Sreyashi Dey is one of the foremost exponents of Odissi in the US, and the Founder and Artistic Director of Srishti Dances of India and Akshara, an Ann Arbor based multi-arts organization. Sreyashi was previously also an exponent of Bharatanayam. As a thoughtful artist, Sreyashi constantly expands her creative horizons with new choreographies and collaborations across artistic genres.
She regularly tours the US and has performed all over the world – in Europe, Asia and India. Her work has been critically acclaimed by well-known critics in leading newspapers and magazines in the US, such as the New York Times, as well as in leading media in India.
Sreyashi has been the recipient of several awards, notably the Harry Schwalb Excellence in the Arts award, and has been awarded grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and several premier foundations in the US. She was also the founder of SPARSH, an Ann Arbor non-profit that established and supported a pediatric heart surgery program at a community hospital in India for disadvantaged children.
Sreyashi’s educational background includes an MS in Economics, MBA, and MSW (Master’s in Clinical Social Work). She has had parallel careers in marketing, University of Michigan administration and non-profit. Currently Sreyashi works as a clinical psychotherapist, with a private practice and as an advocate for mental health and wellness.
NamasyA, a group of passionate dancers, under the mentorship of Guru Asha Subramanian, is dedicated to Mohiniyattam, a classical dance form of Kerala. Trained under great teachers like Kalamandalam Sreedevi Rajan, Kalamandalam Sumathy, and Padma Shri Bharati Shivaji, Asha eagerly shares her knowledge and experience with her ever enthusiastic group, providing a haven for connection, creativity and personal growth.
Namasya’s unique ability to tell stories, aesthetically blending tradition with innovation has won great appreciation with the audiences. Namasya has made a strong impact in Detroit, Michigan and Toledo, Ohio with their performances.
Asha ia also a co-founder of the classical dance group Maitrii-Detroit, where in she has kept alive the Mohiniyattam dance form through their various productions.
NamasyA’s focus remains in promoting and propagating the art form, preserving the pristine integrity, at the same time experimenting with new interpretations.
‘Singaramani,’ ‘Natya Visharada,’ ‘Kuchipudi Nrithya Moukthikam,’ Smt. Sandhya Sree Athmakuri, is an award-winning performer, choreographer and teacher, and an exponent of two leading dance traditions of South India, Bharata Natyam and Kuchipudi. She is the artistic director of ‘NATYA DHARMI’ Performing Arts, an institution for Indian classical Arts, currently specializing in South Indian Classical Dance styles Bharata Natyam and Kuchipudi, Music and Culture.
This performing Arts Institution has been established to practice and pass on, with pristine purity, the rich art and culture that have been imbibed in Sandhya, by all her Gurus: her pradhama Guru, her mother, Smt. Indira Devi, her BharataNatyam Lineage of the Vazhuvur Bani Guru, Kumari Padma, ‘Kalaimamani’ Swamimalai Rajarathnam Pillai, her Kuchipudi legacy of the Vempati Bani Smt. Bala and Padmabhushan Guru Dr. Vempati Chinna Satyam.
In true Guru Sishya Parampara, Sandhya Sree and her disciples share their skills with artistes in various fields and also train aspirants in the field of Indian Classical Dance. Through her school, the artistes have to their credit a number of productions that have won acclaim from discerning critics. ‘Natya Dharmi,’ Performing Arts and Sandhya Sree, humbly acknowledge the various ‘outstanding achievement awards’ that were bestowed by the various organizations in the United States.
Smt. Dhanya Vani Rao is the Founder and Artistic Director of Abhinaya School of Dance, a premier Bharatanatyam institution in Metro Detroit. A disciple of Padmashri Indira P. P. Bora, she holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Performing Arts from Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda. She has received prestigious Government of India scholarships and awards, including the Anjali Mehr Gold Medal.
Since founding Abhinaya School in 2004, Dhanya has expanded it to three Metro Detroit branches, mentoring over 300 students in the Kalakshetra bani. An accomplished international performer, she has represented India and performed across several countries. Her contributions have earned her the International Professional Women’s Award, recognition from miindia.com, and a Guinness World Record.
Asa Willoughby has been training in Kathak for the past 17 years primarily under Anuradha Chaturvedi, herself a senior disciple of Pandit Arjun Mishra of the Lucknow Gharana. Later he also trained under Sujata Banerjee in London. He has also trained in Bharatanatyam for the past 16 years, primarily under Ananya Chatterjee and Smt. Thankamani Kutty and now under Marcia Madhavi Mai of Ann Arbor. Asa has performed extensively in England as well as in India, Luxembourg and the US.
Rasa Festival 