Executive Director – Soorya Performing Arts

Early Days

Prasanna Kasthuri hails from a family of literature and music and the eldest son of – Mr. Raghusutha and Mrs. K R Padmaje. Both his parents were well-known literary figures of Kannada language from South India. Prasanna is a reputed performer and a teacher of two classical dance forms – Bharathanatyam and Kathak. He is respectfully referred to as “Guruji” for his service to Indian performing arts.

Prasanna Kasthuri established Shantala Arts Academy, in Bengaluru, India, in 1985. He presented several important performances in India. He holds a 24 hours nonstop Marathon Dancing record from 1986. He presented Kaavya Kinkini (1988), a repertoire in Bharathanatyam based on ancient Kannada literature; Subhadra Parinaya (1991) – a Sanskrit Dance Drama; Shringara Nayakaru (1994) – a production on Nine sentiments from the perspective of a man. He was invited to perform in Lasya Dance Company from United Kingdom in 1990, and teach, train, perform in Paris, France in 1991 for Soliel d'Or, a French dance company. Prasanna moved to the USA for higher studies and artistic exploration in 1994.

In the land of opportunities

Prasanna worked as a volunteer dance guru at Arathi School of Indian Dances from 1994-96 in San Antonio, TX. He presented Silappadikaaram in Lila Cockrell Theater in San Antonio, TX 2001. Later, Prasanna established Soorya Performing Arts in 2002 in St. Louis, MO to promote Indian classical dance, music, and theater in the greater Midwest of United States of America. He headed many projects supported by the prestigious Regional Arts Council of St. Louis and Missouri Arts Council. He created unique productions such as – “Gokula Nirgamana” – the first Indian Opera ever performed outside India. In this production, dancers sang and moved simultaneously, a rare achievement in the field of Bharathanatyam. He collaborated with Grammy Awardee Pandit Vishwamohan Bhat to compose his innovative – “Rainbow-II” – a dance production based on famous English and American Poems. He was invited to International Tap festivals held in Oklahoma and St. Louis and performed in Asian Festivals in Columbus, Ohio.

Organizer

Prasanna Kasthuri established Shanthala Arta Academy in 1985 in Bengaluru, India. He promoted Indian classical dances in rural India by presenting his flagship - "Shanthala Nrityotsava," in the villages of "Nandi Grama" in the Taluk centers of Vijaya Pura and Kanakapura. Prasanna's brother - Pulikeshi, continued this sacred practice of supporting other artists by organizing Magadi Nrityotsava and later Shantala Nritya Vaibhava series.

When arriving in the USA, Prasanna observed that there were few opportunities for Indian classical dancers and decided to create an Indian classical dance festival. Prasanna initially converted his annual shows into a three-day dance festival called the St. Louis Indian Dance Festival. It was later renamed the American Natya Festival. Guruji Prasanna Kasthuri started American Natya Idol competitions and a Youth Dance festival to maintain the quality of youth presentations. The Natya Idol competition is now conducted in many parts of the country.

Guruji Prasanna is an accomplished Carnatic vocalist and mrudangist. He established the Saint Louis Indian Music Festival, which invites senior Gurus from across the country to showcase their musical prowess.

In the land of opportunities