This browser does not support the Video element.
Annual arts festival for New Tampa Performing Arts Center
Photojournalist Barry Wong reports.
TAMPA - Members of the Rudram Dance Company have spent the last four weeks preparing for seven different performances this weekend.
"You'll get to see traditional classic Indian dance items, and also we are preparing ourselves to show folk dances of India," Rudram Dance Company Director Tara Priyadarshini Bikkasani said.
Around 28 total students from the company will be taking the stage, including 16-year-olds Divya Vijeesh and Nayana Jayakumar.
What they're saying:
"Dance connects me to my culture, and I enjoy the body movement and the storytelling," Vijeesh said. "It's just something that really calms me."
The pair recently practiced "Kalinga Nartanam", a duet about a mythological hero named Krishna, at the NTPAC stage.
"I hope that people see our story, people see our messages, people can recognize even our way of life and see the differences and the similarities in their own lives and maybe even adopt something that they see with us into their daily routine," Jayakumar said.
Rudram Dance Company will join other organizations like the Tampa City Ballet, St. Pete Opera and Wattaka Choir.
"It's extremely important to understand different cultures. We are embedded here in Tampa," Bikkasani said. "It's not just about our Indian culture. We have ballet. We have theater. We have orchestra. It's such a wonderful ambience for us to bring together all these variety shows."
READ: Longtime comic artist's work celebrated at new Imagine Museum exhibit
Full schedule
Friday, Sept. 12 – Doors open at 5 p.m.
Studio 1
5:45 p.m.: Outcast Theatre
7:45 p.m.: Cultural Arts Theater
Studio 2A
Backstage Tours at: 5 p.m. and 6 p.m.
Theater
7 p.m.: Wattaka Choir
8:15 p.m.: Jansen Dance Project
Saturday, Sept. 13 – Doors open at 9:30 a.m.
Studio 1
5 p.m.: Winold Music Festival
6:45 p.m.: USF Musical Theatre Program
Studio 2A
9:30 a.m. - 1 p.m.: Florida Orchestra Instrument Petting Zoo
Backstage Tours at: 12:15 p.m., 1:45 p.m., and 4:30 p.m.
Theater
10 a.m.: Film screening: Disney’s Beauty and the Beast (1991)
1 p.m.: Entertainment Revue
2:15 p.m.: Hillsborough College Music Department
3:30 p.m.: Rebecca Penneys Piano Festival featuring Vincent Pham (solo piano)
4:45 p.m.: Hat Trick Theatre and Tales of Mild Interest
6 p.m.: Anna Dance Academy
7:30 p.m.: Tampa City Ballet’s Cinderella
Sunday, Sept. 14 – Doors open at 12:30 p.m.
Studio 1
1:15 p.m.: Countdown Improv
3 p.m.: Devine Madness Sketch Comedy
Studio 2A
Backstage Tour at 3:15 p.m.
Theater
1 p.m.: Cypress Creek Jazz Band
2:15 p.m.: Rudram Dance Company
3:45 p.m.: New Tampa Players
5 p.m.: St. Pete Opera with special performance by Tampa City Ballet
Click here for more information.
The Source: Information for this story was gathered by FOX 13's Barry Wong.