upcoming grant deadline: 05/15/2024
Viji has been studying Bharatanatyam, a classical Indian dance form, since she was three years old. In addition to being a dancer, Viji works as a historian and teacher, with the goal of preserving and presenting this ancient dance form. She promotes cross-cultural awareness through teaching, workshops, and demonstrations in local schools, community centers, as well as colleges and universities. Through Viji’s original work, which she creates with her company Three Aksha, and collaborations with other local artists, she incorporates contemporary, socially relevant themes, from dowry practices to war veterans. Viji’s role as practitioner is to educate the diverse community she is a part of in Pennsylvania about the need and necessity for an art form that is a component of exploring and sharing personal identity, emotions and cultural awareness. Her work as choreographer is one way second-generation Indians and others will be able to connect to their roots in a new place and time.