Apoorva Jayaraman

Co-Founder, RootEd

Apoorva Jayaraman is a Bharatanatyam artiste based in Chennai with a multidimensional interest in the classical arts. Apart from being a performer, she is a Junior Fellow of the Ministry of Culture (GoI) researching The Role of Art in Knowledge Advancement. She has conceived and curated noteworthy dance-related conferences called Navadhisha – New Voices in Dance,  and fosters an active interest in Arts Policy in India. She has recently also edited and published a book called “Why do we dance?” with contributions from many young thinkers and artists in the field. She is the co-founder of RootEd Foundation that is working in the areas of dance education and awareness. She holds a PhD in Astronomy from the University of Cambridge and a Masters degree in Physics from University of Oxford.

Sumathi Vikram

Co-Founder, RootEd

Sumathi Vikram is a Bharatanatyam artiste and teacher based in Austin Texas. Before she moved to Austin in June 2019, Sumathi Vikram taught for more than a decade at Vishwa Shanthi Dance Academy (CA), as the co-director for their Fremont location. Along with Dr. Apoorva Jayaram, she recently co-founded RootEd, an arts initiative that centralizes the reengaging of the audiences with the Indian classical arts. While teaching is first love for the dancer, she also volunteers her time and skill in projects that aim to present the Indian performing arts amidst mainstream audiences. She holds a Masters degree in Economics from the University of Madras. When she is not busy in the arts, she enjoys time with her family, her garden and her two beautiful dogs.

Ashaa Vigashini

Social Media Strategist, RootEd

Ashaa Vigashini, a student of Bharatanatyam, has been part of The RootEd Foundation ever since its inception on social media. She is the Founder and Creative Director of the fashion and clothing brand, SAA (@designwithsaa on Instagram) that leans towards transforming fashion into a slow, personalized, process based system rather than a fast, product based approach. She is also the Production Manager at Viralli Enterprises, one of the leading leather garment export houses in South India. Ashaa holds a Bachelor’s degree in Geo-Informatics from CEG, Anna University.

Durga Tilak

Editor, Artling

For Durga, Bharatanatyam has been reason to wake up every day for as long as she remembers. She is a senior disciple of Guru Dr Parimal Phadke of Pune, under whose tutelage she has been learning dance for the past seventeen years now. She holds a Nritya Alankaar in Bharatanatyam from the Akhil Bharatiya Gandharva Mahavidyalaya, Vashi, Navi Mumbai, and is probably one of the youngest to be awarded this degree. Durga thoroughly enjoys language and writing, and speaks five languages. Currently, she lights up at the mention of all things German, having earned the C2 Großes Deutsches Sprachdiplom from the Goethe Institut in May 2021. When not dancing, Durga is a recreational runner and drummer. Outside of her passions and hobbies, she is a mechanical and materials engineer who recently wrapped up her Master’s thesis at Newcastle University, UK. She blogs at thenextballav.wordpress.com, where she shares her love for dance, music, and interesting interviews with fascinating people. In working with RootEd, Durga hopes to delve into the intersection of dance and dance communication.