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ADC. Photo: Courtesy of Ramya Harishankar.
Arpana Dance Company
South Indian Bharata Natyam
Celebrating 40 years, Irvine based and award-winning Arpana Dance Company has had the honor of performing in the United States, Japan, Europe and India under the artistic direction of Ramya Harishankar, recipient of Arts Orange County’s Helene Modjeska Cultural Legacy Award (2007) and also an NEA Choreographic Fellow (1994-98). Named an LA Milestone Dance Company by the Dance Resource Center of Los Angeles, the Arpana Dance Company is a recipient of grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the California Arts Council, the Fund for Folk Culture and the Alliance for California Traditional Arts. Besides participating in festivals and events across southern California, the Company has presented 16 full-length productions and raised over $100,000 for charities worldwide in the last 25 years.
In 2004, through ACTA’s Traditional Arts Development Program, the Arpana Dance Company contracted consultant Usha Sampath to develop a curriculum for presenting traditional Indian dance, music, and culture in the public school system. Usha Sampath has been a teacher and educator for over 25 years and has experience with the traditions that will be presented.