BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Jyothsna Sainath – President
Jyothsna started learning Bharatanatyam in Bangalore, India, at a young age and has been a student of renowned Gurus, namely the late Guru Padmini Ramachandran, Guru Radha Sridhar and the late Guru Narmada. It was under the loving tutelage of Guru Narmada, a student of Guru Tanjavoor Kittappa Pillai that Jyothsna evolved as a performer. She has also learned the Karanas from late Guru Sundari Santhanam, a senior student of the scholar Guru Dr. Padma Subramaniam. Jyothsna’s performance and choreography are informed by these various influences.
Jyothsna has been a recipient of Government of India scholarships throughout the course of her dancing education. Having performed her debut when she was 16 years old, she has gone on to combine a keen academic interest in dance with wide-ranging performing experience from dance ballets to solos to workshops, in India and elsewhere.
She has an MA in Performing Arts from Bangalore University, India; a course that she topped. She is also an auditioned ‘A’ Grade solo artiste for Doordarshan National Network, the television channel of the Government of India.
On moving to the US, Jyothsna has performed widely within the US and has conducted Bharatanatyam workshops at various Universities in the Salt Lake valley. She has been a guest choreographer at the Department of Dance, University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Jyothsna is the artistic director of the Nitya Nritya Dance Company, a dance performing and training company based in Salt Lake City and the President of the Nitya Nritya Foundation.
Samathmika Balaji Arun – Secretary
Samathmika Balaji is a carnatic musician, performer and teacher. Her great grandfather was Sri Alathur Subbier (of the illustrious Alathur Brothers) and Samathmika was fortunate to receive early exposure to music, dance and theatre, right at home.
She has learnt and performed carnatic music, Bharathanatyam, and performed with playing the Veena and on the piano, and has been cast by the acclaimed Madras Players in their theatrical productions based on plays by Girish Karnad. This led to an enduring passion for the classical performing arts and she has continued to keep this lifelong interest alive when she moved to the US in 2016, through her association with the Nitya Nritya Foundation.
She’s currently the Senior Manager, Learning and Development at SoFi, and is based in Salt Lake City, Utah. Samathmika is a skilled professional in UI/UX design, institutional management and program leadership.
Dr. Shrinivasan Raghuraman – Treasurer
Dr. Shrinivasan Raghuraman is a neuroscientist working at the University of Utah. He trained in different Indian Classical art forms including Violin, Tabla, Sitar and Bharatanatyam. He obtained his Bachelor’s degree in Music from Khairagarh University and trained with Guru Smt. Anita Nair (Bharatanatyam) and Guru Sri Rupendra Sharma (violin).
To continue his passion for Bharatanatyam, he joined Nitya Nritya Foundation and has been training with Guru Dr. Jyothsna Sainath since 2016. He strongly believes that arts fuel creativity in research and passionately works to disseminate arts and science in the Salt Lake Valley.
HONORARY BOARD OF TRUSTEES
The honorary board comprises of residents of the Salt Lake valley who have a long and sustained engagement with the arts and the community at large. Their role is primarily to help NNF liaise with other agencies in the space.
SUHA LINGAM
Suha Lingam is a Digital Marketing Executive and a long-time resident of Utah. Her diverse background and experiences of having lived in many cities around the US, give her perspective on the importance of performing arts and cultural exchange in communities, particularly in the Salt Lake valley. She is a passionate advocate of advancing Indian fine arts to ensure that they remain a key component of our community and future generations.
HARI SELVARAJ KUMAR
Hari Selvaraj Kumar is a Salt Lake City resident for the past 23 years. He currently works as a Software Development Manager in a Fin-tech company.
From the early 2000s, Hari has been involved with multiple regional arts and social groups across the Salt Lake valley. Hari has has been a long serving volunteer of Sri Ganesha Hindu Temple and India Cultural Center since its existence in South Jordan and has served in the Executive Committed Boards in the past.
Hari has been running a local band, Desibels along with his friends, for over 20 years in which he plays guitar and organizes concerts and productions. Hari has been teaching guitar and music theory classes for the past 8 years. Hari runs the local chapter of Trinity college London and facilitates Grade exams for Western classical music here in Salt Lake City. Hari and his wife Roopa enjoy the outdoors of Utah and love to travel to new places with their Son Abhi and Daughter Shreya.