About Natyabhoomi

The School

Natyabhoomi School of Dance was founded by Ms. Deepti Mukund Navile in 1994. Her sister Shruthi Mukund joined her in 2001 as Co-Artistic Director. Natyabhoomi is the fruit of their passion and dedication. The school offers quality dance instruction in the Mysore Style of Bharathanatyam, the South Indian classical dance form, and in Indian folk dances. The classes are offered in Potomac, Maryland.

Currently, Shreya Navile is the Associate Artistic Director and Dakshi Pillai is the Teaching Associate.

At Natyabhoomi school of dance not only do we teach classical Indian dance style Bharathnatyam we are also a second home for our students. Our students are primarily from the South Asian diaspora and dance class is where they find sisterhood and get to celebrate their Indian heritage.

The Natyabhoomi studio is a place where our students find a second home. Most of our students are from the South Asian diaspora and over the years at Natyabhoomi they find sisterhood, learn to be proud of, and celebrate their Indian heritage. The students while also being artistically challenged, training, and learning to be disciplined and committed to this dance form also find ways to express their cultural identities unapologetically.

Many of our students who are now adults still stay in touch with each other and come back to Deepti and the Natyabhoomi family.

Artistic Rigor

We offer classes for all ages and expect a two times a week commitment at a minimum. The commitment grows based on their growing knowledge base, performances, or preparation for a Rangapravesha. Natyabhoomi has successfully hosted 29 Rangapraveshas since 2003, the most recent being Neharika Govindarajan on September 4th and Shrujana Kunnam on Sept 10th.

We host dance intensives, workshops, and “Natya”, the annual summer dance camps. We invite guest teachers and artists to our studio regularly for the students to learn and watch. The students are encouraged to participate in all productions and presentations of the school as well as in community events.

Productions, Choreography & Innovations

Choreographing innovative pieces using contemporary music or movements but keeping the essence of the traditional style is the specialty of the school. Natyabhoomi has presented unique thematic productions and dance dramas, such as Yatra, Surya, Meghdhoot, Andal, Kumara Sambhavam, Geetha Govindam, Ritumala, Om, Eka, Ishani, The Girl Child Project, and Rukmini Kalyanam.

Along with dance and performances, we teach our students all aspects of producing a show and give them opportunities to assist during live performances.

Performances

The school has performed at the following venues across the US and India:

Washington DC area Temples
Indian Associations
Indian Dance Educators Association (IDEA) shows
Lunar New Year Celebrations at the Fair Oaks Mall
Utsav at the Quince Orchard Library
Children’s Theater In The Woods at Wolf Trap
Strathmore Mansion
Barns at Wolf Trap
Red Cross
Embassy of India, Indonesia, and Turkey Embassy

Festivals

The school has performed at the following festivals:

9th American Natya Festival at St. Louis, MO
Fiesta Asia – Washington DC
Dance Asia – Dance DC Festival
National Cherry Blossom Festival
International Children’s Festival as part of Passport DC
Washington Folk Festival
Smithsonian Folklife Festival
International Children’s Festival at the Wolf Trap

As an Organizer

Natyabhoomi organizes the annual Maha Shivarathri Dance Festival, an all-night event at the Sri Siva Vishnu Temple in Greenbelt, MD.

As a Host

The school has hosted many visiting artists from India, including Guru Smt. Lalitha Srinivasan, Gurus Smt Sandhya and Sri Kiran Subramaniam, Guru Bhanumati, Guru Swapnasundari, Guru Vasundara Doraiswami, Narendra and Anusha (dance duo), Nritarutya contemporary dance ensemble, Srikanth Natarajan, and Praveen Kumar.