Najan, Nala, 1932-2002.

Nala Najan (1932-2002) was an American-born dancer, choreographer and writer who specialized in the traditional dances of India. He was born Roberto Rivera in Pennsylvania. As a child he trained in violin, piano and Western dance forms, especially ballet. Attracted to Indian dance after seeing performances by Ted Shawn and Ruth St. Denis and later by Ram Gopal and Uday Shankar, he traveled to India as a teenager to study Bharata Natyam and traditional music as a disciple of the guru Muthukumara Pillai.

Upon returning to the United States, he settled in New York and began to perform at the Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival in Massachusetts, as well as at cultural dance festivals across the country. In 1961 he founded the Nala Najan Dance Company, which had a short lived but well received series of performances.

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