The tour will premiere at the prestigious Miller Theatre, Houston, on 16th May at 8:30 PM, offering a breathtaking performance set against the surreal sunset backdrop. "Arisi: Rice” - The Grains of Life weaves a rich narrative through Bharatanatyam and Balinese dance traditions, with a stellar cast featuring dancers from Apsaras Company Dancers from Singapore and India, alongside Balinese artists led by Padma Shri awardee Prof Dibia from GEOK Ensemble Bali, a revered master performer. Following this, "Arisi" will be staged on 17th May at 6:00 PM at The Lotus Theatre Woodlands, Houston, Texas.

The tour will also showcase "Skanda Rasam", a powerful solo performance by Mohanapriyan Thavarajah, Apsaras Dance Company's Principal Dancer and Resident Choreographer. He will present this solo work in Boston, and lead a masterclass in Scarborough, organised by Smt. Rajani Mathivarnan of Natiya Samarpanaa Kalai Koodam, in collaboration with the Global Association of Sri Lankan Bharatanatyam Artistes and Apsaras Dance Company, Singapore.

The final leg of the tour will feature "Skanda Rasam" in Canada at the Sampradaya Theatre, presented by Sampradaya Dance Creations, founded by Smt Lata Pada.

This tour is presented by the Indian Performing Arts Samskriti, founded by the renowned Smt Ratna Kumar of Houston, Texas.

Synopsis - Arisi : Rice - The Grains of Life

Communities across Asia are bound together by rice, described by many as the grain of life. Arisi: Rice is a cross-cultural and multidisciplinary production that pays homage to this reality. Taking the bold approach of eschewing traditional epic storytelling, Arisi is crafted as a series of vignettes about the rites and rituals honouring the various stages of life — birth, marriage, death — alongside the stages of rice cultivation. In each of these ceremonies marking the most significant moments in life, rice is the principal ingredient.

Arisi takes the audience through a kaleidoscope of dynamic images brought to life through bharatanatyam, with Apsaras Arts dancers sharing the stage with Balinese dancers from the GEOK Ensemble. And for the first time ever, the company collaborates with the Singapore Chinese Orchestra to create a truly unique score. A filmic layer of stories from Indian migrant workers who hail from a lineage of farming adds a powerful, first-person narrative to the dance production.

Synopsis - SKANDA RASAM - Emotions of Holy Communion

Skanda – the name of the benevolent Hindu god Lord Muruga. Rasam – the series of emotions evoked within the audience as they experience the dancer’s communion with Lord Muruga. In this thematic Bharatanatyam solo maargam performance, the dancer Mohanapriyan takes his audience in a journey of discovery through Bharatanatyam.