Nadhi Thekkek

🪔 About

Nadhi Thekkek is a prominent Bharatanatyam dancer, choreographer, and the Artistic Director of Nava Dance Theatre, based in San Francisco, California, USA. She performed her arangetram (solo dance debut) in 2001, after more than a decade of foundational training under Guru Smt. Sundara Swaminathan of Kala Vandana Dance Company in San Jose, California. Subsequently, she trained under Guru Smt. Padmini Chari at Nritya School of Dance in Houston, Texas, starting in 2006. Since 2012, Thekkek has continued her advanced training under Guru Sri. A. Lakshmanaswamy in Chennai, India, returning annually to perform at the Chennai Music and Dance Festival. She has also studied Carnatic music with Smt. Anuradha Suresh to enhance her understanding of musical arrangements for dance. As the Artistic Director of Nava Dance Theatre, Thekkek utilizes Bharatanatyam as a contemporary medium to explore themes of place, identity, and politics, particularly through the lens of her experience as a diasporic South Asian woman and child of immigrants. Her choreographic works often reimagine how traditional art forms can serve marginalized narratives. Notable productions include "Rogue Gestures/Foreign Bodies," which draws inspiration from oral histories of women immigrants to the US, and "Broken Seeds Still Grow." Her work has been showcased internationally at venues such as the Scotiabank Dance Centre (Vancouver), La Mama Experimental Theatre Club (NYC), Dance Place (D.C.), Southbank Center (London), and Krishna Gana Sabha (Chennai). Beyond her artistic pursuits, Nadhi Thekkek holds a PhD in Bioengineering from Rice University, earned in 2013, and applies an investigative process to her dance creations. Through Nava Dance Theatre, she also produces and co-facilitates the Unrehearsed Artist Residency Program, supporting South Asian dancemakers who challenge the status quo, and co-founded Varnam Salon, a dance series highlighting traditional arts repertoire. She also teaches Bharatanatyam classes for adults. Awards & Honours: Isadora Duncan Award Nomination for Best Direction and Choreography, Dance/USA Fellowships to Artists Award.