ARTIST STATEMENT

I am a choreographer, composer, percussionist, writer, and performer who uses genre-evading dance-theater to articulate my personal and introspective musings. My work is grounded in stomps and rhythms of the feet and questions beneath the surface. It embraces and flows beyond Indian aesthetics to include an unexpected, unfamiliar mosaic of art that invites audiences to think and feel differently.

Out of appreciation for self-reliance and authenticity, I compose my own music and write original prose to accompany my choreography in order to emphasize and empower the voice of the individual. I claim the bharatanatyam dance form as my own, in service of expressing my own idiosyncratic worldviews and personality.

My aim as a contemporary artist is to create works that utilize the bharatanatyam form as a dynamic medium rather than a static representation of an ethnic culture. I prioritize creativity over convention and self-expression over collective storytelling. I make dance that is relatable, colloquial, and relevant to our everyday existence as human beings.