We believe in building community connections, and lifting up communities through art. In just the past year, our programs have raised close to $5000 for various local charities, in addition to almost 300 pounds of canned food AND several bags of gently used clothing donated to local food pantries and homeless shelters.

We strongly believe that ANYONE who wants to learn an art form, should be able to. Throughout our 20-year history, we have always offered tuition waivers and discounts to students in need. We have even completely funded student arangetrams (debut recitals) when the need arose. And, we make sure our tuition rates are reasonable, even for those who can afford them.

We believe that for art to flourish, artists must view the arts as a viable career path. And for this, organizations must create opportunities and fair payscales for creatives. Every single artist that works with us is paid fairly - whether they are world-famous, or just starting out. This even includes our senior students who participate in Company productions. Dancers, musicians, teaching artists, lighting designers, costume designers, stage managers - we employ dozens of artists in every program that we produce and present, and every single one of them receives fair pay.

Did you know that our students receive training in a range of allied areas and skills? Through a series of masterclasses and workshops, we provide students with the opportunity to learn from experts in various related skills that are transferable to many different career paths. From lighting and sound design to choreography and makeup skills, from festival curation to videography and video editing, from teaching techniques to stage management, from grant writing to nonprofit finance and leadership, these masterclasses and workshops equip our students with useful knowledge and practical experience that rounds out their education as an artist. In most cases, our Company dancers and teaching artists are able to attend these workshops for FREE, and as always, tuition waivers are available to any of our students who need them.

Our senior students are offered the opportunity to train in a structured student instructor program, progressing from assisting in classes to teaching on their own. Some of our students have progressed through each level of student instructor training, and are now faculty at Silambam! This is our way of contributing to the propagation of Indian classical art forms to future generations. Student instructors are offered varying degrees of tuition discounts, then complete waivers, and eventually, are paid as faculty members.

Help train tomorrow’s teachers, by contributing to our Annual Giving Campaign!

Have you been to a performance by the Silambam Houston Dance Company? If you have, you know that we produce extremely high-quality, unique performances that have broad appeal, convey impactful messages, and are attended by large and diverse audiences. Many of our Company dancers are high school and college students, who experience the excitement and commitment of performing with a professional dance company, and every one of our Company members is paid for their work!

One of our most cherished programs is The YUVA Festival, which provides a platform for brilliant emerging talent in Indian classical arts to come together, collaborate and create new artistic works. Through YUVA, we believe in catalyzing synergistic creativity, paving the way for young artists to forge their paths as professionals in the arts. Application to, and participation in, YUVA is always free, and each artist in each YUVA cohort is compensated.

We work hard to ensure that anyone who wants to experience the arts, can do so regardless of their socioeconomic status, geographic location, schedule conflicts, or other hurdles! Most of our performances are either free, or ‘pay-what-you-can’. Our ArtStream performances, which bring together world-class artists, can be watched in person, via livestreaming, as well as on-demand for a limited time - all with ‘pay-what-you-can’ pricing.

Did you know that our innovative K-12 and outreach programs reach thousands of students and families, through schools, libraries, and museums? Our outreach programming incorporates arts and cultural awareness into ELA, Social Studies, and STEM learning, through our signature programs - Poetry in Motion, Dance Across India, Storytime With Silambam, and Dancing Into STEM!

We are the only Indian classical arts organization in the Houston area to offer holistic arts education in 10 different Indian classical arts disciplines! Each of our disciplines is taught by talented, committed and passionate teachers, with a structured, well thought-out, and comprehensive curriculum and defined progression paths, leading to various professional development opportunities.

We are a 501(c)3 nonprofit! To our knowledge, Silambam is the only nonprofit in the Houston area, and indeed in Texas, dedicated to Indian classical arts education, outreach, presentation AND performance. All our programs, including our dance, music and yoga classes, are conducted for the public benefit, with all tuition, ticket proceeds, registration fees and all other revenue going towards our nonprofit mission.