Engagement

Sonali is an adjunct faculty teaching dance classes at Queens College and Sarah Lawrence College. She has developed syllabi for teaching Bharatanatyam to dancers and non-dancers, as well as created original works with undergraduate dance students. In addition, she has taught Intro to Dance classes where she combines various movement styles to reflect the diversity of South Asian dance. She is featured in Juilliard’s online dance platform as a Bharatanatyam instructor, and conducts workshops and demonstrations there regularly. She has conducted university-level workshops for Kean College, Ramapo College, NYU, Columbia University, Yale University among many others.

Bala Skandan was the first Carnatic teacher at the prestigious Juilliard School of Music, and has also taught semester-long rhythm courses at Sarah Lawrence College.  He has taught Carnatic music courses at the New School, Manhattan School of Music, and many other music departments in the US.

Jiva has vast expertise in offering educational programming – performances, lecture demonstrations, master workshops – in a host of settings from museums, schools, libraries, and cultural centers. Clients include: 92StY, Brooklyn Museum, Asia Society, Rubin Museum, among many others.

Jiva started a popular series of online lecture demonstrations that address a variety of ancillary topics to our art forms – from the Anatomy of a Jathi, the Karanas of the Natyashastra, Pilates Mat basics, Characterization in Abhinaya, the Visuals of Dance, the basics of Nattuvangam, Ragas and Mood, Graham Basics, and many more. These have been taught by professionals in the field and offer insight into many topics that are necessary to a holistic understanding of our art forms.