This salon series explores the power of the solo bharatanatyam repertoire. By way of discussion, performance, and food, we learn about and explore what this timeless repertoire still gives us today.

Also, we just love varnams. The varnam is often the “main” piece in a solo bharatanatyam performance. It allows a dancer to go deep into content and explore his or her connection to the timeless characters in these pieces. It often lasts between 20-40 minutes, with some varnams by senior masters lasting over 50 minutes to packed halls.

Varnam Salon 3.0 features online performances and conversations by emerging professionals, Archana Raja (Nov 7th), Visalini Sundaram (Nov 7th), Sharanyaa Ganesan (Nov 6th), and student performer, Meera Suresh (Nov 6th).

The Varnam Salon is a series of performances by California-based senior art practitioners, mid-career artists and upcoming dancers. This initiative is supported by the California Arts Council Local Impact Grant and is created and curated by Nadhi Thekkek, Shruti Abhishek, and Preethi Ramaprasad.

Note: One evening is $21 and both evenings is $31 - but you will have to purchase the second night as an add on when you try to buy for one of the dates.

Archana Raja

Archana Raja is a Bharatanatyam exponent from the Bay Area. She has trained for the last 19 years under the tutelage of first, Smt. Sheela Unnikrishnan, and currently, Smt. Vijna Vasudevan  & Sri. Renjith, and Smt. Vidhya Subramanian.  She has performed in solo and group productions on stages across the world. She worked as a freelance artist in India with many eminent choreographers and gurus like Dr.Anita Ratnam, Padmashri Shobana, and traveled internationally. Archana loves to teach budding artists and regularly conducts movement-based workshops. 

Meera Suresh

MEERA SURESH was initiated into Bharatanatyam by Navia Natarajan at the age of seven and has been learning dance for 10 years. Meera is privileged to be under the mentorship of Gurus Sri. A.Lakshmanaswamy & Smt. Bragha Bessell. Meera completed her dance arangetram in 2017. She has performed and participated in various classical dance events in the SF Bay Area and performed in Chennai during the Margazhi season multiple times.

Sharanyaa Ganesan

Sharanyaa Ganesan has been trained from the age of 8 in the “Vazhuvoor” style of Bharathanatyam by Kalaimamani Late Smt. K.J.Sarasa. She had her arangetram when she was 12 and since then has given numerous solo and group dance performances all over India and abroad. Before coming to the Bay Area she learnt under Smt. Poornima Kaushik in Bangalore. Currently she is pursuing her Bharatanatyam training under Smt. Vidhya subramanian and is a repertory dancer in VidhyaS ensemble. She has completed her Masters in Bharathanatyam at Sastra University under the able guidance of Dr. Padma Subramaniam. She is the artistic director of Sruthi - School of Arts where she undertakes Bharathanatyam, sloka and Bhagavat Gita classes for children and adults in Fremont, California. 

Visalini Sundaram

Visalini Sundaram started her Bharatha Natyam training in 1996 at the age of five under the tutelage of guru Ramya Harishankar in Irvine, Ca. She has participated in several performances, both as a student of dance and as the vocal support. In 2014, she completed her Bharatha Natyam Arangetram, and has performed in the US, India, and abroad. Visalini currently performs solo and with the Arpana Dance Company, and teaches dance in the Arpana School of Dance. 

Visalini has also been trained in Carnatic music by her guru, Smt. Padma Kutty, from the age of 5. She has had the privilege of studying music with Shri Palai Ramachandran, one of the prime disciples of Sangeetha Kalanidhi Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer. From her childhood through her teen years, her late maternal grandfather, Shri Palakkad Seshamani Iyer (student of G.N. Balasubramaniam), a Carnatic musician and composer, furthered her understanding of the art form. She hails from a family of musicians and dancers, and her maternal great grandfather is the late Shri Palakkad Rama Bhagavathar, a contemporary of Maharajapuram Vishwanatha Iyer. 

Visalini was placed first at the Cleveland Thyagaraja Aradhana Music Competition in 2007 and has been teaching Carnatic music in Southern California for the last 10 years.