Akademi presented an evening of South Asian dance by a range of talented artists, to celebrate our new partnership as an Associate Company of Rich Mix in 2011. The evening included a selection of classical and contemporary dance solos from three of the UK’s brightest emerging dancers: Shreya Kumar, Sooraj Subramaniam and Archana Ballal.
Archana Ballal graduated from London Contemporary Dance School in 2008 and is a member of Mayuri Boonham’s ATMA Dance. She has toured extensively through Europe with a variety of artists including SRISHTI - Nina Rajarani Dance Creations and Shobana Jeyasingh.
Shreya Kumar worked alongside Archana Ballal at ATMA dance and also trained at the London Contemporary Dance School. She began her dance training in Bharatanatyam at an early age and has performed in pieces by Colin Poole, Jorge Crecis and Sankalpam at The Place, National Theatre and Purcell Room at Southbank Centre.
Sooraj Subramaniam trained in Bharatanatyam and Odissi at Sutra Dance Theatre in Malaysia and later in classical ballet and contemporary dance at Western Australian Academy for Performing Arts. Since 2007 he has been working with SRISHTI - Nina Rajarani Dance Creations and has been featured as a lead dancer in all of the company's productions to date.
These three emerging artists presented a diverse and visually stunning dance programme. Rooted in classical styles but presented from modern perspectives, this evening included an eclectic mix of Bharatanatyam and Contemporary dance to suit all tastes.
