Sumi Garg

Sumi started her initial training in Bharathanatyam at the age of eight under Smt. Asha Prem in St. Louis. Two years later she continued her training under the tutelage of Guru Prasanna Kasthuri. Over the years she has performed in many dance programs, as well as festivals under the banner of Soorya Dance Company. Some of which include: The National Dance Day festival at Union Station, Om Ganesha, Jnana, Anubhava Mantapa, Thoughts, and Rainbow II.  She has traveled extensively with her dance troupe to many venues including: Fundraising by Kannada Association in Chicago, the Asian Festival in Columbus Ohio, Diversity festival in Western Missouri State University and the Shantala Festival in Bangalore, India.

 Sumi’s passion for dance extends beyond her dedication to Bharathanatyam to other Indian and Western dance forms. She has learnt Kathak under the training of Guru Prasanna Kasthuri, participated for two years in Fogana, a regional Indian folk dance competition, and performed and choreographed many Indian popular dances. In addition, Sumi is also training in Ballet, Jazz, Hip Hop and participated in many regional competitions. Sumi’s artistic talents have blossomed in many other areas including singing in the St. Louis Symphony Children’s’ Choir, as well as in her school choir groups. She was also the captain of her cheerleading squad in her freshman year at Parkway Central High School.

 Sumi was born in 1989 in Stanford, California and moved to St. Louis in 1990, along with her parents and older brother Vivek. She is currently attending Clayton High School and will be a junior this fall. Sumi’s favorite subjects are history and English but she also has a hidden talent for science.  She won a second place prize at the Parkway High School science fair in her freshman year.  Sumi wants dance to be an integral part of her life and hopes to build a name in the field.

Arangetram Focus

According to Guru Prasanna Kasthuri, Sumi's arangetram is focused on Hindi literature, which  happens to be her mother tongue. This language driven approach helps children to understand their mother tongue better and also it will expose them to their rich literature and traditions. She  will be performing her Mukharia in Varnam format, based on a song written by 12th century legendary poet Amir Khusrau. She is also performing Sri Aurobindo's "Savitri" in Natya technique.