Artist

Teressa Asencia Neal

"The first time I saw Priyamvada dance Bharata Natyam, I knew she had something I had not found in my modern dance training. As I studied with her privately for thirteen years, I discovered many new dimensions of dance. Realizing that she was given a great legacy of dance by the legendary Balasaraswati, I wanted to help her share her unique experience of Bharata Natyam Dance with the world. Discovering that there was not yet a comprehensive video on Bharata Natyam Dance, I decided to create one that would allow a mainstream audience to understand and appreciate this ancient dance tradition." T.A.Neal
Teressa Asencia studied Modern Dance at the New Dance Group in New York City. She was awarded a scholarship at Performing Arts Workshop in San Francisco. She also worked with John Cwykala of the Falco Company. She studied privately for five years with Oscar Aguado, Broadway dancer and creator of the "The Form". This training serves as the basis for the workshops she teaches in "The Inner Dance".
For the past thirteen years, she has been studying Classical East Indian Dance privately with Priyamvada Sankar in Montreal. Her recent video documentary A Dance the Gods Yearn to Witness dramatizes the process of a Modern Dancer who studies the Ancient Art of Bharata Natyam Dance.

A Dance The Gods Yearn to Witness won an Award of Merit at the AMTEC Festival in Guelph, Ontario, was shown in the Grand Prix International Dance Festival in France and Place des Arts, Montreal.

Artist Code: 520

Videography