Malini Srinivasan and Gitanjali Dance School

03/26/2026

Save the date for the 4th Annual Gitanjali Dance Retreat.

An intimate week of dance, inquiry, and immersion— designed for dancers interested in seeking depth in movement, tradition, and embodied practice.

Open to advanced, intermediate, and advanced-beginner dancers of all ages who are ready to engage with intention and rigor.

📍 Walden, NY
🗓 August 11–16 Adult dancers
🗓 August 14–16 Children aged 4 and up

Inquiries: [email protected]

03/20/2026

03/20/2026

“Ask Hafiz,” performed at Joe’s Pub in 2020 in the Women’s Raga Massive Festival, draws on the words of the Persian poet to tell the story of an Afghan refugee family through Bharatanatyam.

Hafiz was born in Shiraz, in modern day Iran. As war engulfs the region again, it is a reminder that these stories of profound loss are not distant, but ongoing.

Spoken word Sahar Muradi
Music by Haleh Liza
Choreographed and performed by Malini Srinivasan Trina Basu (violin)
Rich Stein (cello)
Adam Maalouf (percussion)

01/15/2026

Dusk — a collaboration between Malini Srinivasan & Ilari Kaila

Dusk begins in silence—no music, only breath and the body settling as day gives way to night. That quiet creates space to meet.

Ilari Kaila’s score enters not as accompaniment but as an equal voice. Ilari, a Finnish-American composer whose work is known for its lyricism, restraint, and emotional depth, composes with a deep sensitivity to movement and time. His music listens—to the dancers, to the space, to the moment—allowing sound and choreography to unfold together.

For me, Dusk lives in this shared exploration between sound and stillness, where music and movement meet in that liminal hour between light and dark.

🎶 Learn more about Ilari Kaila here-
🔗 www.ilarikaila.com

01/01/2026

2025 — a year held together by practice, people, and purpose.

From intimate solo explorations to the collective strength of the company, from retreat spaces that nourished inquiry to a celebration honoring lineage and my Guru—this year reaffirmed why we dance.

Grateful for the bodies that moved together, the minds that questioned deeply, the generations that gathered, and the quiet discipline that sustains the work. Carrying these lessons forward, with rigor, humility, and joy.

Wishing you all a prosperous new year 2026.

🙏🏽✨






DanceRetreat
LineageAndLegacy
IndianClassicalDance

11/21/2025

I have loved watching ‘Evening’ evolve — from its birth at Queens Museum of Art and Wang Center with live music, to its reimagining at the NYC Fringe Festival with recorded score, its transformation in the open air at Winter Garden among the steady hum of New Yorkers in motion, and most recently back in the blackbox at LaMama Moves!

As a choreographer, I’ve learned how to let a piece breathe differently in every space. Evening carries a ritualistic pulse—its music and movement sharpening the dancers’ focus even as the world swirls around them.

Brian Seibert of the New York Times wrote:
“In ‘Evening’ the force of shuttling eyes or shoulder blades like cocking shotguns, isolated as percussive abstractions, works well with the spatial tension in the arrangement of three dancers.”

⸻

11/14/2025

Evening: Pushpanjali + Alarippu (Chaturasra Eka)

As evening settles, the work shifts into a ritual space—dancers embodying priestesses who dance for no audience except themselves and the Unseen.

The percussion score echoes Bharatanatyam’s rhythmic architecture, creating a meditative offering featuring live music, composed by Ilari Kaila with percussion by Nicholas Woodbury and Murali Balachandran, and danced by Manasi Dave, Shobana Ram, and Kadhambari Sridhar. Performed in 2009 at the Charles B. Wang Center, Stony Brook, NY.

I’ve watched this piece transform every space I’ve presented it in—from stages to the open air—through sound and ritual focus.

11/10/2025

So very happy to spend a rainy Saturday at home rehearsing and conversing with these wonderful artists. Excited to head to SUNY Maritime tomorrow to present our beloved Bharatanatyam and Carnatic music!

11/06/2025

I offer a deeply personal account of what got me started on my choreographic journey — Premiered in 2006, Mustard Seed weaves a Buddhist tale with new music by Ilari Kaila and Bharatanatyam.
A mother’s journey through loss becomes a meditation on acceptance and renewal.
🎵 Live music: Ilari Kaila, A.R. Balaskandan & Felix Pastor
💃 Choreography and dance: Malini Srinivasan
📍Charles B. Wang Center 📸 Photos by Preston Merchant

11/03/2025

Ever wonder what inspires choreography in the diaspora? 🌍✨
Kicking off a look-see into my choreographic works — each one shaped by my lived experience and creative practice across cultures.
Here’s a peek into my process, featuring a clip from my interview with Founder & Executive Director, Vani Krishnamurthy. Can’t wait to share more soon! 💫