Viji Prakash

🪔 About

Vijaya Lakshmi Prakash, popularly known as Viji Prakash, is a pioneering and revered Indian Bharatanatyam artist, teacher, choreographer, and cultural leader who has played a foundational role in establishing Indian classical dance in the United States since 1977. Born in India, she began her formal training in the Thanjavur style of Bharatanatyam at the age of four under the renowned gurus Kalyanasundaram and the late Mahalingam Pillai at the Sri Raja Rajeshwari Bharata Natya Kala Mandir in Mumbai, where she trained intensively for nearly two decades. Prakash further expanded her artistic foundation by studying Mohini Attam and Kathakali with Padmabhushan Guru Kanak Rele at Nalanda Maha Vidyalaya, Mumbai. After relocating to Los Angeles, USA, Viji Prakash founded the Shakti School of Bharata Natyam in 1977, followed by the Shakti Dance Company in 1981, creating a vital cultural bridge for the Indian diaspora and the broader Southern California community. Her career spans over 40 years in practicing, performing, teaching, and choreographing Bharatanatyam. She has toured extensively across India, the United States, Europe, and Asia, presenting acclaimed solo performances, lecture-demonstrations, and group productions at major festivals and venues throughout the 1980s and 1990s. Prakash has trained over 2,000 students across multiple centers in Southern California, with more than 300 students completing their solo dance debuts (arangetrams) and touring internationally. She also served as an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Bharata Natyam at UCLA from 1999 to 2015. Awards & Honours: Best Guru Award (2001), Soorya Lifetime Achievement Award (2015), Devdasi National Award (2014), Kerala Sangeeta Nataka Academy Award (2013), UCLA/Indonesia Arts Education Residency Fellowship, 25th Apprenticeship Cohort Award.