sooraj subramaniam

Sooraj Subramaniam is an Australian–Belgian dance artist of Malaysian–Indian heritage whose work moves fluidly between traditional Indian dance, contemporary performance, and experimental forms. He received early training at the Sutra Dance Theatre (Malaysia) in Bharatanatyam, Odissi and contemporary forms.

He later continued ballet training in Australia with Stella Johnson and later graduated from the Western Australian Academy for Performing Arts. During this time he also co-directed Mudhra Dance Company with Premala Sangarananda based in Perth, Western Australia, teaching and performing Indian classical and contemporary dance. 
 

In the United Kingdom he worked primarily with SRISHTI, teaching and performing Bharatanatyam. He also toured internationally with Akademi, Balbir Singh Dance Company and Shobana Jeyasingh Dance. Whilst in London he also trained in Kathak with Urja Desai Thakore, adding to his varied vocabulary.

 

Since moving to Belgium in 2012 Sooraj has worked with independent choreographers Nicole Kohler, Kalpana Raghuraman, and the Maghenta Collective. In 2023 he was nominated for Outstanding Male Classical Performance at the Critics’ Circle UK National Dance Awards for his role in Seeta Patel’s The Rite of Spring.

A core pillar of his current practice is intensive Odissi training. Since the global lockdown he has undertaken rigorous, deeply technical virtual study with Odissi exponent Bijayini Satpathy (India). This sustained mentorship—marked by meticulous attention to detail, kinaesthetic precision, and uncompromising exploration of form—has profoundly shaped the refinement of his Odissi technique and underpins much of his evolving artistic voice.​
 

Combining all these experiences, Sooraj values the concept of 'contemporary' as a personal and immediate artistic approach shaped by diverse cultural experiences. Grounded in this commitment to individuality, he honours traditional motifs while transcending borders between styles, genres and identities. 

 

Sooraj's first independent work, Nocturne showed at The Place Theatre, London, beginning his exploration of hybrid forms. nimbus, his second solo, premiered virtually at Sangam Festival, Melbourne, followed by presentations by Maghenta and the India Dans Festival, Korzo Theatre, The Hague. Commissioned by the Baryshnikov Arts Center, New York, he collaborated with long-time friend and Malaysian artist January Low to create the award-winning dance film Other Places of Being, a response to artistic practice shaped by the global pandemic. In collaboration with Balbir Singh Dance Company, UK, he wrote and performed the solo dance-theatre production of Reflections of an Indian Dancer. In his first ensemble work, PALLAVI, created for four Odissi dancers, he reimagined Odissi’s traditional structures within a modern performance landscape. His latest solo, Mandala, is a reimagining of meditative ritual through dance. 

In addition, Sooraj continues to present traditional work in the idioms of Bharatanatyam and Odissi at festivals in India and internationally.