Kalanidhi Dance presents, Sagarika, a brand new original work, born of a collaboration with Sharmila Biswas, one of India’s most esteemed classical dance practitioners. Sagarika, or Sea-Maiden, is based on a poem by Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore. Tagore’s poem imagines a primordial sea that opens to make way for the earth and imagines the relationship between sea and earth to be akin to that of mother and child. Inspired by this allegory, Ms. Biswas’s choreography explores conceptual questions relating to humanity’s place in the scheme of creation, to create a contemporary piece on the forefront of the field.

One of eight recognized styles of Indian classical dance, Kuchipudi is an ancient art form with archaeological evidence that dates its origins to the second century B.C. However, it takes its name from that of a village in the south Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, where it emerged as a dance-drama form around the 16th-17th centuries and is popularly known today as the Yakshagana tradition.

Kuchipudi became widely popular through the dance-dramas of the legendary 16-17th century Saint
Siddhendra Yogi. He was a learned and religious poet, who gave the existing dramatic tradition an impetus through his seminal work, Bhamakalapam, a dance drama that has ever since formed the
backbone of the Kuchipudi repertoire. Its present form is the result of choreographic influences by other great dance gurus such as Guru Vedantam Lakshminarayana Sastry (1886-1956) and Guru Dr. Vempati Chinna Satyam (1929-2012).

Under the direction of award-winning artist Anuradha Nehru, Kalanidhi Dance captivates audiences with exquisitely conceptualized performances that push Kuchipudi in new and exciting directions. The New York Times has called Kalanidhi a “combination of bright energy, full-bodied sweetness and rapid precision” and “a rare amalgam of prime dance virtues.” The company presents its work regularly at prestigious venues in the U.S. and around the world. In 2007, the company became the first ensemble based outside India to perform at the Delhi Ananya Festival. According to The Hindu, the company “took the audience by storm.” Kalanidhi Dance’s work is recognized and funded by Maryland State Arts Council and the Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County and National Endowment For The Arts.