FOUNDER, ARTISTIC DIRECTOR & CHOREOGRAPHER
Viji Prakash
Shakti School of Bharata Natyam
Shakti Dance Company
A revered artist, teacher, and cultural ambassador, Viji Prakash is among the pioneering figures who helped establish Bharata Natyam as a vibrant and respected art form in the United States. While captivating audiences worldwide through acclaimed solo performances and international tours throughout the 1980s and 1990s, she laid the foundation for a lasting legacy by establishing the Shakti School of Bharata Natyam in Los Angeles in 1977.
Steeped in the rich Thanjavur tradition from the age of four, Viji received rigorous and meticulous training under the legendary gurus Padmashri Guru Kalyanasundaram and the late Guru Mahalingam Pillai of the Sri Raja Rajeshwari Bharata Natya Kala Mandir in Mumbai. Guided by the same unwavering commitment to excellence, she has nurtured generations of dancers through Shakti, which has grown into a thriving artistic community with centers throughout Southern California, including West LA, San Fernando Valley, Torrance, and Orange County. The Shakti Dance Company extends the training of the school creating opportunities for dancers to perform in festivals, theaters, educational institutions, and cultural venues across the United States and abroad.
Viji’s artistic foundation extends beyond Bharata Natyam to encompass the classical traditions of Mohini Attam and Kathakali, which she studied under the distinguished Padma Bhushan Guru Kanak Rele at Nalanda Maha Vidyalaya, Mumbai. This multidisciplinary training has enriched her artistic vision and contributed to the depth, nuance, and versatility that characterize her work as a performer, choreographer, and teacher. A passionate advocate for arts education and cultural exchange, Viji was awarded the prestigious UCLA/Indonesia Arts Education Residency Fellowship through UCLA’s Center for Intercultural Performance. Supported by the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, the fellowship enabled her to conduct Bharata Natyam workshops and present performances in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. She also served as Adjunct Assistant Professor of Bharata Natyam at UCLA’s Department of Dance.
Widely respected for her artistry, and dedication to teaching, Viji Prakash has received numerous honors, including the prestigious Best Guru Award from the Music Academy, Chennai, and the Soorya Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of her extraordinary contributions to Bharata Natyam. For nearly five decades, she has inspired thousands of students and audiences alike, carrying forward a tradition that is both deeply rooted and continually evolving. Through her vision, excellence, and unwavering devotion to the arts, she has built not only a distinguished institution, but a lasting legacy that continues to enrich the cultural landscape of Southern California and beyond.
“The thing I loved most about my mom’s dancing
was her ability to inhabit a character. I would sit through her solo- 5 hour (I’m not joking) Ramayana dance drama, taking in all the characters from Ravana to Shabari, to Sita, Kaikeyi, Hanuman, journeying through the fascinating and emotional journey of the Ramayana through her. Dozens of scenes clearly etched in my mind and heart even three decades later. This moment of Dasharatha’s parting with his beloved Rama (who is banished to the forest for 14 years), would give me the weepies every time and still does!
Working on She’s Auspicious piece has made me reflect a lot on ideals of “beauty” and “perfection.” And as a woman and a dancer – those things are on the mind a lot, a driving force, an impossible goal. (I write about it in a new blogpost about “refinement” that will be up soon.)
And what I’ve come to realize and value, particularly recently, is that my mom’s focus, as a teacher and a dancer – was always on energy, passion, speed (!!!) exertion, GRIT, and involvement. Rarely was considered the idea of “beauty” or even “perfection” while dancing. In fact, in the effort to just stay alive in her grueling and challenging choreographies, there was hardly a moment to think about how you looked while dancing.
My mom was insanely gorgeous but it was never her “beauty” that struck me when I saw her dance. She’d push herself to her limits in a way that was so un-self aware, and if there is one word that comes to mind when I think of it, it was “honesty.”
In a time where beauty feels performed, center-staged, curated, detailed, deliberate, I enjoy the un-self aware quality of my mom’s dance. In some moments I remember I would feel embarrassed because I felt she had taken things too far, and yet I loved that she could take me on intense journeys through her ability to lose herself.
As I work on She’s Auspicious and question my own notions of aesthetic and “boundary,” I can’t help but feel like she may have been onto something . . .” Mythili Prakash
Achievement Awards
- Best Guru Award
- Soorya Life Time Achievement Award
- UCLA/Indonesia Arts Education Residency Fellowship
- Brody Choreographic Fellowship
- California Arts Council & Torrance Cultural Arts Commission
Viji Prakash is the recipient of the acclaimed “Best Guru” award from the Music Academy, Chennai, India
Viji Prakash received the “Soorya Life Time Achievement Award” for her contribution towards teaching and choreographic work.
Recognizing her appreciation of diverse cultures, Viji Prakash received a fellowship through the UCLA/Indonesia Arts Education Residency Fellowship Program of the UCLA Center for Intercultural Performance and supported by the U.S. Department Of State, Bureau Of Educational & Cultural Affairs.
Viji Prakash is a two time recipient of the Brody Choreographic Fellowship.
Viji Prakash is the recipient of both a California Arts Council award and an “Excellence in the Arts Award” from the Torrance Cultural Arts Commission.
