Natya

The Natya Dance Theatre School has started two new children's beginner classes, at the convenient times and locations shown below. Classes start in January, so if you have a child age four-and-a-half or older who would like to learn Bharata Natyam, now is the time! For more information, contact Program Coordinator Bill Jordan at (312) 212-1240, or bill@natya.com.

Sundays, 10:00-11:00 am
Natya Dance Theatre Studio
620 Ridgewood Ct.
Oak Brook, IL 60523

Mondays, ... continue reading »

Join us for The Flowering Tree. Hema and Krithika choreograph 16 dancers, Rajkumar Bharathy creates an original score with 27 musicians, Dipankar Mukherjee Director of Pangea World Theatre directs Natya Dance Theatre's - The Flowering Tree. Natya creates a world premiere bringing Dance, Theatre and World Music together in an amazing evening of awareness, social change, and a hope of building a strong relationship between humanity and nature.

This past weekend, at St Louis Indian Dance Festival 2011, Artistic Director Hema Rajagopalan was awarded the Soorya Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of her lifetime creative contributions of outstanding artistic significance to the field of Indian dance. We're all very proud of her here at Natya!

Natya will be returning to St Louis on May 27th for Dance St. Louis' Spring to Dance 2011. We will be presenting a new work, entitled "Interior Landscapes" ... continue reading »

Natya Dance Theatre is thrilled to announce that we have received a grant from the New Stages for Dance Initiative, funded by MetLife Foundation and administered by Dance/USA and its Chicago partner, Audience Architects. The grant will fund the development and presentation of a new work, "Pushed to the Edge", created in collaboration with Mordine & Co. Dance Theater. Look out for this novel exploration of dance in Spring 2012 at the North Shore ... continue reading »

Natya will take a major step in its artistic life on October 8, 2011, with the world premiere of The Flowering Tree at Chicago's Harris Theater. This will be the first time Natya has performed its own bill at this prestigious venue. Conceived and choreographed by Natya founder and artistic director, Hema Rajagopalan and Natya associate artistic director and principal dancer, Krithika Rajagopalan, The Flowering Tree will be a truly international, multicultural ... continue reading »

On November 13, students of all ages offered a free public performance at the Hindu Temple of Greater Chicago in Lemont, IL. Annaul Day gives these students, who are all disciples of Natya founder and artistic director, Hema Rajagopalan, the opportunity to perform for family and friends but also for the public. "This is an opportunity for our students to gain confidence in their growing abilities," Ms. Rajagopalan said. "It's also a chance for people outside the ... continue reading »

Natya took to the stage August 30 to present Padma: The Evening Rose, at this prestigious Chicago venue. Padma was set to original music by the Natya Dance Theatre orchestra and also to the music of Chopin. This was Natya's first appearance at the Pavilion in an evening timeslot. In 2008, the company performed at the Pavilion with cellist Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble before an audience of 13,000.

July 29-August 1, Natya partnered with Mordine & Company, one of Chicago's best-known contemporary dance companies, to present Encountering the Other, which brought together Bharata Natyam and contemporary dance to explore the challenges of cross cultural communication. Performances of this innovative work were offered at the Department of Cultural Affairs (DCA) Storefront Theater in downtown Chicago and drew a diverse audience. Encountering the Other drew ... continue reading »

Vidya Govind-Thomas, a senior disciple of Hema Rajagopalan, was the proud recipient of a Level I ($3,000) Award in dance from YoungArts, the core program of the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts (NFAA), and was a Presidential Scholar semi-finalist. YoungArts winners are chosen from nearly 8,000 applicants. YoungArts celebrates and rewards exceptional student artists from across the U.S. in nine artistic fields: cinematic ... continue reading »