Sumana Sen Mandala, MFA
Director
Sumana has been trained meticulously by several gurus. Her initial training under Smt. Manjula Mudambi and then Kalashri Smt. Asha Gopal led to her arangetram (debut) in 1989 in Arizona, as a student of the Pandanallur school of Bharata Natyam. While at the University of Virginia, she was guided by Dr. Aruna Viswadoss in examining Tamil language and literature for dance, while refining her technique in abhinaya. Sumana spent 2 years in Sapporo, Japan, where she had the honor of studying and performing Kagura (Shinto ritual dance) with the Hokkaido Shrine Troupe and of being in conversation with buyō (舞踊) master and scholar Gunji-sensei (郡司正勝), exploring the practical and spiritual connections across cultures in dance. She also performed Bharata Natyam and conducted comparative dance workshops there.
In 1996, Sumana sought guidance in dance under Padma Bhushan Dr. Padma Subrahmanyam at Nrithyodaya, Chennai, India, spending 3 years immersed in a virtual guru-shishya setting, working to master Bharata Nrityam and the Natyashastra-based pedagogy of imparting Indian classical dance. As part of her training, she also imbibed the Vazhuvoor style of Bharata Natyam and served as research assistant to Dr. Padma and instructor for primary and intermediate classes at Nrithyodaya. Sumana performed extensively in India with Dr. Padma's troupe, including the Chidambaram Natyanjali Festivals, Doordarshan, and debut performance at Nungambakkam Cultural Academy (January 1999). She continues to perfect her art with practice, choreography, and further training and collaborations in dance arts, including earning a Master of Fine Arts degree in Dance at Arizona State University in 2020. She presented her MFA applied project and most recent Dansense Event, Look into my Voice, Hear my Dance (LVHD) and has published her work. Sumana is an ASU Gammage Teaching Artist trained in the Kennedy Center Arts Integration method.
In 1996, Sumana sought guidance in dance under Padma Bhushan Dr. Padma Subrahmanyam at Nrithyodaya, Chennai, India, spending 3 years immersed in a virtual guru-shishya setting, working to master Bharata Nrityam and the Natyashastra-based pedagogy of imparting Indian classical dance. As part of her training, she also imbibed the Vazhuvoor style of Bharata Natyam and served as research assistant to Dr. Padma and instructor for primary and intermediate classes at Nrithyodaya. Sumana performed extensively in India with Dr. Padma's troupe, including the Chidambaram Natyanjali Festivals, Doordarshan, and debut performance at Nungambakkam Cultural Academy (January 1999). She continues to perfect her art with practice, choreography, and further training and collaborations in dance arts, including earning a Master of Fine Arts degree in Dance at Arizona State University in 2020. She presented her MFA applied project and most recent Dansense Event, Look into my Voice, Hear my Dance (LVHD) and has published her work. Sumana is an ASU Gammage Teaching Artist trained in the Kennedy Center Arts Integration method.
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Artist Statement
I dance for beauty, power and community. Each stage of the process—body, mind, heart--builds up to squeeze out the juice from the stories i move. These stories grow from collaborations with my community partners. They grow when our histories and our present come together. We listen and witness. And we respond with dance, the sum of moving, thinking and feeling. When you join me, our dance will be the call to community—none out, all in.
I live in process where Bharata-Nrityam technique, collaboration and creative tools intersect. I teach students so they can be close to Indian culture, but i also teach so they can more fully grow in their contemporary context. My work is my message to them and to all who engage: in “The Power of YOU,” that they are not alone, and they have choices; in “EMBRACE,” that observation and response are the foundation of meaningful change, and that change is growth; in “Kriti,” that different perspectives help us make greater meaning; and in “LVHD,” that each of us has the privilege of voice and the privilege to listen.
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