Vijay Palaparty, Founder/Co-Artistic Director

“The purpose of what I do is rooted in what I tell people as to why I founded Spilling Ink. When something is spilled, it really has no control. It is fresh and different each time. How the spill is addressed is what is interesting.”

Vijay Palaparty founded Spilling Ink to create a forum for critical and sensory investigation into the process of making dance. After the organization’s inauguration overseas in Chennai, India,  launching with a multidisciplinary program titled, Alekhya: Spilling Ink, the tone was set for the company’s contemporary classic style, supported by modern interpretations of tradition.

Through Spilling Ink, Vijay aims to promote the cultivation of a curatorial mind in culmination with foregrounding aesthetic values and technical prowess. In supporting a penchant for curiosity and questioning, he aims to offer a method and approach that delivers meaningful experiences to others. Vijay believes that the exchange of ideas allows a co-created narrative to unfold and emerge, supported by a multitude of artistic and cultural genres of expression: visual art, drama, poetry, and music. This collaborative nature supports Vijay’s strong belief in creating communities across various geographical locations, backgrounds, experiences and identities. 

Vijay Palaparty first graduated from Carnegie Mellon University with a Bachelor’s in Professional Writing, later returning to Carnegie Mellon to receive two Master’s degrees in Professional Writing and Literary and Cultural Studies. Years later, Vijay pursued a Master of Business Administration from University of Maryland. Most recently, he has completed a Master’s Degree in International Affairs at The New School in New York City, and is now pursuing a PhD in Design from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (Melbourne, AU) in partnership with Parsons School of Design/The New School (New York, NY).

Vijay’s decision to pursue a dance-centric career stemmed from a study abroad opportunity with Colgate University in 1999 in South India, led by Professor William Skelton. He first laid the seeds of his interest in dance in the classical South Indian Kuchipudi form, learning from Dr. K. Uma Rama Rao from Lasya Priya in Hyderabad. During his time abroad, Vijay met Professor Sudharani Raghupathy from Shree Bharatalaya in Chennai, where he continued his study of Bharatanatyam, which began with Padma Rajagopal from Nupur Anjali School of Dance in Cleveland. Vijay continues to further his dance training through the guidance he gratefully receives from Nalini Prakash, and Padma S. Raghavan from Silambam, Mylapore, in Chennai.

Vijay is a committed educational mentor, working for nearly two decades with Gateway to the Arts in Southwestern Pennsylvania and with Class Acts Arts in the Washington, DC metropolitan area, reaching thousands of students and other community members through arts education programs. Vijay is especially committed to working with younger audiences, stemming from his work with Fred Rogers from the renowned Mister Rogers Neighborhood television program. This calling was further encouraged in Pittsburgh, where he worked for many years with Sreyashi Dey from Srishti Dances of India, receiving fundamental guidance and invaluable mentorship in the practice of making dance. 

The District of Columbia Commission on the Arts and Humanities in Washington has awarded Vijay Palaparty with five artist fellowships to date, along with a Young Artist Program award, and critical project support grants over the years.

Alongside his work at Spilling Ink, Vijay is currently a Senior Communications Specialist on the Federal Reserve Board.

Nalini Prakash, President/Co-Artistic Director

“Dance and movement to me are the lifeblood of existence, and bridging the worlds of mental health, and racial and social justice has created a renewed meaning for my work as a dancer, educator, and choreographer.”

Nalini Prakash views dance as a way of connecting with the self and reaching out to society. Nalini is firmly rooted in the perspective that one does not solely dance for themselves, but as a way to reach out and connect with society through movement. Measures of success for Nalini are therefore rooted in her participants—whether they are audiences engaged in a performance, children participating in a school-based arts education workshop, or members of a dance/movement therapy workshop. 

In her personal artistic practice, Nalini believes rooting in tradition is important, and from there an artist can innovate, which is a perspective that she brings to the work done at Spilling Ink. There is a symbiotic give and take that occurs in the studio that allows for a healthy tension within the process and resulting work. For Nalini, this results in a broadening and opening of experiences while grounding them in the richness of the traditions Spilling Ink works to preserve. Furthermore, there is a deep questioning that has emerged in the recent past around the equity and justice of traditions themselves, and Nalini believes in the fundamental importance of questioning intent and motivation in the context and the subject matter with which she works.

Nalini brings decades of experience as a practitioner of Bharatanatyam. She hails from a traditional artistic background rooted in Chennai, where she began her study and practice with Sudharani Raghupathy at Shree Bharatalaya. Nalini gave her debut recital when she was only 10 years old, and thereafter received a Government of India Scholarship for Dance. She graduated from Queen Mary’s College (Chennai, India) with a Bachelor's in Indian Classical Music, continuing on to accomplish a Master’s in Indian Classical Dance at Maharaja Sayajirao University (Baroda, India) directly after. Later on, after having completed her Master of Arts in Dance/Movement Therapy from Drexel University, Nalini worked as a dance/movement therapist at Saint Elizabeths Hospital in Washington, DC, working with chronically mentally ill individuals in forensics. Most recently, Nalini has completed a Ph.D. in Creative Arts Therapies, also from Drexel University, working on a dissertation that explores the impact of dance and movement as an intervention to assuage racial and ethnic bullying among middle school students. As of October 2022, Nalini works as the Assistant Clinical Professor at Drexel University for the graduate dance/movement therapy and counseling program in the Department of Creative Arts Therapies, College of Nursing and Health Professions. 

Nalini Prakash’s extensive work in Coonoor, India, founding a premier institution for the teaching of theory and practice of classical South Indian Bharatanatyam, Silambam, created a strong foundation for her in imparting dance education. She was able to fill not only an artistic void in a remote mountainous region in South India, but also cultural and educational gaps. She also established a chapter of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, an international organization that works with esteemed and renowned classical Indian performing artists. For her dedicated efforts, Nalini received the distinguished Rotary Club of Nilgiris Award for Vocational Excellence, which recognized her perseverance to reach underserved and underrepresented regions of India that benefited from arts and culture.

Today, such experiences have allowed her to spearhead international teaching, and arts education program development at Spilling Ink. These programs work to build community and connect individuals—in particular those who are at the margins of our society. Nalini stands with the idea that people who are blessed with the knowledge of theory and practice of movement—and that includes any kind of somatic practice— should follow the imperative that they work to heal the world through engaging in practices that connect people. And that connection among people naturally occurs on many planes—the apparent physical, but also on psychosocial levels. In creating any kind of movement-based work, Nalini brings that perspective of connection and conductivity to deeply engage with her collaborators and participants.