16th American Natya Festival

Press Report

SOORYA PERFORMING ARTS, a not-for-profit organization – devoted to Classical Dance, Music, and Theater from India – Presents 16th American Natya Festival at Clayton High School Auditorium, #1 Mark Twain Circle, Saint Louis, MO 63105. This will be held from 6/13/2025-6/15/2025

This year’s American Natya Festival will display a diverse array of the Indian classical arts, showcasing the strong tradition that we continue to practice, something that connects all of us across the world. This year’s festival will showcase productions from many companies around the nation and internationally, such as the Rudrakshya Foundation, established by Guru Sri Bichitrananda Swain in 2000, who is an alumnus of the renowned Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra Odissi Research Center in India. We will have many companies located within the US who have been dedicated to cultivating the traditional arts, such as Rudram Dance Company, spearheaded by Guru Tara Priya Bikkasani in Tampa, Florida, Dr. Sreedhara R. Akkihebbalu in Texas, Sudha Raghuram in Montgomery, AL, Sumangala V. Varun in Austin, Texas, Anu Samrat in the greater Seattle area, and our own Soorya Performing Arts based in St. Louis, MO.

All of these artists are an exemplary inspiration for continuing to educate the youth about these dance forms through teaching and presenting work that exemplifies a myriad of themes, such as philosophical ideas, mythological stories, or envisioning a future in which the Indian classical dance forms take on fusion presentations.

Guru Sreedhara Akkihebbalu will be presenting a thematic presentation on a Sanskrit poet and philosopher, Bhartruhari. Guru Sreedhara’s presentation takes the written verses of Shringara Shataka, written by Bhartruhari, which reflect upon the beauty of the natural world, the human form, and the inner beauty of the soul. He is the first male dancer from the state of Karnataka to have achieved the distinction of Top-A-Grade Soloist for Television, by Prasar Bharati- (National Television channel of India.
The organizing company of this festival, Soorya Performing Arts, will be presenting “Swami Ayyappa”, a dance production that takes you along the mythological stories of Swami Ayyappa, a Hindu deity representing truth and righteousness, and is worshiped in Southern India. Guru Prasanna Kasthuri, the Artistic Director of Soorya Performing Arts has specially choreographed this production with a lot of research on philosophy, embedded stories and focus on the language. He has worked with well known musicians to compose the music to this beautiful Production. Guru Prasanna Kasthuri was awarded one of the top-level awards “Karnataka Kalashri” in the state of Karnataka in 2024 for his tireless service to classical dance outside the country of India

On the other hand, Samanvita Kasthuri, a local emerging choreographer, will take these traditional bases of Bharatanatyam and Kathak, and fuse them using her varying experiences in Contemporary and Hip-Hop to create a presentation that weaves between the past and present in an exciting result of new and innovative movement. This is just a short glimpse of the myriads of performances presented in this year’s festival, ranging from traditional, spiritual, philosophical, and contemporary ideas. We hope to educate and expose the rich culture that the Indian community has to offer to the greater St. Louis region through the presentation of these immersive productions.

Also, there will be more St. Louis based talented dacners and groups will be presenting their beautiful shows.

The Missouri Arts Council, a state Agency of Missouri, and the Regional Arts Commission support this event.

The festival will conclude with an All-American dance competition final “American Natya Idol”. Over 200 dancers have been competing in 16 cities across USA to congregate in the finals happening in the gateway city of St. Louis. This event has attracted the attention of classical dancers in the USA like never before. Soorya Performing Arts is extremely proud to host this one and only kind of Indian classical dance competition in St. Louis MO.

For more details, schedule and to purchase tickets please visit NATYA.ORG

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