Freshman Aadi Prem is a world-class dancer.
OU freshman and communications major Aadithya Prem ’17 is devoted to the Indian classical dance form Bharathanatyam. This typical college student transforms himself into a “performer par excellence” when on stage.
Aadi, as he’s known to his friends, has won numerous awards for his dancing, including India’s National Championship before moving to U.S. at the age of 12. In the U.S., he continued his winning ways by earning the award of excellence in Dance and Choreography in Kentucky and then in Georgia more than once. Aadi has performed Indian Classical Dance, Bollywood and Fusion dances on more than 150 stages in India and the U.S., which includes the biggest Indian Festival of Diwali, World Fest of Louisville and the International Women Empowerment Conference. He also was the brand model for Triphala Brahmi, Dhatri Win Smart, and for scholarship programs back in India. In the U.S. he has been featured in advertisements for supply chain giant Manhattan Associates and in Gwinnett County Public School System’s “My E Class” ad.
Indian culture is diverse and so are the content and style of Indian classical dances. A continual and unabated interest for the Indian Classical dances through the ages has helped to evolve new structures and thus even the dances outside the traditional milieu do not deviate from the time-honored tradition. Ancient themes are re-introduced in new formats using updated technique and innovative themes infused into the old style of performing. Fusion of an Indian classical dance form with modern day sport, martial arts, other dance forms such as ballet, flamenco, etc. makes for exciting performances.
Aadi first learned Bharathanatyam from T.B Chirta, a versatile dancer who graduated from Kalakshetra, a distinguished school of Bharathanatyam started by Smt. Rukmini Arundale. Currently he is associating with Mehak Shah of Mehak Dance Academy and Kumudh Sawla of Nritya Natya Kala Bharti in Atlanta. Aadithya also studies modern dance at En Pointe Dance Academy, Lilburn, Ga. and loves teaching Indian classical and Bollywood dancing to those who are interested.
Here, Aadi performs at the Vishu Program of Atlanta Metro Malayalee Association:
