Pravaha- the creative team

Sheejith Krishna

Pravaha has been conceptualised and choreographed by Sheejith Krishna who has worked with SIFAS in the past on Krishna Bharatham (2012). Sheejith Krishna studied, then taught, at the world-renowned institute for the classical arts in Chennai, India, the Kalakshetra Foundation, for 21 years (1989-2010). Now an independent artiste and choreographer, he has learnt Bharatanatyam, percussion, and vocal music from such stalwarts as Sarada Hoffman, Vikku Vinayakaram, and S. Rajaram. Among several full-length ensemble productions, he choreographed and directed for the Kalakshetra Repertory in 2007 the innovative Masquerade, an adaptation of Alexandre Dumas's Man in the Iron Mask in the idiom of Bharatanatyam, to critical and popular acclaim. Winner of the Sangeet Natak Akademi's prestigious Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar (2007) and the Sri Krishna Gana Sabha's Yagnaraman Award for Excellence in Dance (2010), he continues to perform as a lead dancer with the Kalakshetra Repertory's productions while choreographing his own solo and ensemble productions.

Jyothishmathi Sheejith Krishna

Jyothishmathi Sheejith Krishna has composed the music for Pravaha.  She is an accomplished Carnatic vocalist and composer who received her postgraduate diploma in music from the Kalakshetra Foundation in 1997. She has sung in the lead for many classic Kalakshetra Repertory ensemble dance productions. As an independent artist, she has toured with illustrious Bharatanatyam dancers such as CV Chandrasekkar, VP and Shanta Dhananjayan, Leela Samson, and Malavika Sarukkai. Jyothishmathi has composed several musical scores for dance as an individual artist and in partnership with dancer-choreographer husband Sheejith Krishna. Their innovative and critically lauded collaborations include Masquerade (2007), Krishna Bharatham (2009), and Parinaamam (2010).

Akhila Ramnarayan

Akhila Ramnarayan has collaborated with Sheejith on Pravaha.  She is involved in the scripting and has composed some of the music as well. Akhila Ramnarayan is an independent literary scholar and theatre artist who served as assistant professor of postcolonial studies at the University of Dayton's Department of English (2005-2011). She has worked extensively with students, researchers, and writers across academic disciplines and genres on curricular development in the humanities and the arts. She completed her PhD on Tamil literature and marumalarcci during the nationalist period, specifically Kalki Ra Krishnamurti's historical romances, at the Ohio State University (2006). Dr. Ramnarayan has performed lead roles with JustUs Theatre Repertory in Chennai since 2008.

Photo credit:  www.sahrdaya.org