Annual Dr. Sunil Kothari Lecture: The Balanced Breath by Rama Vaidyanathan

Rama Vaidyanathan travels from India to present “The Balanced Breath: Dance as a Journey Towards Inner Stillness and Equanimity.” For the fifth annual Dr. Sunil Kothari Honorary Lecture presented by the Jerome Robbins Dance Division at the Library for the Performing Arts, Rama Vaidyanathan presents a lecture demonstration on Bharatanatyam dance, “The Balanced Breath: Dance of Inner Equilibrium.” Rama Vaidyanathan represents the convergence of two rich Bharatanatyam lineages - one through Guru Yamini Krishnamurthi, and the other through Guru Saroja Vaidyanathan. This dual tradition forms the foundation of Rama’s unique style, which balances classical authenticity with artistic freedom. Rama has redefined Bharatanatyam by blending classical precision with expansive spiritual inquiry. Her evocative choreographies - abstract, yet deeply grounded- transform dance into a medium for exploring universal consciousness and inner transformation. Born on December 20, 1933, in Mumbai, Dr. Sunil Kothari was an accountant before turning to the study of Indian dance forms. He authored more than 20 books on the subject of Indian dance forms, including Bharatanatyam, Odissi, Chhau, Kathak, Kuchipudi, and photo biographies of Uday Shankar and Rukmini Devi Arundale. As a dance scholar, Dr. Kothari held the Uday Shankar Chair in Rabindra Bharati University and taught in the Dance Department of New York University as a Fulbright Professor. Dr. Kothari died in 2020, and to honor his life and work, the Jerome Robbins Dance Division presents the annual Dr. Sunil Kothari Honorary Lecture on Indian Classical Dance by a visiting scholar. Past Dr. Kothari lectures have included Bijayini Satpathy in 2022, Malavika Sarukkai in 2023, and Alarmél Valli in 2024. Photo Credit: Photo of Rama Vaidyanathan by Innee Singh. SEATING POLICY | Programs are free and open to all, but registration is requested. Check-in line forms 45 minutes before the advertised start time. Registered guests are given priority check-in 15 to 30 minutes before start time. Five minutes before the advertised start time, all seats are released, regardless of registration, to our patrons in the stand-by line. If you arrive after the program starts, you will be seated at the discretion of our front-of-house staff. STANDBY LINE | If registration is sold out or has ended, do not fret! We welcome you to come to the Library regardless of registration status and wait in our standby line, which forms 45 minutes before the advertised start time. Five minutes before the program starts, all remaining seats are released. While this is not guaranteed, we will do our best to get you into any of our programs. ASSISTIVE LISTENING AND ASL | ASL interpretation and real-time (CART) captioning available upon request. Please submit your request at least two weeks in advance by emailing [email protected]. BRUNO WALTER POLICY | Please note that any unoccupied seat will be released five minutes before the show begins and holding seats for anyone beyond that is prohibited. There is no food or drink allowed inside the venue. AUDIO/VIDEO RECORDING | Programs may be photographed and recorded by and at the discretion of the Library for the Performing Arts and will post signs indicating as such. If you would prefer your image not be captured, please let us know and we can seat you accordingly. Attending any program indicates your consent to being filmed/photographed and your consent to the use of your recorded image for any and all purposes of the New York Public Library. PRESS | Please send all press inquiries to Alex Teplitzky at [email protected]. Please note that all recording, including professional video recordings, are prohibited without expressed consent from the Library.