About Dashavatar

The ancient tales of India come to life to bring us a message in the present day. Will we heed the wisdom of the yugas past or will we let the cycle continue?

Enter the realm of awe-inspiring wonder as the stage becomes a canvas for the epic tales of the Dashavatara. From the graceful flow of Matsya's aquatic dance to the fierce leaps of Narasimha, this world premiere combines live music with the dances of India for an unforgettable storytelling experience. Let the rhythmic beats and melodic strains transport you into a world where larger than life characters descend to open our eyes and marvel at the universe around us.

Venue and Times

Saturday, Nov 18th 2023: 7:30 PM - 9:30 PM
​Sunday, Nov 19th 2023: 3:00 PM - 5:00 PM
Alvin Ailey Citigroup Theater: 405 W 55th St, New York, NY 10019

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What people are saying about past Navatman productions!

"Navatman’s aesthetic and skill kept me spellbound for the whole show..it was thrilling! I've never watched anything like this before, and honestly I wish I knew of anything else that approaches it...
          -A. Anupama

“Outstanding is one word.."
         -Dr B K Srivastava 

​“The interpretation was truly stunning....the dances were exquisite...Each step and movement was so graceful and breathtaking."
         -Shivina

"Navatman is...a central force in Indian dance and music..."
         -Deepika

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Meet the Artists

Sahasra Sambamoorthi (Artistic Director & Co-founder of Navatman)

Sahasra Sambamoorthi's passion aligns accordingly with Sridhar's; to reignite the fire of the South Asian performing arts within the US. Sahasra's knowledge started from her Carnatic violin training at 5 under Smt Ranjini Swamy and Bharatanatyam training at the late age of nine – she debuted with her arangetram only four short years later and performed in India at prestigious venues such as the Krishna Gana Sabha and the Kartik Fine Arts in Madras 2 short years after that under the smart and able guidance of guru Smt. Kalaimamani Ramya Ramnarayan.

Sridhar Shanmugam (Founder of Navatman)

Sridhar Shanmugam's passion has always been to create awareness and a truly appreciative audience of this unique and rich classical tradition; working ceaselessly towards placing Indian Classical dance and music forms on the world pedestal. This idea started from his exacting and intense training at the Kalakshetra School of dance (one of the most prestigious schools of dance in India), and his later training in Rangoli painting, modern and post-modern dance, acting, choreography, stage lighting theater & stage technique have only served to further this goal

Ankita Khanna

Ankita Khanna embarked on her Bharatnatyam journey under the tutelage of her guru, Smt. Revathi Srinivasraghavan in Mumbai, and continued her journey with Guru Sahasra Sambamoorthi in the USA, further enriching her dance expertise. Additionally, Ankita received guidance from the renowned Shiamak Davar, where she served as a dance captain for a Bollywood-style Broadway musical in Dubai, showcasing her remarkable talent in a global setting. In the realm of fitness, Ankita is a certified personal trainer via the American School of Sports Medicine and a certified yoga instructor. Her diverse skill set, ranging from classical dance to fitness and yoga, is a testament to her passion for holistic well-being. She also holds a degree in chemistry, highlighting her academic prowess and commitment to a well-rounded life.

Lekha Wood

Lekha Wood has been training in Bharatanatyam and Kathak under Guru Sahasra Sambamoorthi at Navatman since the age of 4. She has placed first in many competitions, including Indian Raga, Sanskriti International and most recently at the prestigious Cleveland Thyagaraja Aradhana. Lekha has performed in Navatman’s productions of the Ramayana (2018), the Mahabharata Theater (2019) and Film Production (2021). Lekha has also performed multiple times at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center and Gracie Mansion. In addition to dancing, Lekha started her vocal journey learning Hindustani music under Guru Falguni Shah, where she has been featured on a Grammy Nominated kid's Album, "Falu's Bazaar". She is currently dedicated to her Carnatic music training under the guidance of Guru Smt. Taniya Panda. In addition, Lekha has been training in Western Classical Violin for 6 years.

Suhani Prasad

Suhani has learned Bharatanatyam Guru Sahasra Sambamoorthi for 10 years and Kathak for 6 years from Guru Sahasra Sambamoorthi and Guru Prashant Shah at Navatman, both of whom she continues to learn from. She has also learned Carnatic Vocals at Navatman and currently learns it from Guru Taniya Panda. Suhani performed in the past three of Navatman’s Diwali productions- the Ramayana on stage in 2018 and the Mahabharata both on stage and as a feature film in 2019 and 2021. With Navatman in the past few years, she has performed at events such as Gracie Mansion’s Diwali event, Carnegie Hall’s Link Up education program, Jamaica Dance Festival, Making Moves Dance festival, and Spring4Spring dance festival. 

Janani Bhagat

Janani Bhagat is a high school student in New York City. She has been learning Bharatanatyam from Guru Sahasra Sambamoorthi for the past 12 years, and Kathak under the guidance of Guru Sahasra Sambamoorthi and Guru Prashant Shah for the past 7 years. She was introduced to Indian classical music from Navatman and started learning Hindustani music from Guru Samarth Nagarkar. She is currently learning Carnatic music from Guru Taniya Panda at Navatman, and Guru Smt. Sreevidya Janakiraman in Hyderabad. With Navatman, Janani has performed at many places in New York City, such as Carnegie Hall, for their Link Up program, Gracie Mansion, and the Met Museum. ​

Pavan Kumar Ananth

Pavan (he/they) began learning bharatanatyam under Guru Indira Satyapriya, who studied under Kalaimamani Kalyanasundaram Pillai. He joined Navatman in 2022 and under the tutelage of Guru Sahasra Sambamoorthi has continued his bharatanatyam training and is learning kathak as well. Professionally, he is a gynecologic surgeon with a passion for reproductive justice and healthcare equality for those marginalized on the basis of their racial, sexual, and gender identities. He is also interested in supporting more initiatives for caste equity and inclusion.

Saara Wood

Saara Wood has been learning Bharatanatyam and Kathak under Guru Sahasra Sambamoorthi since the age of 2. She has performed in the past two of Navatman’s Diwali productions, Mahabharata on stage, (2019) and Mahabharata in the film. (2021) Saara has also performed multiple times at events such as Gracie Mansion, Carnegie Hall, and Lincoln Center. In addition to her dance training, Saara has been training in Carnatic Music under the guidance of Guru Tainya Panda. She is currently continuing to train in Kathak under Guru Prashant Shah. Saara started her vocal journey learning Hindustani music under Guru Falguni Shah, where she has been featured on a Grammy Nominated Kid's Album, "Falu's Bazaar". Furthermore, Saara has been playing the Western Classical Violin for three years.

Moon Ghera

Moon Ghera has been in the fashion business for 30 years with her husband. Her passion has always been to learn Kathak as a child in Nigeria. She never had the opportunity to learn it. After years of being married with children in New York, she decided to approach her passion through her daughter. She’s been dancing Kathak with her daughter for over 5 years at Navtaman. Her first performance at Navatman was playing the role of Manthara in the musical play ‘Ramayana’, and since then she has been dedicated to her passion!! ​

Ruchi Tandon

 A software engineer by profession, Ruchi spends most of her time outside of work learning, performing and teaching dance. Ruchi has been learning Kathak from Sahasra Sambamoorthi at Navatman for about 7 years, in addition to learning from Deepali Vichare in Mumbai for 7 years. She has also been pursuing her advanced dance training under Guru Prashant Shah, and now regularly performs under Prashant Shah and Dancers as well, touring in major cities all over the US. 
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Ruchi also danced at Bollywood Funk NYC for 4 years and has performed in multiple shows and events as a part of the same.

Prachi Ghera

Prachi Ghera began her Bharatanatyam training at age 5 and her Kathak training at age 7. At 17, she began training under the guidance of Guru Sahasra Sambamoorthi. Since then, she has been teaching intro level Kathak as she grows her repertoire. She has taken part in several Navatman school performances including their first Diwali production of The Ramayana and Navatman’s award winning film, Mahabharata: Of Vengeance and Promises. Complimenting her passion and creativity, Prachi works in an interior decorating office, focusing on project management

Shruti Sharma

Shruti moved to New York from India to obtain a masters in Biotechnology from Columbia University and pursue a career in the pharmaceutical industry. An avid watcher of classical performances, both music and dance, Shruti came to Navatman through serendipity. Having been to one of Swati Sinha’s kathak performances, she started learning the art form about 4 years ago. As a part of Navatman’s troupe, Shruti has danced at various venues including the New York Mayor’s residence at Gracie Mansion. She most recently performed at the New York Kathak Festival as a part of Guru Prashant Shah’s group. Shruti is mom to a two and a half year old who, along with Kathak, keeps her on her toes! ​

Lavanya Jagirdhar

Lavanya loves dancing, writing, and managing information systems (in that order). She has been learning Bharatanatyam at Navatman since 2014, beginning under the tutelage of Samantha Lim and continuing to develop her repertoire with Sahasra Sambamoorthi. She has been a writer and cast member of Navatman’s epic Mahabharata production. She has also performed in a number of dance student groups including pieces at the Met Museum and the Nassau Coliseum. In her spare time Lavanya enjoys hikes, horror movies, and hot sauces.

Pallab Kar

Pallab Kar is a VP of engineering and IT Project Manager at Deutsche Bank, currently in pursuit of a Master's in Business Administration. He commenced his journey in the art of Bharatnatyam in Bangalore and later continued this pursuit in the United States under the esteemed tutelage of Guru Sahasra Sambamoorthi as a dedicated student of Navatman, where he has devoted nearly six years to honing his skills.

Gayatri Shandar

Gayatri began learning Bharatanatyam under the guidance of Sundara Swaminathan of Kala Vandana Academy in the San Francisco Bay Area. Upon relocating to Seattle, she continued her tutelage under Subhashini Vijay Santhanam where she completed her arangetram and subsequently performed in professional Bharatanatyam productions, as well as semi-classical shows throughout the greater Seattle Area. After a break to dance for Carnegie Mellon’s raas-garba team, she traded her dandiyas for salangais and is fortunate to continue her Bharatanatyam tutelage with Guru Sahasra Sambamoorthi. Professionally, Gayatri is an AI engineer and is passionate about computer science education - teaching part-time for NYC public schools. 

Shwetha Narayanan

Shwetha is a Software Engineer with a Master’s in Computer Science from Northeastern University. She commenced her Bharatanatyam training at the Kalakshiti School of Fine Arts under the guidance of Professor Dr. M. R Krishnamurthy. Subsequently, she became a student of Vidushi Deepa Bhat at Nrityakuteera. In productions with Nrityakuteera, she has made significant appearances at events like Tirupati Nada Neeranjanam, Natyanjali at Thanjavur and Thiruvaiyaru, Mantralaya, and more. Currently, her dance education continues under the mentorship of Guru Sahasra Sambamoorthi at Navatman. In addition to her dance pursuits, Shwetha is also dedicated to her Carnatic music training under the guidance of Guru Smt. Balasaraswathi.

Moneesha Kumar

Moneesha's artistic journey began with Bharatanatyam at the age of 5, studying under Kalaimamani Nalini Balakrishnan in Chennai. She later honed her skills under Kalaimamani Smt. Parvatvaty Ravi Gantasala completed her Arangetram Under her previous Guru Nalini Balakrishnan in 2011. Upon moving to New York, Moneesha resumed her passion for dance at Navatman, under the guidance of Sahasra Sambamoorthi. In just a year, she grabbed the opportunity to perform in over ten events and dance festivals in and around the city. Beyond her dance, Moneesha is a skilled architect, holding a Master from the Pratt Institute of Architecture. Her creative prowess shines both on the stage and in her architectural designs, a testament to her multifaceted talent.

Sahana Gupta

Sahana started her Bharatnatyam journey at a dance school headed by Mrs. Veena Nidhi (disciple of renowned late Bhanumathi ma'am) at the age of 4. Later at the age of 7, she moved to her biggest influential guru, Mrs. Rekha Dinesh (disciple of renowned late Bhanumathi ma'am) where she got rigorous training for the next 8 years. She went on to clear her Karnataka State Junior dance exam, 3 levels of Gandharva Mahavidyalaya exams and has won many competitions at the state level. Sahana has performed at many sacred temples in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala, and when she was in high school, she got a chance to perform at the 2018 Dubai International Classical Dance Festival as well. She also had the opportunity to perform an invocation dance for Pranab Mukherjee, the former President of India. After a 4 year gap while in college, she is now back to learning Bharatanatyam at Navatman under guru Sahasra Sambamoorthi and has begun her dance journey again.

Samantha Manoharan

Samantha Manoharan is a trained Bharatanatyam, Kathak, Ballet, Jazz, Belly Dance, Lyrical and Bollywood dancer, choreographer and teacher. She started her dance journey at the young age of 3 years old in various styles of dance and has continued to learn and impart her knowledge on younger generations. She has performed in various parts of the East Coast (NY, CT, NJ, PA, MD, VA, FL, MI) and in India. Credits include performing with various organizations: Penn State International Dance Ensemble, Global Mudra, Nootana, Navatman, Bollywood Beats, Mayura Dance Academy and others. She completed her arangetram in 2004 and has continued to dance, teach and choreography ever since. She was a lead performer and character in Navatman’s theater production of the Mahabharata: Of Vengeance and Promises in 2019 and in Navatman’s first dance movie production of the same in 2021. Her performances with Navatman also include Air India JFK and Opsu 40. She continues her Bharatanatyam training at Navatman since 2019. She has served as a guest artist in residence for Rivertown Dance Academy, in Westchester County, teaching the youth repertory team in 2022 and performing for RDA Frost Fest in 2023. Samantha is currently the Artistic Director of Mayura Dance Academy located in Westchester County, NY. She has assisted in over 25 recitals including Diwali, Showcase and Holi. She trains high level students who participate in various competitions throughout the year. She recently completed her first arangetram as guru last June 2022. She led her students in the first ever Diwali Dance Fest in Disney World this Oct through the parade and Showcase in Animal Kingdom. Her day job includes working as a clinical engineering manager at New York Presbyterian Hospital in the biomedical engineering department.

Zeyna Tai

Zeyna Tai is a high school student in New York City. She began her training in Bharatanatyam when she was six years old and began training under the guidance of Sahasra Sambamoorthi at 14. She has performed with Navatman at various concerts, festivals, and shows throughout New York and New Jersey. Zeyna also teaches younger Bharatanatyam dancers at Navatman. Additionally, she recently began training in Kathak under Sahasra Sambamoorthi.

Saasana Sridhar

Saasana Sridhar is a senior at Rutgers University majoring in law. She commenced her bharatanatyam journey at the age of 5 under Guru Smt. Jayanthi Subramaniam in Chennai. She learned from Guru Smt. Subbalakshmi Ganesan when she moved to Delhi. Then, she completed her arangetram in 2019 under Guru Smt. Srividya Manikandan. She has performed in various temples in India and the US. She has been awarded “The Most Energetic Performance” by Spritzaa in 2019. 

Mahesh Hariharasubramanian

Mahesh started learning Carnatic flute from Guru Shri. N Bhaskaran and is currently training under Guru Smt. Sathva Srinath associated with Ramani’s Academy of Flute (RAF), Mumbai, India. His musical influences include Carnatic and Hindustani classical, film, regional folk, Jazz and world music. Mahesh is a Software engineering professional based out of New Jersey.
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Shraman Sen

Shraman Sen is an Economics research associate with a Bachelor's from NYU and a Master's from Columbia University. With sitar, Shraman began his training in the Imdadkhani gharana with Hidayat Khan. Since then, Shraman has had the privilege to interact and seek taalim from others in the same Khan family, such as Irshad Khan and, most notably, with Shahid Parvez Khan via training sessions and workshops since 2017.
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Radhika Iyer

Radhika Krishnaraj began learning vocal music right from a very young age and underwent advanced training from the Late Sangita Kalanidhi C Lalitha of Bombay sisters fame. She has performed in all leading sabhas across India and is the recipient of the 'Sahithya Priya 'award by the music label Kalavardhini. Under SSJ productions, she has lent her voice to various devotional chants and slokas which are available on digital platforms. She sings regularly for dance performances and has performed extensively in New York City.
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Sanjay Natesan

Sanjay Natesan is currently under the tutelage of Kalaimamani Sri. Tiruvarur Vaidyanathan. Sanjay has performed in several music and dance ensembles, and arangetram recitals, and frequently accompanies musicians from around the world. Sanjay has won many competitions including 1st place in the Senior Percussion Competition organized by CMANA in 2019. He also performs regularly for the Chennai December Music Season. Sanjay is the recipient of the 2019 Dutchess County Executive Arts Award for “The Student with Exceptional Promise in the Arts”. In addition to Mridangam, he is trained in Carnatic Vocal, Carnatic Flute, and other Indian percussion instruments such as Kanjira and Tabla. Sanjay is a rising Junior at Columbia University and is pursuing a degree in computer science and economics.

Mike Lukshis

Classical tabla soloist and accompanist Mike Lukshis has established himself as a leading tabla performer and educator in the NYC area. He is regularly sought after for his kathak accompaniment by artists across the US. With 20 years of direct, gurukul-style training by Guruji, Mike is continuously imbued with the living tradition of tabla. Through his ongoing tutelage, Guruji has been preparing Mike to carry forward the Delhi and Ajrada gharanas, or schools, of tabla to future generations. He is a lead performer of several groups such as the contemporary classical tabla ensemble Talavya, Pradhanica Dance and Music Company, and the experimental electronic trio TablaTun. As well, he is an executive board member for non-profit organizations Taalim Foundation and Anga Kala Dance Company