohini M Singhi in Mumbai. Shruti had the opportunity to perform at several prestigious festivals in India and Europe with Vaibhav Arekar’s Sankhya Dance Company and in the US with Nava Dance Theatre. While working on other creative collaborations, Shruti co-curates two festivals: ‘Varnam Salon’ which is a series of performances by California-based artists and ‘When Eyes Speak’ the first Indian choreography festival in San Francisco. Shruti has been a part of Nava Dance Theatre since 2016.
Lalli Venkat
Company Dancer
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Lalli has studied bharatanatyam under Smt. Jayanthi Sridhar, disciple of Guru Adyar K. Lakshman. She has performed at various venues across the U.S. She has been performing with Nava Dance since 2016.
Soundarya Daliparthy
Company Dancer
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Soundarya began her Bharatanatyam journey under Guru Smt. Vani Iswara, completing her Arangetram in 2016. She has since performed in numerous solo and group works, and taught at her Guru's institute, the Ellora Center for Performing Arts. For her, Bharatanatyam is not only a discipline of movement and endurance, but also a vital link to culture, community, and shared expression. Her work as a speech-language pathologist informs her interest in communication, culture, and embodiment, which are threads she continues to explore through dance. Soundarya joined Nava Dance Theatre in 2025, and looks forward to deepening and expanding her artistic practice.
Aishwarya Subramanian
Company Dancer
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Aishwarya is an interdisciplinary artist based in the Bay Area. Having trained in Bharatanatyam at the Jayamangala School of Music and Dance under her mother-guru Shobha Subramanian, she has participated in dance workshops with gurus, such as Maneesha Sathe, Narendra and Anusha Kumar, The Dhananjayans, Priyadarshini Govind, Late M.V. Narasimhachari, The Kirans, M. Venkata Krishnan, Divya Nayar, and N. Srikanth. As Artistic Director of Jayamangala, she has taught, performed, and presented Bharatanatyam at various events, festivals, and conferences around the world. In addition to her artistic pursuits, Aishwarya is a practicing expressive arts therapist and has been with Nava Dance Theatre since 2018.
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Shelley studied at the Shakti School of Bharata Natyam under Smt. Viji Prakash and performed her dance debut in 2010. She has performed across the country with Shakti Dance Company and has been dancing with Nava Dance Theatre since 2018.
Priyadharshini Govindarajan
Company Dancer
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Priyadharshini Govindarajan began her Bharatanatyam training at the age of four under Guru J. Suryanarayana Murthy of Kalakshetra and has continued her artistic journey with Guru Sri A. Lakshmanaswamy since 2013. She has performed at major venues in India such as the Music Academy Madras, Narada Gana Sabha, Krishna Gana Sabha, and more, and is currently active as a performer in both India and the Bay Area. A graded Doordarshan artist, she has received several accolades and has presented her work across India and Australia. Priyadharshini hopes to continue sharing her passion for the art form while engaging with and contributing to the Bay Area dance community.
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Janani began her Bharatanatyam tutelage with Guru Viji Prakash and the Shakti School of Bharatanatyam at the age of 11 and has performed with the Shakti Dance Company in many events and festivals around the world. She’s also choreographed group performances for various venues including the Davis Dheem Tana Showcase and the Festival of Chariots. She joined Nava Dance Theatre in 2019.
Aarthi Ramesh
Company Dancer
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Aarthi began learning bharatnatyam in Muscat with Smt. Padmini Krishnamurthy and did her arangetram with Smt. Revathi Ramachandran when she moved to India. She continued to learn and perform in productions with Smt. Srekala Bharath while in India and with Smt. Hema Rajagopalan after moving to US. She joined Nava in 2023.
Abirami Murugappan
Company Dancer
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Abirami Murugappan has been learning at the Sankalpa School of Dance under Nirupama Vaidyanathan since the age of 5, and performed her arangetram in 2012. Since then, she’s been part of several Sankalpa productions. She was also part of Natya at UC Berkeley, a collegiate Bharathanatyam team, had the chance to compete nationally with them.
Anjali Shankar
Company Dancer
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Anjali began learning Bharatanatyam at the age of six under Smt. Indra Krishnamoorthy and continued her training with Smt. Uma Maheswari in Bangalore. She later trained and performed with GT Pulse, gaining extensive stage and group choreography experience. Anjali has since studied with Smt. Vidya Subramanian, and most recently continues her advanced training under Smt. Sudha Krishnan and Shri Pavithra Bhat.
Shikha Srinivas
Company Dancer
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Shikha Srinivas has studied and practiced Bharata Natyam under Guru Viji Prakash since age seven. Now based in the Bay Area, she has performed at the SF Marghazi Festival in 2023 and looks forward to performing with Nava. Beyond Bharata Natyam, she is a full-time sustainability consultant.
Staff
Ankita Sharma
Programs Manager
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ankita is an experimental performance artist invested in storytelling where content dictates genre and betrays expectation. They hold degrees in Dance and Anthropology and are regularly presenting performance and film work (inter)nationally. Alongside their artistic practice, ankita writes for thINKing DANCE and has managed award-winning theater companies, shows, and organizations, which rounds out their understanding of the arts industry. Throughout their different capacities, ankita unpacks systems and symptoms of power from a queer, punk solidarity-based lens that rehearses freedom in body and mind. They are excited to be a part of a community of like-minded thinkers at Nava Dance Theatre! Website: ankitacreates.space
Krishna Soma
Marketing Associate
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Krishna Soma is a Bay Area–based dancer, choreographer, and STEM professional with over 20 years of training in Bharatanatyam. Her choreography bridges classical storytelling with the vibrancy of Indian film-inspired movement. In 2021, she founded Soma Dance Collective and led a 20-member ensemble producing performances and commissioned works celebrating South Asian arts. Krishna currently runs a successful bridal and event choreography business, creating custom dance experiences that blend artistry, accessibility, and cultural authenticity to empower dancers worldwide while producing South Asian dance content that has reached over 12M views and 100K followers across platforms.
Purna Venugopalan
Tour Manager
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Purna Venugopalan is a cultural arts producer and analog photographer whose work bridges artistic communities across India and the United States. She creates inclusive platforms that connect tradition, culture, and contemporary expression within the South Asian diasporic arts world. Purna currently serves as the Assistant Director of Programming for Performing Arts at the UMass Amherst Fine Arts Center, where she also leads the Asian & Asian American Arts and Cultures Program. Previously, she supported the growth of Nava Dance Theatre’s community initiatives and managed its national touring projects as Programs Manager. Her past work includes collaborations with Brooklyn Raga Massive and Chelsea Factory in New York City, and with Serendipity Arts Foundation in Delhi, India. A former Bharatanatyam dancer trained in both India and the U.S., Purna’s practice is rooted in classical and traditional forms while engaging with contemporary and experimental performance.