Kamala Caesar

🪔 About

Kamala Cesar is a distinguished Bharatanatyam dancer, teacher, and institution head, recognized for carrying on the style of her legendary guru, T. Balasaraswati. Born in Brooklyn, New York, Cesar is of Native American (Mohawk Tribe) and Filipino heritage. She commenced her study of Bharatanatyam, the classical dance of South India, in the early 1970s, training extensively both in the United States and in India under Balasaraswati herself. Cesar continued to study with Balasaraswati until her passing in 1984. In 1984, Cesar founded the Balasaraswati Institute of Music and Dance in New York to perpetuate her guru's distinctive dance style. Following the relocation of the Institute by Balasaraswati's daughter in 1988, Cesar reorganized her center, renaming it Lotus Fine Arts, which later became Lotus Music & Dance. As the founder and Artistic Director of Lotus Music & Dance, a not-for-profit organization established in 1989, Cesar has created a significant hub for multicultural performing arts in New York City. She has performed widely across the United States, Europe, and India. Beyond her contributions to Indian classical dance, Kamala Cesar is also deeply involved in Native American cultural preservation. Since 1997, she has directed numerous Native American and cross-cultural productions, including "Mohawk Heartsong" and "Drums Along the Hudson." Since 2002, she has produced "Drums Along the Hudson: A Native American Festival and Multicultural Celebration," Manhattan's only open-air Pow Wow. She also studies the Mohawk language and participates in the annual Strawberry Festival at Kanatsiohareke. Awards & Honours: National Endowment for the Arts Folk Art Apprenticeship (1986).