Today we’d like to introduce you to Priya Subramanian.
Priya, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I am a classically trained dancer from Chennai, India and have had the fortune of being trained by legendary artists and gurus. I am a health informatics professional by day, and a curator for art outreach initiatives by night. I believe in leveraging classical arts as a medium to spread awareness and gain support for social justice initiatives – both in the United States and in my hometown, Chennai, India.
Despite being a dancer and a teacher myself, inspired and guided by my spiritual Guru, H. H. Maharanyam Sri Sri Muralidhara Swamiji, I have stepped away from the traditional dance tuition model and instead dedicated much of my time to creating a platform for other artists and innovators to showcase their work in support of significant causes. By fostering collaboration in the performing arts, I am humbled to be the co-creator behind several theatrical, classical dance productions, that have been artistically directed by me, in conjunction with other eminent choreographers and staged across the USA, including the premiere of a magnum opus on the biography of India’s greatest saint bard, Thyagaraja in September 2020 at the Eisemann Center for Performing Arts in Richardson, TX.
Through my outreach through arts, our dance company has created a platform for many young and budding dancers across the US, providing them the opportunity to be mentored by and perform alongside senior performers in professional productions. In 2017, one of our dance productions (a collaboration with Natyarpana Dance Company badee out of Milwaukee, WI) traveled from Wisconsin to Minnesota to premiere as an ‘intercultural exchange’ at the Smithsonian’s ‘Beyond Bollywood’ exhibit at the Minnesota Historical Society.
Has it been a smooth road?
Having been born and raised in India and migrating to the USA in itself is a huge culture shock, especially if the first plane ride that you took outside the country was to travel to the United States! After moving to the US, you try your best to “fit in” to this culture while still keeping your roots intact. It takes many years for an immigrant to build a cultural identity, or for that matter any identity! For me, it took only 20 years! During this time, I tried to further my learning of this art form, impart dance lessons to passionate students as well as perform around the country.
When I first embarked on this journey of *art with a purpose*, I had no credibility nor an arts population that could embrace this very unique art form, Bharatanatyam, which I was using as a pivot for humanitarian causes. Raising funds for causes such as human trafficking was not welcomed by everyone. Furthermore, I was seeing several Indian classical arts practitioners compromising on quality for other gains. To emerge as someone who places utmost importance for quality in every aspect (quality of the dancers, quality of the performing venue, quality of the sound, lighting, costumes and overall aesthetics) and raise funds in an ethical manner for causes that were close to my heart was a daunting task.
Please tell us about Flute ‘n Feather Dance Company.
I am the founder and artistic director at Flute ‘n Feather Dance Company that is now based out of Park Cities, Dallas, since my family moved to Texas in 2018. I am also a volunteer at Love To Share Foundation America, a nonprofit 501(c)3 organization. Flute ‘n Feather, in partnership with Love To Share uses Indian Classical Arts as a medium to raise funds for social justice initiatives. Most recently, our production, Sri Thyagaraja – Ragam, Thanam, Pallavi that premiered in Dallas in September 2019, was a fundraiser to aid the medically underserved and underprivileged in a small, rural village in South India. For our dance productions, my team collaborates with artists across the country (as well as across continents) to stage high-quality performances. The Thyagaraja dance production, for instance, had over 30 artists from all over the United States – from California to Wisconsin, Chicago, North Carolina, and its home state, TX as well as from India. The soundtrack for this production was recorded by stellar musicians based out of Chennai, India and digitally mixed and mastered in a studio at Durham, NC. We rely on technology heavily to create art and we have distinguished ourselves by being creators who like to collaborate with professionals, deserving artists, especially children who have a flair for the art form and channel 100% of our proceeds towards noteworthy causes.
Is our city a good place to do what you do?
Since most of our work happens across technology, the place that I reside in does not matter for my job itself. Having said that, we had a fully sold-out show in September, with a diverse community, including Texas elected officials, teachers from various art institutions attending the show. That tells me that there is a great thirst for art, specifically classical arts, if it is packaged and presented well. Dallas has a diverse community that comprises of some terrific connoisseurs for the art form that I practice, and I would definitely recommend this place to anyone starting out.
Contact Info:
- Email: flutenfeather@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/flutenfeatherdance/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FlutenFeather
- Other: www.youtube.com/c/FlutenFeather
Image Credit:
Stitching Colors, Khushboo Maithani, Anand Thiyagarajan
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