Samavesha with Srikanth Natarajan and Aswathy Srikanth

Friday, September 26, 2025 at 7:00pm
Crowell Concert Hall

BUY TICKETS

$20 general public; $15 senior citizens, Wesleyan faculty/staff/alumni, non-Wesleyan students; free for Wesleyan students and youth under 18.

In the New England premiere of Samavesha (2018), husband and wife Indian dance stars Srikanth Natarajan and Aswathy Srikanth’s gender-bending transformation of characters in the Indian epic the Mahābhārata suggest this classical text was ahead of its time. The characters in the Mahābhārata are not just male or female, they transform between male and female (and vice versa) in a process of their becoming. Samavesha—a Sanskrit term—means the “study of self,” implying an active practice, a dance of discovering truth in oneself and one’s relationship to the world.

The artists masterfully work with three Indian dance idioms—Bharatanatyam, Bhagavata Mela, and Mohiniyattam styles—originating from South India and historically thriving in a variety of sites, including royal courts and temples. Combining a rich gestural and technical movement vocabulary derived from these three expressive styles, both artists explore two characters from the epic, Ambha-Shikandi and Arjuna-Brhannala, whose evolutions rely on incredible transformations of gender and identity, including “tritya-prakriti,” an original Hindu concept of a third gender.

Srikanth Natarajan and Aswathy Srikanth started performing together in 2001, and have carved a niche for themselves in the world of South Indian classical dance with their unique performance style and choreographic prowess. They are both powerful soloists with more than two decades of experience, and their performances have won them critical and popular global acclaim. They will make their Connecticut debut at Wesleyan.

The performance will be followed by a talkback with Professor of Dance, Global South Asian Studies, and Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Hari Krishnan.

This event is part of the 49th anniversary Navaratri Festival at Wesleyan.

Navaratri Festival Subscription
Subscribe and Save 30%
Navaratri Festival Subscription packages include three ticketed performances. For more information, please visit the Wesleyan University Box Office.

• Free for Wesleyan students and anyone under age 18
• $28 for senior citizens, Wesleyan faculty/staff/alumni, and non-Wesleyan students
• $36 for the general public

Offer ends on Thursday, September 25, 2026 at 7pm.