Priya Das moderating a panel discussion with diverse panel of dancers & musicians at IDIA 2019: (L to R): Rasika Kumar, Nadhi Thekkek, Priya Das, Navia Natarajan, Krithika Rajagopalan, and Snigdha Venkataramani. Image Credit: Raju Photography
Bharata Dance & Allied Arts
Indian Classical Dance
About the Organization
Bharata Dance & Allied Arts (Bharata) was created in 2016 to popularize Indian Classical dance and allied art forms in the Bay Area and beyond. Since then, Bharata has sponsored workshops from visiting and local artists, presented many local and visiting artists in concerts, and held lecture demonstrations. The organization has encouraged young dance students with many activities catered specifically for them, commissioned new works, and brought community together through many events. Every year since 2018, Bharata has also run IDIA: I Dance hence I AM, a Bharatanatyam conference and festival.
Living Cultures Grant
2022
IDIA 2022: I Dance hence I AM
In 2022, Bharata Dance & Allied Arts received a grant from ACTA’s Living Cultures Grant Program to fund IDIA: I Dance hence I AM 2022, which will showcase a blend of virtual and in-person performances by local dancers and dance students, as well as visiting artists from across the nation and beyond. IDIA will also host Nava Dance Theater’s “Migrations,” a work which draws upon Bharatanatyam and other musical genres, along with interviews, historical texts, and poetry related to immigrants’ lived experiences and gender politics, to interrogate the agency of South Asian women who immigrated to the US since the 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act.
Gallery
Bharatanatyam Dancer Mythili Prakash performing with orchestra at IDIA Festival in 2018. Photo: Raju Photography.
Priya Das moderating a panel discussion with diverse panel of dancers, musicians and organizers at IDIA 2018: (L to R): Deepa Mahadevan, Usha Srinivasan, Rohan Krishnamurthy, Priya Das, Krithika Rajagopalan, Harini Krishnan, and Niharika Mohanty. Photo: Raju Photography.
Bharatanatyam Dancer Shweta Prachande performing at IDIA Festival in 2019. Photo: Raju Photography.
