Dr Avanthi Meduri

 

Job Title: Reader in Dance; Programme Convener (MA in South Asian Dance Studies) Qualifications: MA English Literature, University of Texas, Austin; PhD Department of Performance Studies, Tisch School of Arts, New York University Telephone: +44 (0)20 8392 3448 Email Address: A.Meduri@roehampton.ac.uk

Meduri is a Reader and Programme Convener of the MA in South Asian Dance Studies, which functions as part of the MA Cluster Programme at Roehampton University. She is a graduate of the Tisch School of Arts, New York University, where she obtained her PhD in Performance Studies, with a thesis on the transnational traditions of Bharatanatyam. She has carried out archival and ethnographic fieldwork in India, the US and the UK, examining dance from cross-cultural, and interdisciplinary perspectives. Recipient of several national and international awards and fellowships, she has published in many academic journals and regularly contributes to international conferences. As a Ford Fellow, and Academic Director of the Centre for Contemporary Culture, New Delhi, Meduri curated the Rukmini Devi Arundale (1904-1986) photo-archive and presented it in India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, Japan and the UK (2003-2004). Trained in Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi, two classical forms of India, she works with theatrical and choreographic projects that explore the intersections between academic theory and practice, and locates her performance work within the intellectual framework of what is known as 'practice as research' in higher education.

South Asian Dance Studies: A New Pedagogy

What is special about the new South Asian Dance MA offered at Roehampton? How does the new education offered in this programme equip students to engage with the many new issues emerging on the world dance scene today? I could provide a scholarly answer to these two overlapped questions. But I refrain from doing this because such a narrative would fail to communicate the exciting story of the constitution of what is known as the MA Cluster Programme, comprising a suite of five MAs, including South Asian Dance. I provide instead a brief narrative that describes the creation of the South Asian Dance MA, evolving out of both my academic and ‘practice as research’ explorations realized in India, US, and the UK. I sketch this travel story to describe the global world-view of the new programme and the myriad ways in which 'you' the prospective student/researcher can chart your own intellectual trajectory within the transnational programme.

Dr. Meduri first saw exposure to 'Dance' as a young woman in South India. In her teens, she learnt Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi, two major schools of the classical genre, from traditional gurus and teachers in her native country. This was the base, the practice ground on which she stood, and from which in later years she evolved a global South Asian arts pedagogy to facilitate the study of world classical forms including Bharatanatyam, Kathak, Odissi, Kuchipudi, and Kathakali, and popular forms such as Bangra, Bollywood and World Music.

Meduri sought this intellectual expansion in the celebrated Tisch School of the Arts, New York University. The issues that mattered to her, when she left India in the late 1980s, were themes revolving round home, woman, nation, and tradition. In this spirit, Dr. Meduri's doctoral thesis, an expansive investigation of post-colonial historiography, focussed specifically on the transnational traditions of Bharatanatyam, and described how dancers travelling in the global pathways of dance migration re-imagined ’home’ and ’tradition’ in New York, Chicago and California.

Following her academic completion in 1996, Meduri received a national grant from the India Foundation for the Arts to adapt and stage her doctoral thesis, dealing with historical themes of hybridization and interculturalism, as a bilingual post-colonial theatre-performance. The performance was staged in twenty-four cities across India, within mainstream and experimental forums and also in schools and colleges across India.

The critical reception to this concrete experiment in 'Practice as Research.' had a seminal impact on Meduri's understanding of the future direction of her life and work. It transformed Meduri from a classical dancer into a post-colonial dancer-scholar and historian who could talk and perform post colonial dance history and theory both in the classroom, and outside in the wider world. This accumulated articulation took Meduri across the United States, to the teaching halls and research programmes of three major Universities: The University of California at Los Angeles; the Department of Dance at Riverside; and Northwestern University, Evanston, Chicago. It was within the portals of higher education, and within the everyday domain of the ordinary classroom that Meduri combined creative practice with academic theory and developed her new ’practice as research’ global arts pedagogy for Indian and Asian dance theatre forms.

In 2001, Meduri returned to India on a Ford Foundation postdoctoral fellowship with desire to disseminate this new practice-based model of research in India. To realize this vision, Meduri founded the Centre for Contemporary Culture, New Delhi, and curated a Photo Exhibition of the life and work of the pioneering dancer and innovator, Rukmini Devi Arundale (1904-1986). This travelling exhibition was presented across many countries including India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, Japan, and the UK. To provide an intellectual framework to Rukmini Devi's Centenary Celebrations, Meduri adapted her international biography into a theatrical performance. Entitled "Birds of the Banyan Tree,” this second ‘practice as research' performance was staged in India, the US, and the UK.

Meduri relocated to London in 2005, joined the dance team at Roehampton, and helped in the conceptualization of the MA Cluster Program. How does one, for instance, internationalize British Dance Studies, and put this in conversation with Indian and South Asian Dance? Meduri articulated this global vision by drawing on her 'practice as research' explorations, and on archival and ethnographic research conducted in three global cities including, London, Chennai and New York. The new pedagogy helped build a vibrant academic learning community as students could now think about the social re-production of South Asian Dance from within the history of dance migrations, and its re-staging in three global cities including London, New York, and Chennai.

In Fall 2005, the Dance Department launched its MA cluster program, and incorporated the South Asian Dance MA into the larger international vision of the Department. While the South Asian MA is part of the Cluster vision it also has its own separate identity and has attracted national and international student recruitment. Students from India, America and Sri Lanka have enrolled in the program. Milap Foundation, a leading arts organization in the UK, has come forward to provide a graduate fellowship and travel grant for students interested to pursue South Asian dance studies at Roehampton.

Conceived broadly, the South Asian Dance MA is designed for students interested to explore the socio-cultural dimensions of globalization and its impact on contemporary art production in the world at large. The program takes as inspiration the work and vision of contemporary Indian and Asian choreographers and their different engagement with dance making, politics, identity production, history, memory and aesthetics, re-presented theatrically on global stages in Chennai, New York, and London. Meduri would like to believe that the new programme, linking professional dance practice with the work of reputed international organizations including Akademi, Kadam, and Milap, would create new possibilities for 'South Asian Dance Studies' and 'practice as research' explorations in higher education.

Role and Responsibilites

Meduri teaches on the BA and MA portfolios of the Dance Department, and serves on undergraduate and postgraduate dissertation committees. She also supervizes MPhil and PhD research projects in dance history, theory and practice.

Current Experience (including teaching, examining and administration)

Teaching

Undergraduate Modules: Dance,Culture and Society; World Music and Dance; Dance, Art and Society, Gender, Sexualities, and Performance; Questioning Citzenship; and Key Persepctives in Dance; Supervision of Dissertations.

Post Graduate Modules: Teaching Tutoring and Marking across the MA Cluster Programme. Teach South Asian Dance and Global Modernities; and South Asian Dance and Global Diasporas. Teach Optional Modules cross-listed across MA Cluster Programme, including Ritual, Spectacle and Performance; Post-colonial Theory, Aesthetics and Performance;
Supervision of MA Dissertations; and Supervision of MA Practice as Research Projects.

Examining

2006.Served as External Examiner for MPhil student at the University of Kent, Canterbury;
2006-2007.Supervised 1 PhD student to completion in the UK
2008-2009. Currently supervising 1 PhD student.

Administration

BA Convener: Gender, Sexualiteis and Performance; Questioning Citizenship; Dance, Culture, Society; World Music and Dance; Convener MA/PGDip in South Asian Dance Studies;

Influence and Recognition

2005. Reviewer/Evaluator for the Arts and Humanities Research Council Fellowship in Performing Arts.
2005. Committee Member for the Gertrude Lippincott Award to award Best Essay/Article written in the field of Dance Studies
2006. Examiner for South Asian Dance at London School Of Contemporary Dance

2005. The Honourable President of India, Shri Abdul Kalam Azad, released Dr. Meduri’s edited volume featuring the work and vision of Rukmini Devi Arundale, (1904-1986) a Visionary Architect of Indian Culture and the Performing Arts at the Presidential House (Rashtrapathi Bhavan) on March 14.

Previous Appointments

2003-2004.Part-Time Visiting Artist/Scholar in Residence, Appointment, Department of Theatre Arts, University of California, Santa Cruz.
2001-2004.Ford Scholar, and Academic Director Center for Contemporary Culture, New Delhi.
2001-2002. Ford Scholar, Associate Fellow, Center for Art and Aesthetics, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.
1997-2000. Full-Time, Visiting Assistant Professor, Department of Performance Studies, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL.
1995-1996. Part-Time, Visiting Assistant Professor, Department of Dance, University of California, at Riverside
1993-1996. Part-Time, Visiting Assistant Professor in the Communication Studies Program, Women’s Studies Program, World Arts and Cultures Program, and the History Department, University of California, Los Angeles.

Previous Teaching Experience

Meduri has taught in three premier American Universities. These include the Department of Performance Studies, Northwestern University, Evanston, Chicago (1997-2000); in the World Arts and Cultures Program, University of California, Los Angeles (1993-1997); and Department of Dance at Riverside, Unviersity of California (1993-1996). Dr. Meduri served as the Academic and Artistic Director of the Centre for Contemporary Culture, New Delhi (2000-2004) and held an Artist-in-Residence Appointment at the University of California, Santa Cruz (2003-2004)

At Northwestern University, Meduri taught graduate seminars in Aesthetic Principles and Criticism: Post Colonial Theory and Criticism; Post Colonial Drama, and Performance; and Feminist Theories of the Body. At the undergraduate level, Meduri taught four required courses: Culture and Performance; Studies in Gender and Performance; Western and Asian Perspectives of Drama and Performance; and Towards a Theory for the Arts. In addition, she also taught special topics courses entitled Global Flows and Cultural Performances; Third World Nationalisms and Sexualities and " Asian Diasporas:" "Texts and Performances"; and "India in the West."

At UCLA, Meduri taught interdisciplinary courses in the World Arts and Cultures; Communication Studies; and Womens Studies Programs. Course titles include "Dance of South Asia;" "Centers and Margins: Women and their Representation in Dance and the Visual Arts,": "Constructing Identities through Visual Representation; and "Women and their Imaging in Visual Media: Film and Television"; "Women of Color in the United States".

In the Department of Dance at Riverside, Meduri taught courses in early American Modern and Postmodern Dance. Course titles include "Dance in a Multicultural Context;" "Dance and Modernity;" and " Watching the Dance Go By".

Previous Research Experience

As a Dance and Performance Studies scholar, Meduri's research is situated broadly in the interdisciplinary fields of dance and performance studies; dance and cultural studies; dance and transnational studies; dance and South Asian studies, dance and diaspora studies; dance and postcolonial studies; dance, and migration studies, dance and anthropology, dance ethnic and multicultural studies;

Specifically, Meduri's research interests focusses on comparative studies of dance classisism(s); dance modernisim(s); dance postmodernism(s); investigations into gender representations in dance and dance in popular culture. Her reseach interests include Western theatrical dance history, theory,and practice; American modern and postmodern dance history, theory and practice, intercultural and Oriental dance history, theory and practice; Gernamn dance-theatre history, theory and practice; and classical and contemporary South Asian dance history, theory and practice as produced and taught within three geographical contexts of India, the US, and the UK.

As a South Asia scholar, Meduri's research focuses on comparative studies of Western/Indian/Asian modernisim (s); Asian and Euro-American nationalism(s) sublatern studies, area studies, postcolonial studies, South Asian diaspra and ethnic studies,dance migration and comparative multicultural studies.

As dance and performance practitioenr, with professional level training in two classcial dance styles including Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi, Meduri works broadly in dance theatre, community arts, and dance in higher education. She is interested in practice as research projects that explore the intersections between dance history, theory and practice; dance historiography and performance; dance, memory and body; gender, history and embodiment; autobiography and performance; and performance art projects.

Field Research

2001-2002. Archival and Ethnographic Field Research in Chennai, Benaras, and New Delhi, India.
1990-1992. Archival and Ethnographic Field work in five cities in India including, Chennai, New Delhi, Mumbai, Baorda and Kolkotta.

LANGUAGES: Fluent in Tamil, Telugu, and Hindi. Foreign Language: German and Sanskrit

Major Research Awards

2000-2004. Post-Doctoral Research Fellowship from the Ford Foundation to develop transnational and contemporary research initiative for Indian performing arts.
2000-2001. Ford Fellow in Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India
2000-2005. Academic and Artistic Director, Center for Contemporary Culture, New Delhi. Curated Rukmini Devi photo archive and featured it in New Delhi, Calcutta, Singapore, Penang, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Australia, Japan and London.
1997-1998. Government of India dissemination grant to adapt doctoral thesis into postcolonial theatre-performance featuring devadasis (temple dancers). The postcolonial play entitled God Has Changed His Name was staged in twenty-four cities in India and also featured in educational institutions.
1996-1997. Collaboration grant from the India Foundation for the Arts to adapt doctoral thesis into postcolonial play and theatrical preformance entitled GHCHN.
1992-1993. National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) choreography and collaboration award for development of Matsya (Fish) as theatre project.
1992-1993. Rockefeller, doctoral fellowship, awarded through Asian Cultural Council, New York.
1990-1992. American Institute of Indian Studies Fellowship to pursue doctoral (fieldwork and archival) research in India.
1989-1990. Asian Cultural Council doctoral fellowship to pursue South Asia Area studies research at the University of Chicago.
1986-1988. Asian Cultural Council Supplementary Grant to pursue doctoral study in the Department of Performance Studies, Tisch School of the Arts, New York University.

Publications

Books:

2010-11 (projected date) Dancing History, Dancing Modernism: Bharatanatyam in the World at Large.

Edited Books:

2005 Rukmini Devi Arundale (1904-1986): A Visionary Architect of Indian Culture and the Performing Arts. New Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass.

Articles/Chapters:

2010 (forthcoming)Global Dance Transmission(s)in London," In Memory and Dance (Italian publication)

2009 "Bharatanatyam as a World Historical Form,"in Clariree Rousier (ed)Danses et identitied, de Bombay a Tokyo,Panitin: Centre national de la dance, pp.225-244.

2008a "Labels, Histories, Politics: South Asian Dance on the Global Stage," Dance Research, Vol 26, 2 (Winter): 223-244

2008b 'Temple Stage as Historical Allegory: Rukmini Devi as Dancer-Historian' in Peterson, Indira and Soneji, Devesh eds. Performing Pasts: Reinventing the Arts in South India, New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 133-164.

2008c "The Transfiguration of Indian/Asian Dance in the UK: Bharatanatyam in Global Contexts," Asian Theatre Journal, Vol 25, no. 2 (Fall): 298-329

2008d "Dance Indian is on the Move," Dance 445: 95-96

2005a. "Introduction: A Critical Overview," In Rukmini Devi Arundale (1904-1986): A Visionary Architect of Indian Culture and the Performing Arts, edited by Avanthi Meduri, 3-29. New Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass.

2005b. "Rukmini Devi and Sanskritization: A New Performance Perspective," In Rukmini Devi Arundale (1904-1986): A Visionary Architect of Indian Culture and the Performing Arts, edited by Avanthi Meduri, 195-223. New Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass.

2004a. "Bharatanatyam as a Global Dance: Some Issues in Teaching, Practice and Research," Dance Research Journal 36/2 (Spring):11-29.

2004b "Knowing the Dancer: East meets West." Victorian Literature and Culture, 32, (2):435-448. [This essay is co-authored with Jeffrey Spear].

2003a. "Western Feminist Theory, Asian Indian Performance and a Notion of Agency," In Performance: Critical Concepts in Literary and Cultural Studies, edited by Philip Auslander, 382-395. London, New York: Routledge

2003b."Multiple Pleasures." In Taken by Surprise: A Dance Improvization Reader," edited by Ann Cooper Albright and David Gere, 141-150. Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press.

2002 "A False Dichotomy." The Indian Express [Madras], (January 13)

2001. "Bharatanatyam --What are You?" In Dance History Reader: Moving History/Dancing Cultures, edited by Ann Cooper Albright and Ann Dils, 103-133. Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press

2001. "Talibanization of the Performing Arts." The Hindu {Madras],(Dec.18).

2001. "Why it is Time to Turn On the Light." The Pioneer {New Delhi], (April 13).

2001 "Representing a Legend." The Pioneer [New Delhi], (March 2), 3.

2000. "The Asian Divide." The Asian Age [New Delhi], (December 25).

1998. "The Lost World." The Indian Express {Madras], (October 10

1997. "They Revived A Tradition," Hindu (Chennai) September 5, 30.

1996a. "Modern History of Bharatanatyam: Vibrant Form or Export Commodity." Voices, 1, 3: 53-57.

1996b. Nation, Woman , Representation : The Sutured History of the Devadasi and her Dance (Unpublished PhD thesis), New York: New York University.

Meduri, Avanthi. 1988. "Bharatha Natyam: What Are You?" Asian Theatre Journal 5 (1): 1-22.

Invited International Lectures

2006. Featured Lecture at the International Symposium entitled “Cultural Identities, Artistic Identities: From Bombay to Tokyo,” Centre National De La Danse, Paris, January 11-14.
2005. Release of Edited book by Honourable President of India President, March, 14. Presented Short Lecture on the making of the book at the Rastrapathi Bhavan, New Delhi.
2005. Invited lecture at Swarthmore College, entitled “Transnationalism in Indian Performing Arts,” March 29.
2005. Conference Paper at PSi conference at Brown University,
Rhode Island, entitled “Performing Disjunctures Seamlessly: The Case of the Cosmopolitan Bharatanatyam Dancer,” March 29-3rd April.
2005.Invited Paper at “Towards Tomorrow International Conference at Abersytswyth, Wales, entitled “Towards
Tommorow: The Creation of Interdisciplinary Asian Arts Pedagogy, April 7.
2005. Invited Paper at SOAS entitled” If the Dance Could Speak”? April 23.
2005. Conference Paper at a symposium on Cross-Cultural, Intercultural and Post Colonial Theatre at Royal Holloway, entitled “Interdisciplinarity in Higher Education,” May 13.
2005. Presented Research Seminar at the University of Roehamtpon, May 26.
2004. Presented a keynote lecture at the international Octoberdance
conference in Bergen, Norway entitled “The relevance of Dance in a Broader Political and Social Context,” Bergen October 15-16.
2004.“Transculturation and the Enunciation of Multiple Identities: An Asian Case-Study.” Summer Institute Organized by the Center for Global Culture and Communication, Northwestern University, June 27-July 3. Theme: Transnational Flows of Performance: Identity in the Age of Globalization.
2003. Presented the Sixth Rukmini Devi Memorial Lecture, organized in collaboration with Asialink, Sidney Meyer Asia Center, Melbourne Institute of Asian Languages and Societies, Center for Contemporary Culture and the University of Melbourne, Australia. Venue: Yasuko Hiraoka Myer Room, Level 1, Sidney Myer Asia Center, University of Melbourne, Australia, August 26.
2003.Presented the Fifth Rukmini Devi Memorial Lecture, Sophia University, Tokyo, Japan, June 6.
2003.Invited Lecture entitled “New Global Paradigms for South Asian Dance and Performance,” in the School of English and Performance Studies, De Montfort University, Leicester, UK, May 19.
2003.Invited Lecture entitled “Annie Besant, Theosophy and Intercultural Interventions in South India,” in the Department of Drama, University of Bristol, UK, May 14.
2003.Presented the Fourth Rukmini Devi Memorial Lecture, organized in collaboration with the Nehru Centre, London. Venue: The Nehru Center, May 3.
2003. Invited Lecture entitled “Global Flows and Local Transformations,” Devadasis (Women Storytellers), Translation and Social Change in Modern India,” co-sponsored by the Department of Middle East and Asian Languages and Cultures, and the History Department, Columbia University, Thursday, April 10.
2003. Invited Lecture entitled “Nation, Woman, Representation,” in the Department of Dance, Wesleyan University, April 8.
2003. Invited Lecture “Subaltern Women and Social Change in Modern India,”
sponsored by Asian Studies Program, Mount Holyoke College, April 7.
2003. Presented the Third Rukmini Devi Memorial Lecture, Organized by the Department of Arts, Peradeniya University, Kandy, February 7.
2003.Presented the Second Rukmini Devi Memorial Lecture, organized by the British Council, Colombo, February 5.
2003.Presented the First Rukmini Devi Memorial Lecture, organized by International Institute for Ethnic Studies, Colombo, February 3.
2002. Invited Lecture entitled “Arts and Cultures of India,” in the Practice Performing Arts School, Singapore, August 31.
2002.Invited Lecture entitled “Interdisciplinarity: Issues and Challenges,” in the Women’s Studies Program, Claremont College, Pomona, September 20
2002.Invited Lecture entitled “The Question of History in Indian Culture and the Performing Arts,” in the Department of Theatre, Film, and Television, UCLA, Oct 1.
2002.Invited Lecture entitled “Global Paradigms for Indian Culture and Performance,” In the Dance Program, Duke University, North Carolina, February 24.
2002.Invited Lecture entitled “Global Paradigms for Indian Culture and Performance,” in the Department of Dramatic Art, University of California, Santa Barbara, February 14.
2002.Invited Lecture entitled “The Global Legacy of Rukmini Devi,” In the Indira Gandhi Center for the Performing Arts, New Delhi, May 10.
2002.Invited Lecture entitled “Global Institutions in India,” In SpicMackay Silver Jubilee Celebrations, New Delhi, April 27.
2002. Invited Lecture entitled “The Global Legacy of Rukmini Devi,” In Rukmini Devi Arundale: A Retrospective, organized by Sutra Dance Theatre, Kuala Lumpur, March 9.
2002.Invited Lecture entitled “Uday Shankar and the Question of the Modern,” in the Indira Gandhi National Center for the Performing Arts, New Delhi, Dec 29 What are You," Asian Theatre Journal 5, (no 1): 1-22.

Performance Awards and Grants

1999-2000. Senior Fellowship, from Government of India, for regional adaptation of post-colonial English language play entitled God Has Changed His Name.
1998-1999. Staging Grant from the Department of Culture, New Delhi, to stage GHCHN in twenty-four cities across India.
1996-1997. Arts Collaboration Grant from the India Foundation for the Arts, Bangalore, to develop a performance script and ensemble theatrical production titled GHGHN. Artistic collaboration with well-known folk theatre group known as Koothu-p-pattarai, based in Chennai, South India.
1992-1993. NEA choreography award for development of Matsya (Fish) as theatre project.
1993-1994. TANA (Telugu Association of North Americas award for contribution to the performing arts.

Practice as Research Performances

2005. Presented Practice as Research Project entitled, "Shattering the Silence," at PSi conference at Brown University," March 29-3rd April (2005).
2005. Presented Practice as Research Project entitled, "Shattering the Silence" at Royal Holloway, May 9. 2005. Presented Practice as Research Project, entitled, "Shattering the Silence" in the Centre for Post Colonial and Transnational Studies, University of Roehampton, May 10.
2005. Presented Practice as Research Project, entitled "Shattering the Silence," in the Dance Diary University of Roehampton, May 11.
2005. Presented Practice as Research Project entitled "Shattering the Silence," at Parip Seminar, University of Bristol, May 12
2005. Presented Practice as Research Project, entitled "What is in a name," in the Parip international Conference, University of Leeds, July 1.
2004. Presented Practice as Research Project entitled"The Birth Of Bharatanatyam, in the Theatre Arts Center, Second Stage Theatre, UC Santa Cruz, June 3
2003. Presented Practice As Research Project entitled "Shattering the Silence: The Three Women of The Theosophical Society" in the Theatre Arts Center, Second Stage, UC Santa Cruz March 7-8.
2002. Presented Staged Reading of Performance Script dealing with the life of Rukmini Devi entitled Birds of The Banyan Tree presented at the New Delhi Public School on the occasion of the celebration of World Dance Day, April 30.
2002. Staged Reading of Performance Script dealing with the life of Rukmini Devi entitled Birds of The Banyan Tree presented at the New Delhi Public School on the occasion of the celebration of World Dance Day, April 30.
2001. Staged Reading of Performance Script dealing with the life of Rukmini Devi at the Indian Museum, Kolkotta, April 26.
1999. Peformed Tamil version of English language postcolonial play entitled GHCHN in Women's Christian College, Chennai, April 30.
1997. Scripted and performed post-colonial, bilingual play titled God Has Changed His Name. The play, an adapatation of my doctoral research on devadasis *temple dancers, undertook an Indian national tour between August and Dec 1997. It was staged in twenty-four cities and presented the play in mainstream theatre venues, experimental forums, and in schools and colleges across India.

Solo Classical Dance Performance in Mainstream Venues

2003. Thematic Classical Indian Dance Performance in Kuchipudi style of dancing in the Performing Arts Center, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia, August 20.
2003. Thematic Classical Indian Dance Performance in Kuchipudi style of dancing in Myogi Hurusato Art Museum, Gumma Prefecture, Maebashi, Japan, May 26.
2003. Thematic Classical Indian Dance Performance in Kuchipudi style of dancing, Nehru Center, London, April 28th.
2003. Thematic Classical Indian Dance Performance in Kuchipudi style of dancing, Indian Cultural Centre, Colombo, Sri Lanka, February 6.
2003. Thematic Classical Indian Dance Performance in Kuchipudi style of dancing, Katiresan Hall, Colombo, Sri Lanka, February 4.1969--present.
1969--Trained in Indian classical dance, music and drama since age six. Over sixteen years continuous training in the performing arts of South India. Given over 200 performances in India, West Germany, Europe and the United States. Professional career as Indian classical dancer available on request.

Previous Administrative Experience

2001-2004. Ford Scholar and Academic and Artistic Director, Center for Contemporary Culture, New Delhi.
1999-2000. Developed conceptual vision and proposal for Cross-School initiative at Northwestern University and proposed the founding of a Transnational Performance and Asian Arts Institute at Northwestern University.
1995-1997.Founder-Member, Indians in American Media (IAM), Los Angeles.
1995-1997. Founder Member Federation of Indo-Americans. (FIA), Los Angeles.

Travelling Exhibitions: (Meduri curated the Rukmini Devi Arundale Photo Exhibition and presented in New Delhi, Calcutta, Singapore, Malaysia, Penang, Columbo, Kandy, London, Melbourne, Sydney and Tokyo

2003. Curator, Re-presenting Rukmini Devi Arundale (1904-1986): A
Retrospective Photo-Exhibition, Yasuko Hiraoka Myer Room, Level 1, Sidney Myer Asia Center, University of Melbourne, Australia, August 25-29 Exhibition sponsored in collaboration with the Center for Contemporary Culture, New Delhi, Asialink, Sidney Meyer Asia Center, Melbourne Institute of Asian Languages and Societies, and University of Melbourne, Australia.
2003. Curator, Re-presenting Rukmini Devi Arundale (1904-1986): A
Retrospective Photo-Exhibition, the Drama, Theatre, and Performing Arts Center, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia, August 18-22.
2003. Curator, Re-presenting Rukmini Devi Arundale (1904-1986): A
Retrospective Photo-Exhibition, Myogi Hurusato Art Museum, Gumma
Prefecture, Maebashi, Japan, May 26-30.
2003. Curator, Re-presenting Rukmini Devi Arundale (1904-1986): A
Retrospective Photo-Exhibition, Kudan Shakai Kyoiku Kaikan, Tokyo, June
3-8. Exhibition organized in collaboration with Indo-Japan Association, and Embassy of India.
2003. Curator, Re-presenting Rukmini Devi Arundale (1904-1986): A
Retrospective Photo-Exhibition, the Nehru Centre, London, April 28-May 6
2003. Curator, Re-presenting Rukmini Devi Arundale (1904-1986): A
Retrospective Photo-Exhibition, Alliance Francaise, Kandy, February 8- 12.
2003. Curator, Re-presenting Rukmini Devi Arundale (1904-1986): A
Retrospective Photo-Exhibition, Indian Cultural Center, Colombo,
February1-6.
2002. Curator, Re-presenting Rukmini Devi Arundale (1904-1986): A Retrospective, Photo-Exhibition, Sutra Dance Gallery, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, March 10-15.
2002. Curator, Re-presenting Rukmini Devi Arundale (1904-1986): A Retrospective, Photo-Exhibition, Substation Art Gallery, Singapore, April 10-15.
2002. Curator, Re-presenting Rukmini Devi Arundale (1904-1986): A Retrospective, Photo-Exhibition, organized by Center for Contemporary Culture, In SpickMacay, New Delhi, April 17-24.
2002. Curator, Re-presenting Rukmini Devi Arundale (1904-1986): A Retrospective, Photo-Exhibition, organized by Center for Contemporary Culture, Sutra Dance Gallery, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, March 10-15.
2001.Curator, Re-presenting Rukmini Devi Arundale (1904-1986): A Retrospective, Photo-Exhibition, organized by Center for Contemporary Culture, Indian Museum, Kolkotta, April 26 -May 1.
2001.Curator, Re-presenting Rukmini Devi Arundale (1904-1986): A Retrospective. Photo-Exhibition, organized in collaboration with Rukmini Devi Arundale Trust, Chennai, and the Center for Contemporary Culture, New Delhi. Venue: India International Center, Art Gallery, Annexe, New Delhi. March 1-5.

Conference Coordinator

2003.Organizer, International Seminar entitled “Rukmini Devi’s Aesthetic Legacy in the UK,” in collaboration with the Nehru Centre, London, Society of Dance Research Scholars (SDRS), London, and AHRMB Cross-Cultural Center for Music and Dance Research, University of Surrey. Venue: the Nehru Center, London, May 1st.
2002. Organizer, International Seminar entitled “Bharatanatyam in Multicultural Singapore: Issues and Challenges” in collaboration with Center for Contemporary Culture and the Indian Fine Arts Society, Singapore. Venue: the Sub Station Art Gallery, Singapore, April 13.
2002. Organizer, International Seminar entitled “Rukmini Devi: A Reappraisal in Malaysia,”organized by the Center for Contemporary Culture and Sutra Dance Gallery, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Venue Sutra Dance Gallery, March 15.
2001. Organizer, Indian National Seminar entitled “ Rabindranath Tagore and Rukmini Devi: Visions and Institutions,” in collaboration with the Center for Contemporary Culture, Viswa Bharati and the Indian Museum, Kolkotta. Venue: Indian Museum, Kolkotta, May 1.
2001.Organizer, Indian National Seminar entitled “ Rukmini Devi’s Aesthetic Legacy,” in collaboration with the Center for Contemporary Culture, Venue: India International Center, Art Gallery, Annexe, New Delhi. March 1.

Consultancy Expertise

Academic and Artistic Director Centre for Contemporary Culture, New Delhi;

Curatorial expertise; organizer of conferences; linking arts with higher education; developing new arts pedagogy