Navatman Dance

Navatman Dance
Press Kit

Navatman Dance, led by artistic director Sahasra Sambamoorthi, is a bharatanatyam dance company based in New York City whose mission is to bring extraordinary, boundary-pushing productions to the stage, making Indian classical dance more accessible to understand and experience without removing the beauties of tradition and history that the style has developed from.

In a culturally renowned city highlighted in the global map for its rich abundance of the arts, the traditional classical dances of India thrive on the stage."
- Brown Girl Magazine.

Interested in booking us?

Navatman Dance is available to book for:

Weddings/Private Events
Gallery Performances
Cultural/Community Events
Performance Halls/Stages
Dance Festivals

Click below to email with booking details including location, hours, and we will get back to you with availability and pricing.

Book Navatman Dance

Mohanakalyani Varnam

Kussum Mahotsav TSA 2018

Arabhi Varnam Excerpt

Meet our Dancers

Aparna Shankar
Principal Dancer

Aparna Shankar trained in the Vazhuvoor style of bharatanatyam under guru Smt. Ramya Ramnarayan in New Jersey for 11 years.

Since joining Navatman Dance Company in 2017, Aparna has performed along with the company at two Drive East festivals and played the role of Lakshmana in Navatman's Ramayana production and the role of Karna in Navatman's Mahabharata Part 1: Of Vengeance and Promises production. As a freelancer, Aparna performed as an ensemble member in The Affair, Sri Thina's production based off the Gita Govindam. Aparna finds immense joy in dance and deeply enjoys sharing and cultivating this joy in others.

Sahasra Sambamoorthi
Artistic Director & Principal Dancer

Sahasra Sambamoorthi's passion is to re-ignite the fire of the South Asian performing arts within the US. Trained in bharatanatyam by Smt Kalaimamani Ramya Ramnarayan, she has been called by reporters as a "young trailblazer...on the crest of the wave leading us towards a new understanding of South Asian arts in the United States." Co-Founder of Navatman, Inc and continues her studies under Prashant Shah (kathak) and Bijayini Satpathy (odissi) along with bharatanatyam under Ramya as and when possible.

Sri Thina Subramaniam
Principal Dancer

Sri Thina Subramaniam has danced Bharatanatyam and Odissi professionally as a soloist and collaborator for over 20 years. Her initial training was at the Temple of Fine Arts, an institution known for fostering various dance styles under one roof. Sri Thina has worked with international choreographers in the field. To name a few, Mavin Khoo, currently the rehearsal director at Akram Khan Company (UK) and Shobana Jeyasingh known for her creating enigmatic and dynamic dance work in the UK. Sri Thina has spent most of her professional career performing in Malaysia, Singapore, India, the United Kingdom and presently here in America. Her performance were in venues including the Lincoln Center(USA), Royal Opera House, and Buckingham Palace (UK).

Uditha Thiagarajan
Dancer

Uditha Thiagarajan started learning Bharatanatyam at the age of 7 with Smt. Lakshmi Venkatesh in Dubai and completed her Arangetram under the guidance of Smt. Annapoorna Murali in 2013. She then continued training under Smt. B Bhanumati in Bangalore. She has performed at the Indian Consulate in Dubai, at the World Dance Day event organized by UNESCO’s World Dance Council, on an Indian Reality TV show and for the opening ceremony of Indian Premier League (IPL), to name a few. Some of the productions she has been a part of are: Sambhavaami Yuge Yuge, a dance drama by Smt. Bhuvaneshwari Ratnam, Cinderella, a fairytale depicted through South-Asian dance styles by Zakir Hussain, and The Mahabharata: Part 1 - Of Vengeance and Promises, a production by Navatman in New York.

Meghana Murthy
Dancer

Meghana (Meg) Murthy began her Bharatanatyam dance career at the age of 5 from Smt. Vidhya Subramanian. As a dancer with Lasya Dance Company, she danced in multiple productions in the Bay Area and completed her Arangetram in 2009. During college, Meg traveled nationwide to compete with the collegiate Raas team, GW Raas. After graduation, she continued her Bharatanayatam training with Sahasra Sambamoorthi at Navatman, and is now a teacher at the school. She recently performed in Navatman's Diwali production: "Mahabharata Part 1:Of Vengeance and Promises" as a lead character and dance captain. Meg has also performed at Lincoln Center twice, Holi Hai NYC, and at the We Are India Gala.

Kripa Ganesh
Dancer

Kripa started learning dance from Padmashri Adyar Lakshmanan and Shri Rama Rao from an early age and accrued over a decade of experience from them. During undergrad in addition to existing training in dance, Kripa pursued a bachelor of fine arts in bharatanatyam from Sastra university and Dr. Padma Subrahmanyam. Following this, Kripa moved to the US and started dancing again through the Mahabharata production with Navatman.

Interested in Joining? Applications are now open!

Navatman Dance hosts auditions once a year, and auditions for the 2021 year are now open. Members will be expected to attend regular weekly rehearsals on Thursday evenings and commit significantly more time leading up to shows. Performances can range from short 10-20 minute slots to full concerts. Performances are about 12 times a year, both paid and unpaid opportunities will be part of the gigs.

Placement in concerts and arrangements are via the vision of artistic director Sahasra Sambamoorthi, who will continue to lead Navatman Dance in 2020.

To audition, applicants must submit a 2 minute clip of them dancing, both abhinaya and nritta on the google form sheet below. Along with the clip, please submit the following information on the form:

Name
Birthdate
Dance bio (length of time spent learning, teachers, significant performances)
Why you want to join Navatman Dance and what you feel your style and technique may offer to the group

The deadline for submissions is December 15, 2020. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, we will inform you once the audition process is confirmed. In the meantime, we encourage you to apply to be considered for the 2021 year. More information on auditions to come shortly.

After one year at Navatman, dancers will be notified about permanent placement in the company.

Submit your Audition