Karuna Sagari

The inheritor of a rich oral-matrilineal legacy in poetry and music, Karuna Sagari received rigorous, in-depth instruction in bhakti spiritualism, poetics, and performance from her grandmother, Smt. Swarna Somasundaram, an esteemed scholar of classical and medieval Tamil literature. She has been immersed since childhood in a centuries-old devotional corpus, and the medieval bhakti traditions of Tevaram, Tiruvasagam, and Tiruppugazh. 

 

Karuna has performed widely in ensemble and solo productions at prestigious venues in India and abroad. Through her journey as a performer, she has collaborated with individuals from diverse fields such as textiles, molecular biology, astrophysics, etc. Her talent in choreography has been recognized by many stalwarts in the field. Her works might draw a poem from before two millennia and employ an art form that is handed down over a few centuries while keeping the message contemporary, alive and relevant.

 

Alongside her accomplishments as a dancer and choreographer, Karuna regularly writes for magazines such as Sruti (a premier monthly on the performing arts of India) and The Trinity Mirror Newspaper. She volunteers at several not-for-profit organizations and aims to contribute to society through her art.