Samudra Dance Creations / Jyotsna Vaidee

Earth Speaks is a dance-music production that explores humankind’s intricate physical, emotional and spiritual relationship to the EARTH (PRITHVI in Sanskrit). When that connection, that umbilical cord is disturbed or even severed what happens to our being, our existence? The production incorporates Indian mythology, Greek mythology and contemporary stories to tell the story of Mother Earth in HER voice.

Jyotsna Vaidee (Artistic Director)
Jyotsna Vaidee is a Bharatanatyam choreographer and dancer and the founder of Samudra Dance Creations. She advocates that the authentic technique of Bharatanatyam is a rich language that can be used to communicate and discover themes that are both traditional and contemporary. To that end Jyotsna has created a number of full length original choreographic productions including The Quest Unsaid, The Caged Birds Sings and Kaavyam: Poetry in Motion.

In addition to her choreographic work, Jyotsna is a well-established Bharatanatyam soloist who has immersed herself in the art for over 30 years. Her performances have received critical acclaim in India and North America. She has received several awards including Best Performer Award from the Parthasarathy Sabha and the title Nritya Shiromani in India and the prestigious Indo-Shastri Fellowship from Canada.

Jyotsna has always sought out rigorous training to perfect her art and is a disciple of world renowned Gurus Padma Bhushan Prof. C.V Chandrasekhar and abhinaya exponent Smt. Bragha Bessell. A multi-faceted personality she holds a Masters in Computer Engineering and is a Product leader with Google. She finds that ultimately creativity is the driving force that helps her excel at both art & technology.