Musicians of Bahulya - Multiplicity Dance Performance

Nattuvangam -
Conductor of the dance
Sushma Mohan

Sushma had her initial training under Guru Prasanna Kasthuri and later under Ranjani Ganesan, an alumni of Kalakshetra. She received her advanced training from Guru Dhananjayans at Bhaskara, a gurukula run by the renowned dancer couple in Kerala. To enhance her dance skills, she undertook training in martial arts of Manipur from Sri Khilton Nongmaiten, Kalaripayattu from Sri Anil Kumar, Kerala, Abhinaya from T K Mahalingam Pillai and Kathak from Maya Rao. She practiced music from the late Guru Sri Ambhi Bhagavatar, the tutor of the legendary Papa Choodamani. Sushma learnt nattuvangam from Guru Pulikeshi Kasthuri and went on to accompany popular dancers like Vani Ganapathy, Ranjani Ganesan, Prasanna Kasthuri and all the performances of Shanthala Arts Academy on nattuvangam. 

As A choreographer: Sushma's talents as a choreographer have come to the foreground with her choreographic works like "Apoorva Sadashiva" a dance presentation of the compositions of Mysore Sadashivaraya, who lived in the 19th century in the court of Krishnadevaraja Wodeyar in Mysore. Her other presentations are Dashavataara, Navagraha, Yathiraaja Vaibhava, Mira and Gajendra Moksha. Sushma choreographed several ballets for the ISKCON temple Bangalore, IISc (Indian Institute of Science) Bangalore and was invited by the TTD (Tirupathi) to perform for their Brahmotsavam celebrations 2002. 

Main Vocalist
Seema Kasthuri

Seema Kasthuri is an accomplished singer with a charming voice. She has undergone Carnatic Music training for over 10 years under Vidwan K.R Venkatesh. She has completed her Senior level board exams in Karnataka. Seema has accompanied Guru. Venkatesh in several concerts held in many places of state of Karnataka. Seema has taken active participation in most of the music productions from Sharada Vidyalaya under guru Venkatesh that was produced for All India Radio. She has also given concerts in Devotional Music and light music. Later, she is pursued her education studentship with Chintalapalli Krishnamurthy.

Seema is an active dancer by herself; she performs with the productions of Soorya Dance Company. Seema has provided vocal support to classical dance drama productions. She composed music for "OM Ganesha" - a classical dance drama on lord Ganeshji's story.  Seema's album "Sri Lola" - a collection of Daasa literature songs is released in India in November 2002.  At present, Seema is taking advanced training in Carnatic music from Nagamani Srinath and Hindustani Music from Ustad Imrat Khan.  Seema performs frequently. Her performances in Hindu Temple of St. Louis, Indian Association of Greater Springfield in 2005; in ANANYA - Bangalore in 2006 gave her high accolades. Seema accompanied many of arangetram functions of Soorya Performing Arts in 2006, 2007. Her recent role as RADHA in - "CALL OF THE FLUTE" - the first ever dance musical of USA got the attention of classical music and classical dance lovers evenly.

 Violinist par excellence
Sandhya Srinath

Sandhya, a Gold Medalist Masters graduate in Carnatic Music and ‘A’ grade All India Radio and Television artist started training from an early age from the Late Shri V. Janakiraman and then later from Lalgudi G Jayaraman and Prof. T.N. Krishnan. She has given many solo performances, has accompanied numerous senior and top class musicians and dancers, and performed at various festivals in India, USA and Canada.

She has been awarded several prestigious awards - Best Young Violinist, Chennai, India in 2000 and Individual Artist Award from Prince George’s Arts Council, MD, USA in 2003, and the Maryland State Arts Council Individual Artist Award for the Year 2008 to mention a few.

She has several recordings to her credit and has given lecture-demonstrations at various universities. 

She teaches Violin at Jayamangala School in Maryland and is a highly sought after artist in the United States, Canada, and India.

Mridangam - Indian Drums
Srinath Bala

 

Having been initiated into the world of percussion by the Late Sri Krishnan, Srinath has gone on to learn from Sri. R. Ramesh (Karaikudi Mani Style of Percussion) and Maestro Padmabhushan Sangeetha Kalanidhi Umayalpuram K. Sivaraman. He has accompanied many senior artists such as Ravi Kiran, the Late Mani Krishnaswamy, Sangeetha Kalanidhi, Sri. R. K. Srikantan, and Smt. Kamala Narayanan. Srinath has also performed in India, Canada and the US, having played numerous Jugalbandis and TalaVadya concerts. He also has several recordings, and has given lecture-demonstrations on LAYAM at various Universities. He won the Prince George’s Arts Council Award in 2006 when he presented a TalaVadya concert titled “Music Through Membranes”. In 2008 he received the Maryland State Arts Council Individual Artist Award.

Srinath has blended the Karaikudi Mani and Umayalpuram Sivaraman styles while keeping the distinct “kannaku” and “nadam” aspects of the two schools intact. He is a highly sought after Mridangam artist, and teaches Mridangam at the Jayamangala School in Maryland. He has MS and MBA degrees and is working as an independent consultant in Maryland.