Company Dancers
Sanjana Melkote
Sanjana Melkote is an expressive young Bharatanatyam dancer and Carnatic vocalist based in the Bay Area. She completed her formative training under Smt. Suganda Sreenath and is presently mentored by Smt. Shruti Gopal at Upadhye School of Dance, Bangalore. She enjoys dancing in ensembles and dances with local groups, Nava Dance Theater and Prayukti Dance Collective. She is passionate about choreography and co-founded Fuchsia Dance, a platform for dancers to collaborate and innovate. She graduated from UC Berkeley with degrees in Computer Science and Journalism, where she was a senior captain for Natya at Berkeley. She has a deep passion for music and has been learning Carnatic Vocal from her guru, Smt. Jayashree Varadarajan for 15 years.
Smrithi Suresh
Smrithi Suresh has been learning Bharatanatyam for the past 16 years under the tutelage of her Gurus Smt Suganda Sreenath and Smt. Shreya Iyer of Jayendra Kalenkendra. She has performed in numerous locations across the world including Dallas, Bay Area, Cleveland Thyagaraja festival, and Saptami Sabha in Chennai. She is also an IndianRaga Fellow. Passionate about choreography, she co-founded Fuchsia Dance, a platform for dancers to collaborate and innovate. She is currently a junior at the University of California, San Diego studying nanoengineering.
Krishnanand Nair
Krishnanand Nair has been learning Bharatanatyam for the last 19 years from his guru Sri. Gopukiran Sadasivan based in Chennai. Krishna graduated from UC Berkeley with degrees in Data Science and Economics, where he was a senior captain for Natya at Berkeley. He continues his passion for dance through ensemble work with Fuchsia Dance Company.
Janhavi Pillai
Janhavi Pillai is an aspiring Bharatanatyam dancer and student training under Acharya Smt. Meera Sreenarayanan. She completed her formative training under Acharya Smt. Sundara Swaminathan (Kala Vandana Dance Company) and has performed as a senior dancer for many of the company’s ensemble productions. She has also given solo performances in both the United States and India. She graduated from UC Berkeley in 2022 with degrees in Cognitive Science and Data Science, where she was a senior captain for Natya at Berkeley. She is also studying Kathakali under Sri. Kottakkal Harikumar and completed her arangettam in 2022.
Samyuktha Rajesh Kumar
Samyuktha, has been learning Bharathanatyam under the tutelage of Smt. Priya Karthikeyan for the past 17 years. She has performed as a solo artist in many of the leading sabhas and festivals in Chennai including the prestigious Spirit of Youth festival conducted by the Music Academy Madras and the Ilamayil Thiramai festival conducted by Krishna Gana Sabha. She has also been a part of many of many dance ballets conceptualized by her guru and staged all over India. She holds a Bachelors in Commerce and Masters in Finance and works as an Internal Auditor. After moving to San Diego for work, she has been continuing her journey as an artist by giving many solo performances and also being a part of other dance ensembles and productions.