Through my creative aging work in New York City, I get to meet so many interesting people from all over the world. Countries like Guyana have a substantial Indian population, and at a recent session at the  RAIN Total Care center in the Bronx, a lovely participant from Guyana gifted me these flowers as a way of showing gratitude and welcoming me to the center. 

My gurus Vanitha didi and Maheshwari Amma have always emphasized that the study of Bharatanatyam is more than the physicality of movements, and includes a study of mythology and geography, language, sculpture, visual art, poetry, and literature. On this general theme, I finished a series of sessions titled “Discovering India” at the Hudson Guild Older Adult Center. 

We started with an introduction to Bharatanatyam in the context of culture and history of India, and shared sculptures and temple architecture. Next, we looked at some poetry and literature from Indian poets, and set movement to these poems. The third session included fabrics of India where I showed how to drape a sari, and participants made some beautiful (Gujarati) embroidery. We ended the series with a trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art where art historian Nancy Eder shared some of her favorite works of Indian art.

​Thanks to Jenn Rosa for her coordination and to Aravind Mallapudi of Hrudayam Arts for sharing sculptures and fabrics from his collection!

Some pictures from the series are below (Picture credit: Aravind Mallipudi)

Taking place on September 23rd at 1 pm EST, I have organized a webinar as part of the National Organization for Arts in Health (NOAH) on "Considering Harm in Arts in Health". I will be one of the panelists as well. 

​Join us for an insightful webinar exploring the critical aspects of harm reduction within arts in health work. Led by NOAH members Sarah Hoover and Sloka Iyengar, this session will be framed around three types of harm: harm to participants, facilitators, and the art form. Participants will learn about the importance of establishing clear learning objectives and boundaries through a defined scope of practice and code of ethics, as well as the distinction between arts in health and therapeutic practices. Panelists will share insights into preparation strategies, including understanding participants, selecting appropriate materials, and creating a safe environment. There will be time for interactive Q&A following the presentation.
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Other panelists: 
Sarah Hoover is Associate Dean for Innovation in the Arts and Health at the Peabody Institute. Sarah leads initiatives linking the performing arts and health within Peabody, Johns Hopkins University, and Baltimore. Committed to advancing health in and through music-making, Hoover’s research supports the development of bedside and lobby music programs at Johns Hopkins Health System, as well as creative aging programs in regional retirement communities. Alongside her book, Music as Care: Artistry in the Hospital Environment, these clinical and community programs have created novel educational and experiential career pathways for musicians in Arts in Health. As an advocate for artist workforce development, Hoover serves as Professionalization Committee chair and board member for the National Organization for Arts in Health. Prior to her appointment at Peabody, Hoover was a performer, teacher of singing, music journalist, and festival director and received degrees from Yale College (B.A.) and the Peabody Institute (D.M.A.).

Queenie Wong is a board-certified art therapist at Stanford Children’s Hospital whose watercolor practice emerged during a personal season of health challenges. Discovering a humble palette became a turning point, revealing how suffering could power creative energy and how art can foster profound healing. This ultimately led to the creation of Coco Bee Art—her widely viewed YouTube channel—and the completion of an MA in Art Therapy. Her work blends Western watercolor with the reflective white space and expressive, intuitive brushwork of Eastern traditions. In both her studio and hospital rooms, she embraces process over product, inviting spontaneity, play, and color as pathways to reclaim control, transcend pain, and rediscover joy.
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Vanesa Simon is an innovative Social Entrepreneur and Artist dedicated to integrating the arts into health and wellbeing. As the founder of Mariposa Arts, she serves as the Program Director of Healing Through the Arts, a program she launched in 2017 in partnership with the Delaware Art Museum. This initiative offers free art workshops aimed at enhancing wellbeing for participants and host organizations, focusing on communities affected by health, environmental, and historical traumas. The program emphasizes the use of various art forms in non-clinical settings to help individuals manage stress and develop a creative practice in a supportive environment. In 2024, Vanesa began a partnership with the Delaware Division of the Arts and the Delaware Office of Veteran Services to help launch Delaware CreatiVeterans, a state-wide program to serve the military connected community through art workshops for wellbeing. Mariposa Arts thrives on strategic partnerships at the organizational, sponsor, and community levels, employing an entrepreneurial approach to community building that is human-centered and fosters a sense of belonging.In 2024, Healing Through the Arts received the prestigious National Endowment for the Arts Creative Forces grant in recognition of its impactful work with the Veteran community, which began in 2022. Additionally, in 2024, Vanesa was nominated to the National Council on the Arts by President Joe Biden.

To register, visit here. 

Testimonial from one individual: "Of course I’ll be there! Grateful to NOAH for opening up this important conversation."

For the last session of Discovering India at Hudson Guild, we went to the Metropolitan Museum to study Indian art. Fourteen of us were guided by art historian Nancy Eder  as we saw several sculptures and their iconography, and connected them to dance. 

Credit for images below: Aravind Mallipudi

A special thanks to Jenn Rosas for helping coordinate this series!

Despite the really high temps in end of July, we had a great first session at the First session at the RAIN Total Care Center in the Bronx. A few pictures of me dancing in front of a giant fan are below (the air conditioning broke, and the coordinator Jocelyn David-Burch made alternate arragements for the older adults using fans, cold water, and I provided adaptive movements after a short demo.
Images below are from the demo, PC: Jocelyn David-Burch