Rogue Gestures/Foreign Bodies will be in Livermore in 2024! Rogue Gestures/Foreign Bodies is an ensemble work of 7 dancers with a live original score by Roopa Mahadevan, Kalaisan Kalaichelvan, and others. Rogue Gestures were created and produced by Nava Dance Theatre
Rogue Gestures/Foreign Bodies will be in Annapolis in 2024! Rogue Gestures/Foreign Bodies is an ensemble work of 7 dancers with a live original score by Roopa Mahadevan, Kalaisan Kalaichelvan, and others. Rogue Gestures were created and produced by Nava Dance Theatre
Rogue Gestures is an ensemble work of 7 dancers with a live original score by Roopa Mahadevan, Kalaisan Kalaichelvan, and others. Rogue Gestures were created and produced by Nava Dance Theatre.
Day 2 of the 2023 URP Art Share featuring SNJV, Aravind Divakaran, Anand Dhanakoti, Sruthi Natanakumar
Day 1 of the 2023 URP Art Share featuring Carlito Catalano, Laksha Dantran, Aprita Gaidhane, and Sangram Mukhopadhyay
Nava Dance is coming to New York City, and we would love to meet you!
Join us for a 2 hour class with Nadhi Thekkek as she takes you through a typical Nava Dance company rehearsal. We will do a warm up, adavus, combos, and then learn some Nava repertoire from Rogue Gestures!
This is for anyone who has experience with any South Asian dance form, including any so called classical forms, Bollywood, or folk.
$35 Per Person
Space is limited, and will be first come first serve! Please fill out the following form, and pay through venmo: @nadhek
Nava Dance Theatre is excited to host Shreelakshmy Govardhanan in the Bay Area for “Find your Narrative.”
Rogue Gestures/Foreign Bodies is an ensemble work of 7 dancers with a live original score by Roopa Mahadevan, Kalaisan Kalaichelvan, and others. This work premieres Dec. 9 - 11 at ODC Theater. Rogue Gestures/Foreign Bodies were created and produced by Nava Dance Theatre.
The Unrehearsed Artist Residency Program aims to fund and support the creation of new dance work by artists who are often not represented in conventionally-funded spaces in the South Asian Dance industry. The program keeps care & developmental support front and center while working toward sharing a Final Work in Progress.
The Unrehearsed Artist Residency Program aims to fund and support the creation of new dance work by artists who are often not represented in conventionally-funded spaces in the South Asian Dance industry. The program keeps care & developmental support front and center while working toward sharing a Final Work in Progress.
Are you creating new work inspired by mythology? Or current events? Contemporary history? In this discussion and workshop, Mimi Mondal, Hugo and Nebula award nominated short story writer, will describe how she uses imagination and fiction to show her point of view in story telling. She will discuss with Unrehearsed resident Asha Rowland and share reflections on various projects from her experience writing fictional short stories, exploring authors who have inspired her, and working with dance. Join us as we discover the many paths toward imagining and reimagining stories, through conversation and even trying ourselves.
Curated by Preethi Ramaprasad
Exploring our shared struggle with displacement through dance and visual art
Created by Nadhi Thekkek and Rupy C. Tut, Broken Seeds Still Grow is a dance and visual art production inspired by the real-life stories from the 1947 Partition Archive and recent South Asian American history. This creative inquiry sources poetry, eyewitness accounts, and current events to understand the current political climate while reflecting on what it means to belong somewhere. This work includes original music by GS Rajan.
The show is titled “Broken Seeds Still Grow” as a tribute to stories of ancestors who have faced displacement either through Partition or immigration but continued to be resilient and grow wherever they found home. These stories of displacement are crucial to preserve, understand, and share; they give us a glimpse into our individual pasts, while helping us understand our collective future.
This creation of this work was supported by the East Bay Fund for Artists through the East Bay Community Foundation, Zellerbach Family Foundation, William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, Dancers' Group CA$H Grants, and crowd funders. This project is fiscally-sponsored by CounterPulse.
For more info and our press kit, visit Broken Seeds.
Nava Dance Theatre, currently under the direction of Dr. Nadhi Thekkek, is a bharatanatyam dance company based in San Francisco, California, which uses the south Indian dance form as a medium for artistic reflection and discovery. Moreover, the founders of Nava believe that bharatanatyam, while culturally-specific, is a modern medium that can be used to discover and understand both historic and contemporary themes.
In Migrations, Nava Dance Theatre examines homeland through personal accounts of South Asian migration stories. Inspired by the lived experience of South Asians who migrated to the US since the 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act, Nadhi and her collaborators ask if it is possible to fully separate ourselves from what we remember as home, or if that is what we want in the first place. The work questions the cost of the so-called American Dream at a time when stability feels further than ever.
Presented by IDIA: I Dance Hence I Am, a dance festival created by by Ganesh Vasudeva and Kavita Thirumalai.
Yerba Buena Gardens ChoreoFest highlights the spectacular strength, diversity and vibrancy of the Bay Area contemporary dance scene through a two-weekend mini festival of site-specific work. Curated by RAWdance’s Artistic Directors, the fifth annual YBG ChoreoFest features an array of distinguished local dance companies of extraordinary performances throughout the Gardens’ lawns and architecture.
More info at YBGFESTIVAL.ORG.
Program presented outdoors.
ASL interpretation will be provided for this event.
Performances will comply with all city-mandated recommendations for live, outdoor performances.
Join us in a story circle led by Dr. Yashoda Thakore, with participants Annabattula Lakshmi Mangatayaru, Charumathi Chandrasekar and Aniruddha Knight, as they discuss their ancestral connections to their respective art forms and share their experiences navigating the art space today.
Rupy C. Tut and Nava Dance Theatre present Unbroken Silences, a live music, dance, and visual art immersion exploring the generational trauma associated with the 1947 Partition of British India. Partition is considered one of the largest mass migrations of the 20th century, creating over 15 million refugees and killing over a million people. Creators Nadhi and Rupy discuss the development of the work, inspired by the familial lived experience of Rupy's family, as well as other witness statements from survivors of Partition. This gallery presentation includes live music by cellist and composer Chris Evans, and artwork by Rupy C. Tut, and dance work by Nadhi Thekkek with company dancers Shruti Abhishek, Lalli Venkat, and Vertika Srivastava.
World Arts West is partnering with Nava Dance Theatre to present Migrations, which explores the origins of the labor of immigrant artists. In a virtual story circle, Naomi Diouf (Diamano Coura West African Dance Company) and Carlos Moreno (Ballet Folklorico Mexicano de Carlos Moreno) share their lived experiences as artists, community leaders and cultural elders. They reflect on what motivated them to dance when they first arrived, and they discuss how their artistic practice and dance communities have changed over the years. This sharing features a first-look premiere of Nava Dance Theatre’s Migrations, inspired by community interviews with South Asian immigrant women who arrived after the 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act and commissioned by World Arts West.
🗓Thurs, Jan 27 1, 7-8:30 pm PST
📍Zoom
$20 (regular price)
or PWYC (Pay What You Can - for full time artists, students, teachers)
If price is a barrier to entry please indicate this in the registration link.
Zoom here we come! We will do adavus, combos, then some new choreography from the piece we just filmed. Very similar to our company rehearsals i.e. loads of fun. Join us!
This is for anyone who has experience with a South Asian dance form - many so-called classical forms would work but I also believe dancers with extensive Bollywood or folk experience would rock in this class.
Nava Dance Theatre is thrilled to announce the Unrehearsed Artist Residency Program (URP.) Up to five awards will be made to local artists and artists from around the globe. Applications are due January 8, 2022.
The Unrehearsed Artist Residency Program is an artist fund that supports the creation of new dance work by artists who have faced significant challenges in the South Asian dance industry. Here you will find information about this commissioning program.
URP provides awards of up to $1500 to centralize the strengths, experiences, and artistry from 1) historically marginalized communities rooted in South Asia or 2) South Asian identifying folks practicing and creating in artforms that lack structural and organizational support in the South Asian performing arts industry or 3) have a history of using art to elevate awareness of urgent social justice issues.
https://www.navadance.org/artist-residency-program
Application deadline extended.
🗓 Wed, Dec 1, 7-9 pm
📍 Paradise Dance Studio in Fremont
$30 (regular price)
$20 (discount for full time artists, students, teachers)
If price is a barrier to entry please indicate this in the registration link.
Masks and vaccinations required.
Fremont here we come! This two hour class is in person only. We will do adavus, combos, then some new choreography from the piece we just filmed. Very similar to our company rehearsals i.e. loads of fun. Join us!
This is for anyone who has experience with a South Asian dance form - many so-called classical forms would work but I also believe dancers with extensive Bollywood or folk experience would rock in this class.
This salon series explores the power of the traditional solo bharatanatyam repertoire. By way of discussion, performance, and food, we learn about and explore what classical repertoire still gives us today.
Also, we just love varnams. The varnam is often the “main” piece in a solo bharatanatyam performance. It allows a dancer to go deep into content and explore his or her connection to the timeless characters in these pieces. It often lasts between 20-40 minutes, with some varnams by senior masters lasting over 50 minutes to packed halls.
Varnam Salon 3.0 features online performances and conversations by emerging professionals, Archana Raja (Nov 7th), Visalini Sundaram (Nov 7th), Sharanyaa Ganesan (Nov 6th), and student performer, Meera Suresh (Nov 6th).
The Varnam Salon is a series of performances by California-based senior art practitioners, mid-career artists and upcoming dancers. This initiative is supported by the California Arts Council Local Impact Grant and is created and curated by Nadhi Thekkek, Shruti Abhishek, and Preethi Ramaprasad.
Note: One evening is $21 and both evenings is $31 - but you will have to purchase the second night as an add on when you try to buy for one of the dates.
Rogue Gestures is a multipart video series that questions what it means to stay inside the lines. More details to come. 🌱
On March 31, we premiere “Interference” a piece processing unrealistic expectations and the reality that follows, and “Passage,” a documentary short describing process when it comes to collaboration across disciplines.
This salon series explores the power of the traditional solo bharatanatyam repertoire. By way of discussion, performance, and food, we learn about and explore what classical repertoire still gives us today.
Also, we just love varnams. The varnam is often the “main” piece in a solo bharatanatyam performance. It allows a dancer to go deep into content and explore his or her connection to the timeless characters in these pieces. It often lasts between 20-40 minutes, with some varnams by senior masters lasting over 50 minutes to packed halls.
Varnam Salon 3.0 features online performances and conversations by emerging professionals, Archana Raja (Nov 7th), Visalini Sundaram (Nov 7th), Sharanyaa Ganesan (Nov 6th), and student performer, Meera Suresh (Nov 6th).
The Varnam Salon is a series of performances by California-based senior art practitioners, mid-career artists and upcoming dancers. This initiative is supported by the California Arts Council Local Impact Grant and is created and curated by Nadhi Thekkek, Shruti Abhishek, and Preethi Ramaprasad.
Note: One evening is $21 and both evenings is $31 - but you will have to purchase the second night as an add on when you try to buy for one of the dates.
This salon series explores the power of the traditional solo bharatanatyam repertoire. By way of discussion, performance, and food, we learn about and explore what classical repertoire still gives us today.
Also, we just love varnams. The varnam is often the “main” piece in a solo bharatanatyam performance. It allows a dancer to go deep into content and explore his or her connection to the timeless characters in these pieces. It often lasts between 20-40 minutes, with some varnams by senior masters lasting over 50 minutes to packed halls.
Varnam Salon 3.0 features online performances and conversations by emerging professionals, Archana Raja (Nov 7th), Visalini Sundaram (Nov 7th), Sharanyaa Ganesan (Nov 6th), and student performer, Meera Suresh (Nov 6th).
The Varnam Salon is a series of performances by California-based senior art practitioners, mid-career artists and upcoming dancers. This initiative is supported by the California Arts Council Local Impact Grant and is created and curated by Nadhi Thekkek, Shruti Abhishek, and Preethi Ramaprasad.
Note: One evening is $21 and both evenings is $31 - but you will have to purchase the second night as an add on when you try to buy for one of the dates.
Nadhi Thekkek talks to Anirvan Chatterjee and Barnali Ghosh about South Asian immigrant history in the Bay Area and beyond. They discuss how activation in our community is not new and why it’s important right now.
Activism Through Dance sheds light on the different ways artists activate their communities. Some of the questions we ask: Do dancers use their art to engage or process the political upheaval around them? How does what is happening in the world directly or indirectly impact their individual practice, art-making, or teaching? What are the most pressing social issues interfering with or influencing their outlook right now? How do we engage the greater South Asian community around us at this moment? Panelists: Joti Singh (SF), Ananya Chatterjea (Minneapolis), Hari Krishnan (Toronto), Rachna Nivas (SF), moderator by Bhumi Patel (SF)
At Nava Dance Theatre, we commit to using art to engage and continue conversations around racism with our audiences, now more than ever. Every month we will introduce programming (video art, talks, panels, or live performances) that explore racism and casteism in the South Asian community.
Watch this space or navadance.org/socialjustice for details.
We begin this journey with a dance exploration inspired by Lettersforblacklives.com
Inspired by Lettersforblacklives.com
Collaborators/Improvisers (in order of appearance)
Nadhi Thekkek, Shruti Abhishek, Rasika Kumar (Abhinaya Dance Company) , Aishwarya Subramanian, Sahasra Sambamoorthi (Navatman Dance Company), Tanu Sreedharan, Priyanka Raghuraman
Music Composition: Kalaisan Kalaichelvan | Vocal: Sutikshna Veeravalli | Recitation: Nadhi Thekkek
Video Editing: David Gaylord (Too Sour Films)
Concept by Nadhi Thekkek and Tanu Sreedharan
Produced by Nava Dance Theatre
