Top image: Performing at Make Music Saugerties ​​
DANCE JOURNEY
I studied Bharatanatyam and Indian folk dance under Guru Smt. Maheshwari Nagarajan at the Darpana Academy of Performing Arts in Ahmedabad, India. After my Arangetram in 1995, I continued my dance studies at Nritya Kala Kendra and performed in various dance dramas, notably The Life of Jesus Christ, Dashavatara, and Kutral Kuruvanji in Ahmedabad. I also sought to enhance my theoritical knowlege of Bharatanatyam by taking and excelling exams offered by Gandharva Mahavidyalaya Mandal. 

After moving to NY, I studied with various teachers and have performed at venues in and around NYC.  ​I am a student of music as well, and learn Carnatic music from Nivedita ShivRaj at RagaChitra Fine Arts.  

Currently, I am continuing my dance studies at Nritya Kala Kendra, Ahmedabad, under the guidance of Smt. Maheshwari Nagarajan, Smt. Vanitha Jayan, and Sri. Jayan Nair. 
PictureDancing at the RING garden, June 2019.
TRAINING AND EXPERIENCE 
09/2019 - present:  Founder, SamyuktaNYC 
01/2019 - 08/2019: Company member; Bharatanatyam Ensemble   
08/2015 - 04/2018: Company member; Malini Srinivasan & Dancers
01/1995 - 08/2004: Company member; Nritya Kala Kendra, Ahmedabad, India. Learned from Guru Smt. Maheshwari Nagarajan and Guru Smt. Vanitha Nagarajan. 
01/1995 - 08/2004: Passed several examinations of Akhil Bharatiya Gandharva Mahavidhyalaya for Bharatanatyam. 
08/1985 - 08/1995:  Student, Darpana Academy of Performing Arts, Ahmedabad, India. 
Arangetram (09/1995): Darpana Academy of Performing Arts, Ahmedabad, India. 
​Gurus: Guru Smt Maheshwari Nagarajan, Guru Shri Nagarajan, Guru Smt Vanitha Jayan. 
​Program: Tisram Alaripu; Shankarabarnam Jatiswaram; Gokulambudi Sabdam; Adi Shivanai (Thodi) Varnam;  Shagana Gagane Rabindra Sangeet Padam; Ananda Tandavam Padam; Kanada Thillana.  
 Venue: Tagore Hall, Ahmedabad, India. 
PictureDancing in July 2019 at Inwood Hill park as part of Al Fresco film series.
WORKSHOPS AND DANCE INTENSIVES  
09/2019: Adavus and introduction to choreography with Viraja and Shyamjith. 
08/2018: Sri K. Mohanan: Vidai Meethil Keertanam. 
03/2018: Smt. Rama Vaidyanathan: Madurashtakam.  
04/2018: Smt. Chitra Chandrasekhar Dasarathy: Ashtapadi Saki Hey (The Gitagovinda of Jayadeva). 
09/2017: Devi Shabdam, Renjith and Vijna. 
08/2014: Smt. Malini Srinivasan: Aaidanye Kanna Keertanam. 
08/2013: Sri. CV Chandrasekhar: Shanugapriya Thilanna. 
PUBLICATIONS ON DANCE AND NEUROSCIENCE, AND THE USE OF BHARATANATYAM FOR CREATIVE AGING  
  • Iyengar, S. (2024). Indian dance (Bharatanatyam) to ease social loneliness and isolation in older adults. Critical Public Health, 34(1), 1–13. Link here. 
  • Iyengar S. The Use of Hand Gestures (Hastas) in Bharatanatyam for Creative Aging. J Med Humanit. 2024 Jun 24. doi: 10.1007/s10912-024-09861-1. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 38910216. Link here. 
  • Iyengar S. Facilitating Adaptive Movement in Older Adults through Bharatanatyam. In press: Perspectives in Public Health. 
  • Iyengar S. Bharatanatyam for Creative Aging. BMJ Medical Humanities. The article can be found here. 
  • Contributor: imdlist.org - a content driven website focusing on Indian arts all over the world. The objective of IMDlist is for it to serve as a repository of information and resources on Indian music and dance. 
  • Iyengar S, Hosur CR, Thakkar M, Mehta D, Kotak V. Reflections on Bharatanatyam and Neuroscience. A Dance Studies Perspective. International Review of Social Research 2021; 11(1): doi: 10.48154/irsr.2021.0027. Link here. ​
  • I wrote an for Sangath blog on the role of folk dance in maintaining positive mental health, and as a culturally-sensitive way of building and interacting with the community. The article is no longer on their website, but you can find it in the PDF below. 
From moving to feeling: Dance for Mental Health_Sangath blog
File Size: 27 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File
INTERVIEWS AND INVITED TALKS 
03/2022: I conducted a lecture/demonstration to students of arts and humanities at the Shands Arts in Medicine at University of Florida on Bharatanatyam and health. 
03/2022: Featured as On Air Artist Spotlight as part of Inwood Art Works. The podcast can be found here and in the audio file below. I talk about my work in science and dance, especially in light of the projects such as Vichaar that I am developing. 
04/2020: Featured on Artists Reach Out: Reflections in a Time of Isolation due to the COVID-19 lockdown. I share my dance practice, values, and vision for the art. 
DANCE FELLOWSHIPS, AWARDS, AND PERFORMANCES 
Picture
INVITED DANCE AND MUSIC PERFORMANCES, AND FILM APPEARANCES
PictureAAPI month celebration at Brooklyn Borough Hall, NY
  • 12/2022: Performance at as part of GRCAP Artist Residency Program; the Eventbrite link is here. 
  • 10/2022: Sang as part of RagaChitra Fine Arts as part of the Navratri Utsav. The video is here, and my songs are from 8:20 to 12 min. 
  • 10/2022: Invited to speak about dance and science at the STEMPeers 2022 conference in Philadelphia. In this performance, I took inspiration from Vikram Gadagkar's work on how songbirds learn how to sing. I extrapolated from Vikram’s study of learning, performing, and error detection in songbirds from the human perspective of teaching and learning a skill, in this case, dance. You can find the recording here. An article about the conference written by Dr. Megha Lal can be found here. 
    09/2022: As a recipient of Higher Ground 2022 festival award, I worked with flautist Zara Lawler to present out collaborative work entitled "Bach-natyam; Classical meets Classical". This collaboration will be presented at the Marcus Garvey Bandstand and juxtaposes and entwines two art forms from different parts of the world to tell the story of a journey. Moving through the musical and performative space, we will explore the question of what makes an art form "classical". We have combined Bharatanatyam with Bach's "Allemande" from the Partita in A Minor for Solo Flute. A recording of this collaboration can be found here. 
  • 09/2022: Art and Heath Intersect - Live performance. In conversation with Nicole Harrison at Park54 Lounge, Hyde Park, MA. In collaboration with Public Health Literacy (PHL). 
  • 09/2022: Keynote speaker for Parents as Teachers International Conference in Denver. Keeping in line with the theme of Vichaar, I will use neuroscience and Bharatanatyam to talk about early childhood development. 
  • 06/2022: Performed at the RING Garden in Uptown Manhattan. 
  • 05/2022: Performed a solo piece at the 2022 AAPI Heritage Month Celebration at Brooklyn Borough Hall with the Office of Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso. The video can be found here. 
  • 04/2022: Vichaar was featured in the Garnet Microscope - University of South Carolina School of Medicine's newsletter. 
  • 04/2022: Selected to perform at Mark DeGarmo Dance (MDD) Virtual Salon.  Performance Series for Social Change. I demonstrated Vichaar at this salon series. 
  • 03/2022: Released an online production "Vichaar" - an exploration of the convergence between Bharatanatyam and neuroscience. 
  • 03/2022: Performed at the launch of Vichaar as part of ​"Brains, Dance, and Yoga" at Adam Clayton Powell plaza in Harlem, NYC. This event was canceled due to inclement weather. 
  • ​09/2021: Series of lecture demonstrations on "Dance and the Brain" to students and faculty at Nritya Kala Kendra. 
  • 09/2021: Pre-show for the NYC Quarantine Film Festival as part of Inwood Arts Works, NYC. 
  • 08/2021: Short film, Virtual Higher Ground Festival, "Opening Ceremony", in partnership with Arts ON AIR. In a montage of on-the-spot ‘live’ choreographed artist film footage, a troupe of feral performers journey through Upper Manhattan spaces causing playful mischief of the moment! This film was screened as part of the Fine Art on Film section at the 10th anniversary of the Big Eddy Film Festival. The film is directed by Manon Manavit. 
  • 08/2021: Aananda kuthaadinar: Ode to Lord Shiva with Nritya Kala Kandra (ensemble). 
  • 07/2021: The role of multicultural dance and music on health: live demonstration. Organized by Public Health Literacy (PHL). I talked about the positive effects of dance on mental health with practitioners from Jamaica, The Dominican Republic, and Mexico. The recital can be viewed here. 
  • 05/2021: Dance recital (solo) as part of  Queens Public Library 125th anniversary celebrations. My performance of the Kali Kautvam starts at 28 min in this video. 
  • 05/2021: Dance recital as part of Bala Shruti May 2021 recital (solo). My performance starts at 1.46 hr in this video.
  • 03/2021: Music recital as part of Ragachitra Shivratri celebrations. My song is from 38 to 43 min. 
  • 02/2021: Presented original work in "Neuroscience and Dance: Reflections and Performance of Ancient Bharatanatyam" at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) 2021 Annual Meeting. A link to the performance can be found here. 
  • 12/2020: Music recital as part of Ragachitra Margazhi Kutcheri. My song is from 12:10 to 15:33 min. 
  • 08/2020: Dance demonstration for Riverdale Senior Services (RSS). I demonstrated excerpts from Bharatanatyam, showed hand gestures for participants to use to create stories. 
  • 03/2020: Presented an excerpt of my choreography and conception at The Salon Series for their March series on March 5, 2020 (duet). An abstract of the performance can be found here.  
  • 10/2019: Make Music Saugerties, on the streets of downtown Saugerties Village, NY. A piece at Emerge Gallery can be found here. 
  • 09/2019: Recital at the Frederic Fleming House, W23rd street, NY. 
  • 08/2019:  Recital at West Side Federation for Senior Housing Inc, W76th street, NY(duet).  
  • 07/2019: Art in the Garden, Inwood Community Council. Inwood, NY. 
  • 07/2019: Aasha Charity Event, hosted by the Telugu Literary and Cultural Association. Queens NY (ensemble). ​
  • 07/2019: Summer shorts, Inwood . I performed at the pre-show event for the Inwood Film Festival. 
  • 06/2019: Silk Road Festival, Brighton Beach, NY (ensemble). 
  • 05/2019: Asia Initiative Gala, Mother’s Day Celebration at the Consulate General of India, New York, NY. 
  • 02/2019:  Natya Mala. Sunnyside (Queens) Library, invited by RagaChitra Fine Arts and music director Nivedita Shivraj. Queens, NY (ensemble).  
  • 01/2019: Bharatanatyam at Inwood Art Works. Elevated Lines Exhibition, Inwood, Uptown NYC (ensemble).   
  • 06/2018: Art in the Garden. Inwood Community Council. Inwood, NY.  
  • 07/2017: Art in the Garden, Inwood Community Council. Inwood, NY (ensemble). 
  • 05/2017: Chhandayan 2017 Annual Students' Day. 
  • 11/2016: Bharatanatyam presentation at South Ozone Park Library. South Ozone Park, NY. 
  • 10/2016: Grace Church School. A special performance and class for the students of the dance program at Grace Church School. NY (ensemble). 
  • 10/2016: One New York Plaza, NY. Vibrant arts of India: Community performances and flower kolam (ensemble). 
  • 07/2016: Art in the Garden, Inwood Community Council. Inwood, NY. 
  • 04/2016: Transcendent Arts of India and Tibet. Malini & Dancers Company, week-long residency at the Winter Garden, Brookfield Place in Battery Park, NY (ensemble)​. 
  • 12/2015: Recital at the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Ahmedabad with Nritya Kala Kendra (ensemble).  
  • 11/2015: Recital at Mother Teresa's Home for Dying and Destitute People, Ranip, Ahmedabad. 
  • 08/2015: Recital with Malini Srinivasan as part of the Independence Day celebration, Flushing Temple, NY. 
  • ​07/2015: Art in the Garden, Inwood Community Council. Inwood, NY.  
  • 05/2015: Chatpati Mela: Celebrating South Asian Arts & Culture. Organized by Chhaya CDC. Jackson Heights, NY (ensemble). 
  • 11/2014: Gitanjali Recital: Saraswati Hall, Flushing Temple, New York: (ensemble).  
  • 09/2014: RING garden 30th year celebration.  
  • 06/2014: Art in the Garden, Inwood Community Council. Inwood, NY. 
AWARDS 
  • 08/2019: Adult Padam competition; Papanasam Sivan competition. Farmingdale, NJ. 
PictureHigher Ground collaboration.
TEACHING EXPERIENCE  
I taught dance in Ahmedabad, India for many years under the guidance of Smt. Maheshwari Nagarajan, Sri Nagarajan, and Smt. Vanitha Jayan at Nritya Kala Kendra. I am honored to be able to be a part of this tradition. 
 am always looking for ways to incorporate science education into dance, and would love to hear from you! 
CONTACT ME IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO COLLABORATE OR LEARN BHARATANATYAM. 
Last updated: September 19, 2024
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