We heard from Lavanya Rajagopalan from Silambam Houston about her journey in gradually becoming a competitive grant winner over the years. This was a fantastic look into what it takes to pursue grants successfully, with an insider's view. Our last discussion was an excellent start to connecting the community and sharing ideas/challenges with each other. Participating in this group is crucial to advancing the Indian classical art forms' stature in this country. Please feel free to review the summary for this discussion by clicking the link on the title.

Continuing with our series, we spoke with Mentor Artist, Malini Srinivasan. Malini, an acclaimed Bharatha Natyam dancer, choreographer, and educator, has been navigating contemporary audiences for years. Apart from digging into Malini's journey, we also speak with her about how she crafts her storytelling such that she better connects with audiences today. If you're a dancer or dance educator of any genre in the Indian classical pantheon, this is sure to be an enlightening interview that may give you greater conviction on how you approach storytelling or even cause you to change it. Watch the full interview by clicking the link on the title.

The first in our Conversations with an Artist series, we spoke with Dr. Rohan Krishnamurthy, Carnatic percussionist and educator from the Bay Area. Rohan discusses his journey as an artist, focusing on his creative process particularly with his trio, The Alaya Project, which combines Carnatic music with elements of Jazz and Funk. Watch the recording of this interview by clicking the link on the title.

With nearly every corner of the United States represented, administrators of small and large Indian classical arts presenting organizations gathered to discuss their greatest challenges and to share solutions. The conversation centered most on the problem of saturation in major cities: the need to compete for Indian audience's time and attention given the number of Indian classical events occurring at the same time. If you're interested in learning more, take a look at this quick summary of the discussion by clicking the link on the title.

Emerging artists from around the country gathered to hear Sree Srinivasan, an NYC-based expert in digital communications lead them through strategies of telling their own authentic story on various social media platforms. Sree is CEO and Co-founder of Digimentors, a social/digital/AI training and consulting company. He served as Chief Digital Officer of New York City, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Columbia University, where he was also a full-time professor of journalism for over 20 years. To view a recording of the discussion, click here.