Zoom Appearances in 2020:
May 2020: Sessions on mudras (hand gestures) and storytelling for Yoga Buzz
May 2020: Seminar on River Cities for the Missouri History Museum
May & June 2020: Storytelling for the St. Louis International Storytelling Festival’s Digital Decameron
September 2020: A Session on Hindu Goddesses for Yoga Buzz
November 2020: Narrated our 43rd Annual {Virtual} Performance
TALKS & PERFORMANCES IN 2019:
September 15, 2019: I told an interfaith story at the Arts & Faith Concert @ The Sheldon. Was a lot of fun! :-)
October 3 & 4: I gave a talk at the Saint Louis Art Museum: Om Mani Padme Hum, or The Jewel in the Lotus of the Heart. This was a talk on Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity, & the Silk Road.
September 22: Storytelling @ The Saint Louis Art Museum for International Day of Peace.
Every Sunday in September: I gave a class on Buddhism & Hinduism at Ladue Chapel.
And, of course, we gave our 42nd Annual Performance on Nov. 15-17! I wrote & narrated the script:
You Are My True Reflection: The Secret Letters of Radha & Krishna. I will post a link soon.
We also performed at the Saint Louis Art Museum, Missouri History Museum, and many schools/universities across the St. Louis area.
TALKS/PERFORMANCES IN 2018:
January: Gandhi, Dr. King, and the Persistent Path of Peace. Missouri History Museum 1/14/18
February: The same talk, at Florissant Valley Community College 2/28/18
March: The same talk, at St. Louis Ethical Society 3/28/18
May: The same talk, at Pfizer 5/11/18
July: I was the MC for an arangetram (Indian classical dance graduation) in Atlanta, GA. 7/7/18
August: A Gallery Talk at the Saint Louis Art Museum: The Strong Wondrous Song of the Body—Myth, Meaning, and Metamorphosis in the Sculpture of Degas, Sintenis, and Kolbe. 8/2/18 & 8/3/18.
September: Storytelling for International Day of Peace at the Saint Louis Art Museum 9/23/18.
October: A series of talks for Ladue Chapel Adult Education—A Mosaic of Many Hearts—an Introduction to the Religions, Art, and History of the Indian Subcontinent. 10/7, 10/14, 10/21, and 10/28, 2018
November: I narrated our production The Forgotten Ramayana: the Tale of Urmila, the Sleeping Princess, at Dances of India’s 41st Annual Performance. 11/16-11/18, 2018.
Performances in 2018 include: Kirkwood Public Library, Missouri History Museum, Saint Louis Art Museum, Contemporary Art Museum, the Gatesworth, Forsyth School.
2017:
SAINT LOUIS ART MUSEUM GALLERY TALK: AUGUST 31 & SEPTEMBER 1, 2017slam.org
Topic: The Silk Road! An Iridescent Exchange: Fashion & the Fantastic Along the Silk Road.
ALSO: INDIAN DANCE & CULTURE AT THE SAINT LOUIS ART MUSEUM, AUGUST 20, 2017slam.org
SAINT LOUIS ART MUSEUM GALLERY TALKS: JAN 5 & 6, 2017
THE GREAT DANCE OF THE UNIVERSE: MOVEMENT, MYTH, & MEANING IN INDIAN ART. SEE MORE INFORMATION BELOW.
A still of me performing Hari Smarane Mado (Think of Krishna Always) at our 2015 Performance, in the Mejuvani storytelling style of the devadasis (temple dancers).
SAINT LOUIS ART MUSEUM
Gallery Talk 11:00 AM
Thursday, January 5, 11 am
Friday, January 6, 6 pm
The Great Dance of the Universe: Movement, Myth, and Meaning in Indian Art
Nartana Premachandra, author and classical Indian dancer
Sculpture Hall. Free.
Space may be limited in smaller galleries; please arrive early
St. Louis Art Museum Designing Nature at Family Sundays in April
By SLAMDMM | April 1, 2016
Join us every Sunday in April and discover how people across the world celebrate the beauty of nature through the production of art. Natural motifs are used to decorate everything from prayer rugs and household objects, to the personal regalia of kings. During Family Sundays: Designing Nature, we will explore the Museum’s collection of Islamic and Indian art with hands-on activities and family tours that combine art and nature.
Sunday, April 3, 10, 17, and 24
1:00–4:00 pm; Family tour at 2:30 pm
Special Family Sunday events this month also include:
Storytime in the Galleries
Sunday, April 10, 2:00 pm
Indian Folktales
Led by Nartana Premachandra—writer, classical Indian dancer, and president of Dances of India.
My workshop at the St. Louis Art Museum:
A MOSAIC OF MANY HEARTS: LITERATURE, MYTH, AND IDENTITY IN THE INDIAN SUBCONTINENT
Wednesday, December 2, 2015 5:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Vast and varied, the Indian subcontinent has been shaped over several millennia by literature, myth, and religion. In this multidisciplinary workshop, we will discuss how these cultural and spiritual expressions have influenced the richly textured identity of India. Topics will include a brief introduction to classical Indian literature and Hindu myth, with a discussion of some Buddhist myth, and a demonstration of classical Indian dance. Teachers will learn basic mudras, or hand gestures, of Indian dance that animate both the dancing body as well as many Hindu and Buddhist sculptures. In addition, we will relate what we have learned to sculpture and objects in the Hundu, Buddhist, and Islamic art galleries and will engage in ekphrastic poetry. These layered interactions will enable teachers to gain an understanding of the lively diversity that informs the Indian imagination.
Led by Nartana Premachandra, writer, performing artist, public speaker, and President of Dances of India
PRE-REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED.
The promo flyer for my reading at Southwestern Illinois College in October 2015
I and Theckla Mehta, my partner in creating dance dramas for Dances of India, were interviewed on St. Louis Public Radio's Cityscape on November 6th, 2015. Here is the link:
http://news.stlpublicradio.org/post/dances-india-opens-38th-season-incandescent
In 2014 I endured a tremendous series of losses---my grandmother, for whom I'd been caring, died in July 11th. My father passed away completely unexpectedly on December 20th of that year. And a beloved professor of classics at Washington University, Kevin Herbert, died on February 10th, 2015. I was invited to speak at his memorial at Washington University in October 2015. I read a couple of poems based on these series of losses--which are on the page Poems on Loss & Magic. In the meantime, here is a link to the memorial--I'm about 11 minutes in:
A feature on Dances of India in the November 13th, 2015 issue of Ladue News. Please go to
and search for Dances of India. I will post easier links very soon!
