PROGRAM AT A GLANCE
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WELCOME​
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PERFORMANCES
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Ramya S. Kapadia
​“A Moment in Time”
Varnam
Embrace
​Priyadarshini Inman
In Search of Krishna​
Sita Saran
Ghoxa
​Kaustavi Sarkar
Enigmatic Bliss​
Unstuck Feather​
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FELICITATIONS BY ASHA BALA
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Q & A​​​​​
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CLOSING
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DETAILED EVENT PROGRAM FOR EACH ARTIST
Ramya S. Kapadia is a Knoxville-based multidisciplinary artist specializing in Bharatanatyam, Carnatic vocal music, Warli art, and children’s fiction. With Master’s degrees in Medical Physics and Neuroscience, Ramya now runs the Natyarpana School of Dance & Music. Her work integrates traditional Indian arts with STEAM education, with a focus on accessibility for children with special needs. Ramya views Bharatanatyam as a deeply expressive art form that fuses the physical, musical, and emotional into a powerful tool for storytelling and compassion.
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“A Moment in Time” (commissioned by the American Dance Festival) showcases the poetic power of Bharatanatyam as both a physical and musical art form.
Varnam
Swami Naan Undan Adimai
Composer - Papanasam Sivan
She yearns for union with the Lord of Chidambaram time and time again, even as Time never does stand still. Ramya interprets the alternating narrative and rhythmic sections as her internal dialogue with the Lord of Chidambaram and her external interaction with the world she finds herself in.
Embrace
Who is the mother and who is the child? Who nurtures and offers shelter? Who seeks and finds bliss in warm embrace? In Embrace, Ramya delves into the tender relationship between the human and the divine, asking who offers refuge and who seeks it.
Priyadarshini Inman is a distinguished choreographer, performer, and teacher of Sattriya, one of India’s eight classical dance forms and its only living monastic tradition. She is the founder and Artistic Director of Nritya Dhwani School of Performing Arts and the Nritya Dhwani Cultural Foundation. Also trained in Kathak and Hindustani classical music, she has presented her choreographic work across the U.S., China, the UK, Belgium, and Bhutan. She has been recognized with a Gold Medal from the White House for community contributions.
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In Search of Krishna
Adapted from Sankaradeva’s Keli Gopal, this Sattriya dance narrates the Gopis’ search for the missing Krishna through memories of his divine exploits. Featuring Chali Nritya (Shudha Nritya), the piece showcases the spiritual grace and precision of pure dance envisioned by Sri Madhavdeva.
Music: Late Manashi Baruah
Choreography: Priyadarshini Inman
Taal: Thokani & Chota Taal
Sita Saran
A Sattriya interpretation of the Ramayana, retelling Ram and Sita’s journey through exile to Ravana’s defeat. Presented through Abhinaya and Sutradhari Nritya in the Ankiya Naat tradition.
Choreography & Music: Naren Chandra Boruah
Language: Sanskrit & Vajravali
Raag: Maahur, Kanada
Taal: Thukani, Chota, Jati, Chotkala, Ektaal, Kharman
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Ghoxa: Brahma Adi Kori
A verse from Nam-Ghoxa by Madhavadeva, blending Assamese with Maithili and BrajBoli traditions. This devotional hymn is performed without rhythmic cycles.
Vocals: Papon
Kaustavi Sarkar is a critically acclaimed Odissi soloist with over 20 years of performance experience. She has collaborated with leading female choreographers and published in top journals, with her book Dance Technology and Social Justice (2024) featured in the Dance Studies Association's Reading Seminars. She is the founder of the Odissi Odyssey conference and leads the Dance and Community research institute, and serves as Regional Director for the American College Dance Association (Mid-Atlantic). Kaustavi holds a Ph.D. in Dance Studies from The Ohio State University and an M.S. in Economics from Texas A&M University.
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Enigmatic Bliss
Choreography Dr. Rohini Dandavate
Raaga Mishra Saarang
Taal Triputa
The piece explores the dualities of human experience through poetic movement and expression. Inspired by Rabindranath Tagore’s song Bichitro Anondo, the piece contrasts eternal themes like life and death, light and darkness, despair and consolation, and union and separation. The choreography evokes the fragility and resilience of life.
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Unstuck Feather
Choreography Dr. Rohini Dandavate
The piece is based on a poem by Uday Dandavate about a lone feather drifting freely in the wind. This poetic metaphor for spiritual liberation and independence is brought to life through dance, music, and verse, capturing the feather’s resistance to confinement and its journey through diverse cultural meanings.