Kiran Rajagopalan

Dancer/Choreographer

Biography

Kiran Rajagopalan is an award-winning dancer, choreographer, writer, and educator based in New Jersey. Born and raised in the United States, he had his early training in Bharatanatyam from Asha Prem, Prasanna Kasthuri, and Sujatha Srinivasan. From 2007-2014, he lived in Chennai, India to continue his advanced training in Bharatanatyam with A. Lakshmanaswamy and Bragha Bessell. He also studied Carnatic violin with A. Kanyakumari and Anusha Sreeram and Bhagavata Mela Natakam under the guidance of S. Natarajan. Kiran has given many acclaimed performances in India, Indonesia, Germany, Spain, France, and the United States.

Kiran graduated with a B.A. (magna cum laude) in Behavioral Neuroscience and Spanish from Boston University in 2008, an M.A. (honors) in Bharatanatyam from University of Madras in 2010, and an M.A. in Performance Studies from New York University in 2015.

Alongside his performances, Kiran regularly conducts workshops, lectures, and demonstrations on Indian classical dance, aesthetics, and neuroscience. In 2017, he co-founded Daya Arts, a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization  which aims to bridge diasporic communities of color through original, high-quality artistic productions rooted in West African and South Asian visual and performing arts. To date, Daya Arts has organized two sold-out showcases of South Asian LGBTQI+ artists at BAAD! Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance and produced three original dance-based works – Sāmityam, Twin Rivers, and Vaiśravaṇa. Kiran is currently an adjunct faculty in Marymount Manhattan College’s Department of Dance.

Performance Summary