Transcript Pallavi of Capital District and RPI Graduate Indian Students Association Jointly present BHARATANATYAM CLASSICAL DANCE BY NRITHYALAYA FOUNDATION School of Indian Classical Dance and Music, Montreal,

Pallavi of Capital District and
RPI Graduate Indian Students Association
Jointly present
BHARATANATYAM CLASSICAL DANCE
BY
NRITHYALAYA FOUNDATION
School of Indian Classical Dance and Music, Montreal, Canada.
Vocal – Ananda Prasad
Vasantha Krishnan
Founder Director
and
Choreographer
Violin – JaiShankar
Mridangam - SriRam
Sunday, October 22, 2006, West Hall Auditorium, RPI, Troy, NY
Social Hour: 1.30 PM
Concert 2:00 PM
This project is made possible in part through COMMUNITY ART$ GRANTS- A program funded through the State,
Local Partnership Program of the New York State Council on the Arts and the Arts Center of the Capital Region.
Suggested Donations: Patron-$100, Sponsor-$50, General-$12, Students-$5, RPI Students- Free
For more information:
Kasi Krishnan: 810-1866
Thiyagarajan, S: 831-9430
Aditya Bengali: 396-0198
See overleaf for Bio-Data of artists and Directions.
Vasantha Krishnan was trained in India in the Kalakshetra style of Bharata Natyam. She emphasized on the precise rendering of
adavus and also the ultimate focus on Bhakthi. Vasantha Krishnan is the Director of Nrithyalaya School of South Indian classical dance
and Music, which she founded in Montreal in 1976. With such a rich educational background in that artistic heritage, she became one of
the prime forces in spreading and enlivening the art of Bharata Natyam or the South Indian Classical Dance in Canada and United States.
Since then, Nrithyalaya Foundation and the School of Classical Dance and Music has flourished under Vasantha Krishnan. As Founder
and Director, she inspired and has over the years produced a stream of young graduates who have done the school and the community so
proud.
As classical dance teacher, choreographer and performer, Vasantha Krishnan’s creativity and enthusiasm has introduced new pieces at
every occasion. Since then, she has achieved renown locally and abroad for her teaching skills and excellence in choreography..
Ananda Prasad has been with Nrithyalaya since 1989, teaching Carnatic music and Mridangam, creating musical compositions for
Nrithyalaya School of Indian Classical Dance and Music and accompanying dance performances. He started learning Mridangam at the
age of six from Sangeetha Bhushanam A.S. Ramanathan at the Ramanathan Academy of Fine Arts in Sri Lanka. At the age of sixteen,
Ananda Prasad performed his Mridangam Arangetram (graduation performance). He earned Sangeetha Rathnam diploma in Mridangam
from the Ramanathan Academy in 1972. He is an accomplished vocalist who has developed the God given gift of Music by himself. .He
is also a music composer, poet, and short story writer. He has composed many dance pieces that have been performed by Nrithyalaya
School of Indian Classical Dance and Music. During the Nrithyalaya’s tour of India in 1995, his versatility as a vocalist, lyricist and
percussionist was demonstrated in performances before the artistic communities in India. A poet with a passion, Ananda Prasad has
published a collection of Tamil poems “Suya Darisanam” or self realization.
Jai Shankar had his training at a very young age from Mrs. Alamelu Subramanian, a renowned violinist. He is currently under guidance
from Madurai Sundar. He has worked with all the leading stalwarts in the Carnatic arena including Dr Ramani, Nedanuri
Krishnamoorthy, Dr, K J Yesudas, T.N. Seshagopalan, and others. He has performed extensively all over the world and was invited to
perform at the United Nations in Paris for the last UN Meeting of the century in 1999. He has also represented India in major Cultural
festivals including the “Festival of India” in the USSR and the” Festival of India” in the Middle East. He is also a graded artist of AIR (All
India Radio).Besides being a performer, he is actively involved in teaching this art to many students. Academically, he holds a Masters in
Computer Science and a MBA in He has performed at many of Nrithyalaya’s programs.
SriRam Krishnan, son of Mrs. Vasantha Krishnan, learnt Mridangam from his childhood from Sri Ananda Prasad and has regularly
performed at all Nrithyalaya’s programs and at other places in Canada. Aside from Mridangam, SriRam is also well versed with Drums
and Guitar.
Reviews:
For detailed reviews about Vasantha Krishnan of Nrithyalaya and about Ananda Prasad, please visit their website www.nrithyalaya.com.
Directions to West Hall: Please visit www.pallavi.us. Click on Calendar. Open the link to West Hall for directions.