Rasika Kumar

🪔 About

Rasika Kumar is a highly acclaimed Bharatanatyam performer and choreographer based in California's Silicon Valley. She is recognized as “among the best of this second generation of Indian dancers,” known for her traditional foundation combined with contemporary sensibilities. Rasika began her Bharatanatyam training at the age of four under the tutelage of her mother, Mythili Kumar, the Artistic Director of Abhinaya Dance Company of San Jose, California. She performed her arangetram in 1996. Her advanced training includes studies with renowned teachers such as Prof. C.V. Chandrasekar, Smt. Kalanidhi Narayanan, Smt. Bragha Bessell, and additional coaching and mentoring from Mavin Khoo. Beyond Bharatanatyam, Rasika also pursued Odissi, starting her training in 1994 with Smt. Asako Takami and continuing since 2008 with Smt. Niharika Mohanty and Smt. Sujata Mohapatra at Guru Shradha. Her career as a performing artist and choreographer spans decades. Rasika has been performing and touring as a Bharatanatyam artist since 1996, initially with Abhinaya Dance Company's productions (1996-2000) and later as a featured soloist and principal dancer in over 20 of the company's performances from 2005 to 2016. Her performances have taken her across the United States and India. She has also engaged in significant collaborations with other artists, including Marie Basile (Contemporary) and Karen Gabay (Ballet) for “Goddess, And…” (2016), and Nadhi Thekkek and Sahasra Sambamoorthi for “Unfiltered” (2019). Rasika commenced her choreography journey in 2002 while at MIT, and since returning to the Bay Area in 2005, she has choreographed numerous works for Abhinaya Dance Company, exploring both traditional and contemporary themes. She holds the position of Associate Artistic Director of Abhinaya Dance Company of San Jose and was appointed Director of the newly launched Junior Dance Company in January 2020. She also coaches students for their Arangetrams. Awards & Honours: Arts Council/Silicon Valley Performing Arts Fellowship (2008), Isadora Duncan Award for Music/Sound/Text (2011), Lakshmi Viswanathan Award for Tanjore Quartet from Sri Krishna Gana Sabha (2014), Isadora Duncan Award for Outstanding Achievement in Performance (2018).