Priya Thomas trained in the South Asian classical dance form
Bharatanatyam in the Balasaraswati lineage. She began training at
four and spent 21 years studying with Priyamvada Sankar, herself the
primary pupil of Sangita Kalanidhi T. Balasaraswati (1918–1984).
Priyamvada Sankar, the eldest daughter of eminent Sanskrit scholar V. Raghavan, was Balasaraswati’s first student at the Madras Music Academy
and remained her daily pupil for nineteen years. Thomas performed her arangetram (a full-length recital marking formal initiation into stage performance) in 1983 and continued to study both Carnatic vocal music and dance with Sankar until 1995, performing regularly in Canada, the US, and India. While enrolled in McGill University’s Religious Studies program, she also studied Sanskrit with Sankar weekly, supplementing her formal
undergraduate work in Sanskrit.
Over the years, Thomas has choreographed and performed
contemporary dance works as well as performances drawing from
South Asian dance forms and movement vocabularies. After studying
flamenco in Seville, she began formal flamenco training in Toronto and
has performed flamenco in Toronto and Spain. She currently trains with Flamenco Academy Maria Serrano in Toronto.
Bharatanatyam in the Balasaraswati lineage. She began training at
four and spent 21 years studying with Priyamvada Sankar, herself the
primary pupil of Sangita Kalanidhi T. Balasaraswati (1918–1984).
Priyamvada Sankar, the eldest daughter of eminent Sanskrit scholar V. Raghavan, was Balasaraswati’s first student at the Madras Music Academy
and remained her daily pupil for nineteen years. Thomas performed her arangetram (a full-length recital marking formal initiation into stage performance) in 1983 and continued to study both Carnatic vocal music and dance with Sankar until 1995, performing regularly in Canada, the US, and India. While enrolled in McGill University’s Religious Studies program, she also studied Sanskrit with Sankar weekly, supplementing her formal
undergraduate work in Sanskrit.
Over the years, Thomas has choreographed and performed
contemporary dance works as well as performances drawing from
South Asian dance forms and movement vocabularies. After studying
flamenco in Seville, she began formal flamenco training in Toronto and
has performed flamenco in Toronto and Spain. She currently trains with Flamenco Academy Maria Serrano in Toronto.