Smaran Kala Kaushala
Guru Smt. Mythili Kumar
An accomplished artist, Mythili Kumar performed extensively in India before moving to the U.S. in 1978 and founding Abhinaya Dance School in 1980. Her artistic ability and the high quality of her dance choreography have been recognized in the U.S where she has been awarded several Choreographer’s Fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts. Mythili has taught at Stanford University and San Jose State University, and currently teaches a fall semester course at University of California at Santa Cruz. In 2002 the Shiva Vishnu Temple of Livermore awarded her the title, ‘Abhinaya Kala Ratna’ for her dedicated service to dance. Bharath Kalachar in Chennai awarded her the title ‘Viswa Kala Bharati’ in 1999. In 2010 she was honored by World Arts West with the Malonga Casquelord Lifetime Achievement Award and received a Sustained Achievement Award from the Bay Area Isadora Duncan Award committee in 2011. Most recently, she received the 2015 Legacy Laureate Award from SVCreates for her sustained dedication to dance.
Smaran Kala Spoorthi
Shri Ganesh Vasudeva
Ganesh Vasudeva has been training in Bharatanatyam for more than 25 years. He trained under able Gurus such as Vidwan Chandrashekhara Navada, Shreelata Suresh and Bragha Bessel. He has performed solo concerts in both India and USA. He was invited to perform at dance festivals in Chennai. He was awarded ACTA (Alliance for California Traditional Arts) apprenticeship scholarship in 2011 to research and present rare dance compositions of Tanjore Quartet. In past few years Ganesh has choreographed and presented his own work to critical acclaim. Ganesh has also been researching male-oriented compositions that are suitable to present on stage and has choreographed & presented several works based on this research.
Smaran Kala Tapasvi
Swagato Basumallick
Swagato Basumallick, is an engineer by profession, but wears multiple hats in his spare time. Outside of work, he is an actor, emcee, light and sound designer, orator and a well known photographer.. As a photographer who specializes in dance and theater photography, Swagato is the official photographer for many Bay Area dance schools and theater groups. His photos have been published in Siliconeer, India West, India Currents, Mercury News, and SF chronicle, to name a few. He has been associated with the Smaran Dance Festival since 2016. Swagato is grateful to his family for providing him with the support that allows him to pursue his passions.
