Dr. Priya Srinivasan
Artistic Director, Choreographer and Dancer

Priya Srinivasan is a artistic director/dancer/choreographer and lives and works on the lands of the Wurundjeri and Boonwurrung people in Narrm, combining theory and practice to work towards social justice issues through art. Her performances prioritize feminist decolonization processes making visible minority women’s histories. She began her career as a key dancer with the Bharatam Dance Company (the first Asian Australian funded professional company). Her experimental, postcolonial work rooted in South Asian classical dance practice has been presented in major festivals and venues internationally.

She has curated, choreographed and performed in several projects in partnership with Hermitage Museum Amsterdam, Pina Bausch Zentrum, Berlin Wall Memorial, Rockbund Art Museum Shanghai, Kalakshetra/Spaces/DakshinaChitra Chennai, Adishakti Puducherry, Shoonya Bangalore, Highways Los Angeles, DCA Darwin, Bunjil Place, Dancehouse, Artshouse, Sidney Myer Music Bowl, Carriageworks, Sydney Opera House.

Her large span of intercultural work focuses primarily on feminist collaborations, the most notable include: “Serpent Dreaming Women” and “Churning Waters” two collaborative First Nations/ Indian works, the latter which toured India for Australia Festival. Working with Uthra Vijay, Vicki Couzens, Priyadarsini Govind, Thilagavati Palani, Gina Maree Bundle, Yaran Bundle, Sylvia Nulpintidj and Nadine Lee to develop new understandings of equitable feminist intercultural work; “Encounters,” a collaboration with hereditary artist Yashoda Thakore of the marginalised kalavantulu communities in Andhra, Hari Sivanesan a British/Sri Lankan veena artist/composer and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra at Bunjil Place; and “The Durga Chronicles” with Uthra Vijay, Philipa Rothfield - a multidisciplinary immersive work at Artshouse and Bunjil Place bringing dance and a Carnatic choir of 12 women that focused on the prevention of violence against women.

Her many years of intracultural work with singer/ composer Uthra Vijay has explored the interdisciplinary processes of music, dance and text. Their explorations of lost Indian women’s voices has taken them to India and Europe to create intercultural feminist collaborations. Her work with veena player/composer Hari Sivanesan has forged new ground in exciting new collaborations with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. Together with Uthra and Hari, they have developed mentoring programs, youth development, emerging artist showcases and commissions to upskill, professionalise and create new pathways for South Asian performance in Melbourne.

In her ongoing journey at the intersection of art, culture, and social justice, Priya Srinivasan continues to break new ground and foster meaningful connections through her transformative work, leaving an indelible mark on the global stage.

Themes in Priya Srinivasan's artistic practice:

• Interdisciplinary dance practice that questions the lines between community, traditional, contemporary and “professional” art practice in black box theatre settings.

• Anti-colonial site-specific work that activates and blurs the lines between audience and performer, land, history and memory, individual and collective.

• Revealing untold invisible, often women’s narratives.