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 Soorya Foundation curates 2 dance festivals in the US - Latha Pai & Shanti U Shankar May 3, 2022 Soorya Foundation for Performing Arts recently curated two Indian classical dance festivals in the USA, in Los Angeles and Atlanta, featuring 6 Indian classical dance ensembles and honoring two renowned gurus for their contribution to Indian classical dance in the USA for the last 4 decades. The foundation prides in creating a platform for young dancers that have learnt dance in the US and invites senior dance gurus for performances, lecture demonstrations and master classes. Soorya Foundation was established as a nonprofit organization in 2018 in Los Angeles and 2020 in Atlanta, but the founders have been curating events since 2012 in Los Angeles. Los Angeles Indian Dance Festival 2022  Ramya Harishankar honored  Arpana Dance Company The LAIDF 2022 was the first in person dance festival after a 2-year hiatus. Guru Ramya Harishankar was honored for her 40 years of service to the Indian dance community in Southern California. The festival featured Bharatanatyam performances by the Arpana Dance Company and Soorya Arts Academy Los Angeles, and Kathak performance by Leela Dance Academy. Ramya shared with audiences, her experiences and her initial journey and hiccups of teaching in a foreign land and how technology has changed the way of learning classical dance in the USA. It wasn't uncommon for people to drive hundreds of miles to watch a performance back in the 80's and 90's, she explained. She thanked her family and her gurus Swamimalai K. Rajaratnam and Kalanidhi Narayanan for being a crucial part of her journey.  Leela Dance Academy  Soorya Arts Academy, Los Angeles Leela Dance Academy, an award winning Kathak dance company in California, featured some of their works to a rousing approval by the audience. Soorya dancers presented Ashtalakshmi, a dance feature set to music by Prasanna Kasturi, voiced by Seema Kasturi and set to rhythms by Pulikeshi Kasturi. The event was supported by the California Arts Council, department of cultural affairs, city of Los Angeles, and the Los Angeles County Arts Commission. North Georgia Indian Dance Festival 2022 Soorya foundation curated the first ever UTSAV 2022 North Georgia Indian Dance Festival on the 23rd of April. Previously called "Forsyth Indian dance fest" which was curated virtually, this is the first Indian classical dance festival in Georgia.  Chandrika Chandran honored The event featured dance performances by 5 local GA dance ensembles and honored Guru Chandrika Chandran, artistic director of Natyanjali Academy of Dance, for her contributions to dance in Atlanta. Students of RAMA Atlanta, a religious nonprofit group, chanted shlokas and inaugurated the festival. Chandrika Chandran, a well-known dance teacher in the Atlanta dance circuit, thanked the organizers for the honor bestowed upon her and reminisced the days when she was one of the very few dance teachers in GA and there were fewer performance opportunities. Chief guests of the event Veena Rao, founding editor and publisher of NRI Pulse, a popular Indian American newspaper, and Guru Revathy Satyu, Arthi School of Dance, lauded the efforts of Soorya Foundation to curate such festivals that bring the local artistes together. The event was attended by many local dance teachers and dancers. The event was supported by the Forsyth County Arts Alliance, GA.  Deeksha Dance Company Soorya Foundation for Performing Arts is a nonprofit organization founded in Los Angeles under the able guidance of Bharatanatyam dancer, choreographer and musician Sushma Mohan. She has worked with Grammy awardee Pandit Vishwa Mohan Bhat, as an assistant dance director under Guru Prasanna Kasthuri and has received awards from the Forsyth County Arts alliance, California Arts Council, LA County Arts Commission, and LA city Dept of Cultural Affairs for her curatorial dance projects. These annual festivals aim at providing a platform for Bharatanatyam and other classical dance forms in the USA. Sushma Mohan who spearheaded both the events conveyed that though there were countless dance schools in GA and CA, there are just a handful of opportunities for the young dancers here in the US and her foundation works to create such performing opportunities. She was one of the first dancers to curate a virtual festival during Covid 19 lockdown in 2020, and in the last two years, Soorya Foundation curated 9 virtual dance festivals, featuring over 75 dancers. |
