Visalini Sundaram

Visalini Sundaram is a Bharatha Natyam dancer & Carnatic vocalist in Southern California. She has been involved in the arts for the past 30 years, and hails from a family of musicians and dancers. 

Visalini was a student of Guru Ramya Harishankar, and has participated in several performances, both as a student of dance and as the vocal support, and has performed in the US, India, and abroad. Visalini has also been trained in Carnatic music by her guru, Smt. Padma Kutty, from the age of 5. She is the granddaughter of the late Shri. Palakkad Seshamani Iyer, a composer and musician, and great granddaughter of Shri. Palakkad Rama Bhagavathar. She has been teaching Carnatic music in Southern California for the past 18 years and was awarded the first place prize at the Cleveland Thyagaraja Aradhana in Cleveland, Ohio in 2007. She also had the privilege of studying extensively under Shri. Palai Ramachandran, a disciple of Shri. Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer. 

She has been teaching music since 2007 and dance since 2016. As a full time artist, Visalini has been the main vocalist for many dance arangetrams and productions, singing for young students of dance to professional dancers. In 2022, she was awarded the Alliance for California Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Grant to work on bringing together her love of dance and music together. 

Visalini is the Artistic Director of Naayika Arts where she teaches Bharatha Natyam and Carnatic vocal music, as well as the founder of The Naayika Collective, a creative and collaborative space for artists.