This Mother’s day weekend, May 9and 10, 2008 Salt Lake City’s quiet mountains will welcome Spring with the annual Thyagaraja Festival.
At the LDS Center, 951 E 100 South, Salt Lake City.
Started in 1997, the Thyagaraja Festival bring artistes and art lovers across the Salt Lake Valley, United states and Canada to an intimate celebration of Carnatic music.

The event this year will feature artistes including Maharajapuram Srinivasan, Sankaran Mahadevan, V. K. Arun Kumar, Deepti Navaratna and Kumar brothers along with several others who will pay their tribute to Saint Thyagaraja under the artistic direction of violinist Mullaivasal G. Chandramouli. The event is partially sponsored by the Utah Arts Council.

Expressions of the Spirit, a performance by the students of Natya Dhaara Center for Performing Arts, based in Atlanta.

The program includes south Indian Classical dance of Bharata Natyam, folk as well as a few East- West fusion pieces.
Directed by Uma Palam Pulendran, this program is in collaboration with Association for India’s Development (AID) Atlanta Chapter, a non-profit charitable organization.
The organisation says that all the proceeds from the event will be donated to AID and will benefit their projects in rural India.

At a special event organised by the Peabody Essex Museum (PEM) in Salem, MA, Bharatanatyam dancer Aniruddha Knight and ensemble will present a traditional dance recital.

Aniruddha is the grandson of the famed dancer T. Balasaraswati. He performs in the early 19th century Bharatanatyam style, singing as he dances.

The event will be held on April 5, 2008, at 4 to 6pm

Venue: Morse Auditorium, Peabody Essex Museum, East India Square, Salem, MA

This special event is held in collaboration with Massachusetts Institute of Technology Heritage of the Arts of South Asia (MITHAS)

An annual music festival is hosted by Chicao Tyagaraja Utsavam (CTU) during the Memorial Day weekend every year.

This year the festival will be celebrated from May 24 to 26, 2008.

Children and adults pay homage to Saint Tyagaraja at this festival.
CTU invites registrattion to participate in the festival. The registration process for participating at the Utsavam will be open in the next few days. Registration Deadline: April 18, 2008

Nrithyanjali Institute of Dance, with a history of over 15 years is presenting 'Garland of Indian Dance' featuring the Tradition of The Tanjore Quartet, a Bharathanatyam dance presentation by leading dancers visiting from India with live orchestra, and Kuchipudi and Mohiniyattam. This year the event will be held on April 5, 2008 at 5 pm.
At West Windsor Plainsboro Community Middle School, Plainsboro, NJ

LearnQuest Music Conference featuring the best of Indian classical music, both in Hindustani and Carnatic styles, starts the Spring season this year for music lovers in Boston.

This music festival, a five day event, begins on April 9, 2008 is an annual event held for the third year this time.

The festival presents 20 music concerts by various artists performing vocal and a wide range of instrumental music such as the flute, sitar, veena, sarod and the violin with traditional accompaniments of tabla, mridangam and other percussions.

Eminent performers Hariprasad Chaurasia (Hindustani Flute), Aruna Sairam (Carnatic Vocal), Anindo Chatterjee (Tabla), Dr. Prabha Atre (Hindustani Vocal), O.S.Tyagarajan (Carnatic Vocal), Shujat Khan (Sitar), Jayanthi Kumaresh (Carnatic Veena), Gundecha Brothers (Dhrupad), Shashank (Carnatic Flute), Debashish Bhattacharya (Slide Guitar) are among an array of about 40 artists participating in the conference.

The event also includes a Hindustani Vocal Lecture Demonstration by Gangadhar Rao Telang, a lecture demonstration on Tabla and Mridangam, and a documentary film, Raga, on the life and music of the sitar maestro Ravi Shankar.

The concerts of the festival will take place at multiple locations in Boston area. The opening concert on April 9 will be at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and the second day, April 10, at the Stata Center of MIT, Cambridge.
The remaining events from April 11 to April 13 will be held at the McDevitt School in Waltham, MA.

The festival is co-sponsored by the Museum of Fine Arts (MFA) and MITHAS (Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Heritage of the Arts of South Asia.)

New England Hindu Temple Inc. (NEHTI) Committee on Youth Cultural and Educational Program offers Nrityanjali to Lord Nataraja as a part of Sivarathri Celeberations this year.

The event will be held on Feb. 23, 2008 Location: Sri Lakshmi Temple, Ashland, MA Time: 2:00 pm - 7:00 pm

Dancer Induvadana Malli, daughter and disciple of senior Bharatanatyam guru Adyar K. Lakshman will present an evening of homage in dance on the occasion of Shivaratri.

She will present unique dance choreographies of her guru Adyar Lakshman along with the students of Bharatha Choodamani school of Bharatanatyam run by her in Michigan

On March 16, 2008. From 4 pm to 5.30 pm

Bharatanatyam dancers Srinidhi Raghavan and Sahasra Sambamoorthi present in New York, USA, 'Her Story' which portrays the lives of four women in Indian mythology and literature — Kaikeyi, Devaki, Kannagi, and Andal. The show is due on Saturday, February 16 evening, at the Peter Norton Symphony Space: Leonard Nimoy Thalia Theater. The artistic direction is by Usha Raghavanand the music has been scored by Sudharshana Arunkumar

Recounting pivotal moments in the lives of these women, the two dancers explore how these characters transformed the worlds they lived in through their ability to love unconditionally.

Srinidhi Raghavan learnt Bharatanatyam from her mother and guru, Usha Raghavan, and guru, Malathy Thothadri. Her experiences with dance have spanned several cultures and countries, including those of the UK, Europe, Barbados, the US and India.

Mahesh Vinayakram, son of Ghatam Maestro Vikku Vinayakram, will present Srishti - a classical music concert at New York based Ragachitra's Deepavali celebrations. The artistes of the programme are Nivedita ShivRaj on the veena,
Smitha Krishnan on the violin and Akshay Anantha Padmanabhan on the mridangam.

On Nov, 17, 2007, 6 p.m.
Venue: Tamil Cultural Center at Tamil Church, Queens, New York.

USA based dancer Radha Dutta trained both in Bharatanatyam and Mohiniattam will perform a Mohiniattam based dance drama in Maryland USA.

Trained in Mohiniattam under gurus Kalyanikutti Amma and her daughter Shreedevi, Radha also received training under the guidance of gurus, the Dhananjayans and Kalanidhi Narayanan in Bharatanatyam.

The theme for the dance drama is based on 'Nature--Prakriti' seen as a young woman, who changes and matures during 'Grishma--the hot dry season'. She suffers as her lover ritu Raj Basanta abandons her. Prakriti realises that she will suffer no longer when the Monsoons-Varsha arrive.

Dancer Ramya Ramnarayan, a student of Guru Swamimalai Rajaratnam and guru Kalanidhi Narayanan, runs Nrithyanjali Institute of Dance in New Jersey.

This year, the dance acdemy will host a competition on classical dance - Dance with Passion

The competition will be held on Oct. 7. From 11am to 4 pm.
Venue: Newark Museum, Newark, NJ

The application forms are available at www.nrithyanjali.org
More info and questions can be mailed to DWPassion@gmail.com

The winners will receive cash prize and an opportunity to perform at the dance fest, Nrithyanjai in March 2008

Nrithyanjali is at 2.Stallion Way, North Brunswick, NJ - 08902

Bangalore based dance group, Articulate, will be performing a dance feature Titled Panchavaktram at Balaji Temple, Chicago.

The feature Panchavaktram, the five faces of Shiva, will touch on the belief that Lord Shiva, in order to create this universe, from his original state of nothingness manifests into five forms. In association with his Shakthi he creates the five elements earth, water, fire, air and space. The lord then lets the sound from his drums fuse the elements that explode to form this universe and all the life forces that exists today.

The depiction of the elements is by dancers who are visually challenged.

The event will be held on Sep. 29 at Veluchamy auditorium. Balaji Temple, 1145 W, Sullivan Road, Aurora, IL.

Calling her personal movement style as Neo Bharatam, dancer Anita Ratnam connects the gestural language of Bharatanatyam of the early 6th century to the 21st century to theatre, has been staging solo and group performances in the style.

Her production 'Neelam' which has seen many stages now, will have its next show at Massachusetts, USA.
Academy of Indian Performing Arts, run by dancer Jothi Raghavan will present 'Neelam' the solo dance theatre by Anita Ratnam.

Nambi and Sri, Andal and Madhusudhana, Krishna and Radha and Rama and Sita are the characters who draw a historical arc from the 8th to the 18th centuries, creating moments of passion and devotion, re-imagined by Anita for a modern audience.

The show is at Sorenson Theater for Performing Arts, Babson College Wellesley MA.
On November 11, 2007 At 4:30

Senior dancer, Choreographer Lakshmi Viswanathan will present a lecture demonstration on Bharatanatyam - Expressional Dance of south India on Sep. 15, 2007.

Dancer Lakshmi Viswanathan who toured the US during June - July staged her production 'Banyan Tree', which featured dancers from Boston. This exponent of Bharatanatyam in the much acclaimed Tanjavur tradition will speak on the expressions in the classical art form with dance performance of samples of the subject.
The lec-dem will be followed by a question - answer session.

Venue: SSVT Auditorium, 6905 Cipriano Road, Lanham MD - 20706
Date and time: Sep. 15, 2007 at 10.30 am

India-based dancer and choreographer Nalini Prakash and Washington, DC- based dancer Vijay Palaparty will be exploring the colours of south Indian Dance in a performance of Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi styles.

The programme is titled 'Varnam : colors of South Indian Dance'

On September 5, 2007 at 7:30pm with a repeat performance on September 6, 2007 at 7:30pm.
At District of Columbia Arts Center, DCAC, 2438 18th Street NW, Washington, DC 20009

A group of Bharatanatyam dancers, all senior disciples of dancer - guru Prof. Sudharani Raghupathy, who run Silambam Dance Company are bringing back an internationally acclaimed Bharatanatyam production, Krishnam Vande Jagatgurum to the audience in the US.

This production was originally conceived and choreographed in 1989 by Prof.Sudharani Raghupathy, with music scored by Vidwan Madurai N. Krishnan, for the Madras Chapter of the International Dance Alliance.

Fifteen years later, Padmasri Prof. Sudharani Raghupathy’s senior disciples, now performers and teachers in their own right, based in various locations in North and Central America, have come together to bring this premiere production back to the stage in the United States.

Dancers Smitha Karpur Magal, Nalini Prakash, Srimathy Mohan, Mridula Anand, Lavanya Rajagopalan, Prabha Dixit, Sushma Sunil, Preethi Ramaprasad and Vijay Palaparty have done this together.

The group has completed four concerts in August, at Houston, Austin, San Diego and L. A. to packed houses and there are three more to go in September - at Phoenix, PIttsburg and Columbus.

On Sep 14, 2007 at Phoenix. Main Stage, Chandler Center for the Arts, 250 N. Arizona Avenue, Chandler, Arizona 85225. At 7 pm
Tickets to be bought online only @ arizonafinearts.org

On Sep 22, 2007 at Pittsburgh. Rangos Auditorium,, Carnegie Mellon, University Centre, 5032 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15213. This is a open to all show.

On Sep 29, 2007 at Columbus.

New York based Indian classical artistes come together to present their traditions in a modern light. This makes the concept of Urban Kutcheri unique.

The program presents classical Bharatanatyam and Carnatic music juxtaposed with contemporary imagery and word. This production follows on the heals of the largely successful premiere of Urban Kutcheri at the Joyce/SoHo in June 2006 to great audience acclaim.

Bharatanatyam dancer Sonali Skandan will present the ancient dance form, The Akshara Percussion Ensemble will perform Carnatic music. The group, led by A.R. Balaskandan, a well-known percussionist and violinist, along with members Arun Ramamurthy on violin and percussionists Jonathan Singer and Zach Knight, will demonstrate the rhythmic repartee between the Carnatic percussive tradition and world percussive traditions. Each scene will be 'created' by a backdrop of poetry and photography by poet Raina Mehta and photographer Jigar Mehta.

The event is presented by Jiva Performing Arts, a not-for-profit arts organization based in New York and will be held at Cambridge Multicultural Arts Center is located at 41 Second St. Cambridge, MA 02141.
On September 22, 2007 at 8 pm.

Tickets (Regular: $20, CMAC members, students and seniors: $15) can be reserved in advance by calling 617.577.1400

Pasumarthy Venkateswara Sarma and Pasumarthy Srinivasa Sarma of Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh, India (disciples of Kuchipudi dance guru Dr. Vempati Chinnasatyam) are touring the US.

They are conducting Kuchipudi Dance workshops and performing in different parts of US. They are available in Los Angeles to conduct workshops on Kuchipudi dance style from 24 Sep - 30 Sep.

A dance program featuring traditional pieces in both the Kuchipudi and Bharata Natyam dance styles will be performed by Yamini Saripalli, Vanita Sundararaman, Jyotsna Potarazu, Anuradha Murali, Mallika Murali, and Anita Sivaraman (Disciples of Dr. Vempati Chinna Satyam, Sri Vempati Ravi Shankar, Sri VP and Smt. Shanta Dhananjayan, and Dr. Padma Subramaniam)

This event will be held on Saturday September 8, 2007 from 6pm - 8pm

At Murugan Temple, 6300 Princess Garden Parkway, Lanham, MD 20706, USA

This is a fundraiser for the Tamil Nadu Kidney Research Foundation (TANKER)
Tickets: $10.

The Abhinaya Dance Company, based in San Jose is run by dancer Viji Prakash.

The dance school collaborating with Shakti in Sakhyam, in the year 2005. This time it is - Poetic Splendor, a performance by Rasika Kumar and the Abhinaya Company dancers and Musicians. The performance will have live musical accompaniment by Indian artistes.

The event will be at Torrance Performing Arts Center, 3330 Civic Center Dr. ,Torrance (Intersection of Torrance & Madrona Bl) Sothern California

On June 24, 2007 at 6 pm

Nrithyanjali Institute of Dance and Plainsboro Arts Partnership jointly present two programmes this weekend.

Dancer Ramya Ramnarayan will present Artistic Expose of Emotions, a Bharatanatyam dance programme choreographed by her. This will be an educational presentation with detailed commentary in English.
And Odissi Dance performance by Bani Ray will follow.

The events will be held at West Windsor Plainsboro High School North, 90 Grovers Mill Road, Plainsboro, NJ

The annual music festival at Ragachitra Foundation, New York will be held on June 2, 2007 from 9 am to 9 pm.

There will be a day-long exhibition, which will feature exhibits on various musical instruments, music composers, musicians and the history of Carnatic music. Music CDs, Tanpura CDs and music books will also be available on sale at the exhibition.

A Saxaphone concert by Prashant RadhaKrishnan, a violin duet concert by Srikanth Mallajosyula and Pavani Mallajosyula, Ranjani Mala, a Carnatic Ensemble by Nivedita ShivRaj, Samyuktha ShivRa, Janani Kannan and RagaChitra Choir, a veena concert by Preetha Narayanaswamy and a vocal concert by S. Aravind are scheduled for the day.

A lec-dem by Rohini Ramanathan on Common Language of Music, a Yoga and music programme by Stephanie Thankappan and Nivedita ShivRaj, Carnatic Christian Songs by Tamil Christuva Kovil Choir and bhajans by Ragachitra students will also be held. The accompanists for the whole day are Jayanth Balasubramanian, Gopal Narasimhamurthy and Akshay Anantha Padmanabhan on the mridangam, Jim Sykes on the Drums.

A quiz on Carnatic music will also be held.

Venue: Tamil Christian Church, 79-11 Caldwell Avenue, Middle Village (Queens), NY 11379.