Monica Cooley is a respected performer, teacher and choreographer of Bharatanatyam,
the classical dance of South India. She is a senior disciple of the renowned
dancing couple, Narasimhachari and Vasanthalakshmi of Chennai, India. An American
born in Singapore and raised in Indonesia, with an academic background in South
Asian Studies and over 25 years of training, performing and teaching experience
in Bharatanatyam, Monica is uniquely suited as an interpreter of Indian culture
for Western audiences. She performs regularly in the United States and India
in addition to teaching Bharatanatyam at her institution, Kala Nivedanam, in
Nashville, TN, which she established in 1992. She is also a faculty member
of the Vanderbilt Dance Program and has served as visiting professor for Indian
dance at Stephens College in Columbia, Missouri. A skilled teacher, Monica
has trained many students to professional level, offering them opportunities
to perform in Kala Nivedanam productions such as Megha Sandesha, Deivika Nrityam,
and the current production, Subhaashitam: Parables from India.
Arthi Reddy has been a student at Kala Nivedanam since 1996 and a Kala Nivedanam
company member since 2000. Following her arangetram in 2002, she has continued
to learn new works from Ms. Cooley and to perform professionally, both as a
solo dancer and as part of the Kala Nivedanam ensemble, taking leading roles
in Megha Sandesha and Deivika Nrityam. She is a recent graduate of Lipscomb
University in Nashville with a degree in Economics and Finance.
Danika Desai has
been a student of Bharatanatyam at Kala Nivedanam since 1999 and in recent years
has begun to perform locally as part of the Kala Nivedanam performing ensemble.
A 2007 graduate of University School of Nashville, Danika’s
love of Indian classical dance has led her to defer enrollment in the University
of California at Santa Cruz for one year to allow her to complete her Bharatanatyam
arangetram scheduled for March 2008 and to tour with the KN Dance Company.