Welcome to the Varnam Salon!

The Varnam Salon is a series of performances by senior art practitioners, mid-career artists and upcoming dancers. This initiative began in 2018 in San Francisco, has been supported by the California Arts Council Local Impact Grant, and was co-founded by Nadhi Thekkek, Preethi Ramaprasad, and Shruti Abhishek. This salon was conceived to see bharatanatyam practitioners in their element, to encourage the continued practice of timeless pieces in the bharatanatyam repertoire, and to support artists with strong ties to California communities. 

​Varnam refers to the main piece of a bharatanatyam performance.  Known for its physical and expressive vigor, the varnam is often an exploration of relationships for both the performer and the audience.  Varnam is a long, endurance piece that requires depth of understanding of the chosen narrative and a depth of understanding of the dancing body. We chose the varnam in some ways to subvert the insta-dance culture of posting and sharing flashy clips on social media; instead, we want to encourage dancers to spend months creating and perfecting a piece, perform it in an intimate performance space, and discuss their process with the viewers. 
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We are thrilled that so many dancers took producing and presenting into their own hands and created Varnam Salons all over the world. We hope this series inspires more ideas on how we can make sure artists at any level have paid opportunities to perform.

Apply now for our next Varnam Salon on December 7th, 2024 and for upcoming salons in 2025. .

Past Performances:

​After in-person Varnam Salons in 2017 and 2018, we moved online due to the pandemic. The first set of performances for the 2020-2021 season was November 6-7, and featured Sharanyaa Ganesh, Archana Raja, Visalini Sundaram, Meera Suresh.

The second set of performances for the 2020-2021 season was February 26-27 and featured Mythili Prakash, Ganesh Vasudeva, Navya Maitri Konda, and Vibha Raju.

The third set of performances for the 2020-2021 season was May 20-21 and featured Surabhi Bharadwaj, Nikita Rao, Aishwarya Raman, Vivek Ramanan.
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This event is co-curated and co-produced by Shruthi Abhishek, Preethi Ramaprasad, and Nadhi Thekkek.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is this only for dancers rooted in California?

• Yes. This means you live in California, you teach in California, or have other deep ties in California (i.e. used to live here or are temporarily out of town for school.) However, if this initiative has inspired you, feel free to start your own salon!! We would love to see Varnam Salons everywhere.

​Can I nominate someone even though I am not applying myself? 

• Yes. Just write N/A for the other fields in the form. 

Is it mandatory to nominate someone?

• No.

What kind of varnam can I choose to perform?

• Literally any varnam of your choice. It can be one you choreographed or one that you learned from your teacher, as long as you have the permission to perform it and use the music. 

Is this a paid concert?

• Yes. Fees will be discussed with performers once they are selected but will depend on category. 

How can I watch the concert?

• We will be sending out the details once the performers are selected. We will be in-person from here on out and our next in-person salon is December 7th. These will not be live streamed. 

Will you be releasing the live streams for rent?

• No.
  
  

Is there an age minimum or maximum?

• No max! But, for the emerging artist category - you must be 18+. We created this category to inspire lifelong learning through practice and performance of traditional bharatanatyam repertoire. Parents - please don’t apply on behalf of your children. 

How many Varnam Salons will you be having?

• We anticipate one in December 2024 and another in 2025, dates to be announced. Your application rolls over to all salons unless for some reason you want to retract your application. But note, we will have new application deadlines for each salon for additional applicants.

Will you record or re-share the performances?

• The artist is welcome to record their own performances. We do not record the performances unless the artist asks us to. We do record a few minutes of the performance for grant reports with the dancer’s permission. We do record the discussion afterward.
• This also means if you buy a ticket and miss the performance, you will not be able to see it later.

Is there anything else I should know?

• You must have the permission to use the music for the performance.
• If the work is not your choreography, you must have the permission of the original choreographer or teacher to perform their piece. Let us know if you have any questions about this.

Header photo by Peter Prato

Contact Us

varnamsalon@gmail.com​

Varnam Salon is based in the San Francisco Bay Area with past showings in San Francisco, Berkeley, and online. ​