Nitya Venkateswaran, born and raised in California, U.S.A, has been immersed in the classical dance form of Bharatanatyam for the past 25 years. She began her Bharatanatyam training in the Thanjavur style at the age of four from Vishal Ramani, Artistic Director of Shri Krupa Dance Company, San Jose, CA.

Nitya is one of the very few second generation Indian Americans to pursue Bharatanatyam as a career. Her passion and dedication led her to embark on a solo performance career which commenced in Chennai, India in December 2001 during the “Season” a 2 month long festival in Chennai where about over 300 music and dance concerts are held. She has since returned from a four month stay in India where she performed during the “season” and for various festivals and events in many parts of India. Nitya premiered a thematic tribute to the late Bharat Ratna Smt. M.S. Subbulakshmi at the Inaugural concert for Mylapore Fine Arts in December 2005 to a spellbound crowd. The popularity of this show, conceived by the Carnatic musician K.N. Shashikiran and choreographed by her Guru, Vishal Ramani, led to performances at the prestigious Gayana Samaja in Bangalore in January 2006 and the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts in Delhi in March 2006. In addition to her 6 solo concerts in Chennai, Nitya performed for at the prestigious Natyanjali Festivals at the Bhahadeswara Temple in Thanjavur and Sri Kumbeswarar temple in Kumbakonam during their Shivarathri celebrations. She was honored to be selected for these prestigious festivals and hopes to return in the years to come.

Audiences and critics attending Nitya’s performances have recognized and commented on Nitya's talent for executing challenging footwork sequences and adeptly emoting the musical content of Bharatanatyam. While in India, Nitya further enhances her understanding and mastery of the art form by studying Tamil, Sanskrit, music and nattuvangam.

With a love for dance and an innate understanding of complex rhythmic patterns Nitya quickly picked up the intricacies of Bharatanatyam and performed her dance debut (arangetram) at the age of 8, with her sister Swapna. Under the continued tutelage of Smt. Ramani, Nitya has performed in the San Francisco Bay Area with the Shri Krupa Dance Company as a senior dancer for the past 21 years, taking lead roles in several dance ballets.

Nitya performs on a regular basis in California and has many solo and group performances to her credit. She presented a Tsunami relief benefit in January 2005 in San Francisco to a sold out crowd. Nitya was also selected to be a soloist in the prestigious 27^th Annual San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival in June of 2005 where she was given an award by the San Francisco Foundation for her additional performance as narrator. This year, Nitya will engage in a choreography apprenticeship under her Guru, Mrs. Vishal Ramani, supported by the Alliance of California Traditional Arts’ Apprenticeship Program in partnership with the James Irvine Foundation and the San Francisco Foundation. Nitya is currently an Artist in Residence at the Oakland Asian Cultural Center. Her work developed here will be presented by the Oakland Asian Cultural Center in 2007.

A a lover of all dance forms, Nitya has also studied Modern/Graham technique at UC Berkeley and the Alvin Ailey American Dance Center and Flamenco in the Bay Area and Sevilla, Spain. Nitya’s true passion, however, lies with Bharatanatyam where she is able to experience joy and deepen her spirituality. She is forever indebted to her Guru for her constant guidance; enthusiasm and inspiration in helping Nitya realize her dreams.

A graduate of University of California, Berkeley, Nitya currently lives and works in the San Francisco Bay Area.