Matangi is a Bharatanatyam dancer, choreographer, actor, and educator from Bengaluru, recognised for evocative storytelling, rigorous classical training, and a contemporary performance sensibility. With over 500 performances in India and internationally, she works with equal ease as a soloist, ensemble member, and lead artist. She directs Matangi Nrithyakshetra, mentoring young dancers through imaginative choreographic works drawing from mythology, history, and science. Trained under The Kirans, Bengaluru, with advanced study in karanas under Guru Smt. Nirupama Rajendra and ongoing abhinaya mentorship from Guru Smt. Bragha Bessel, her movement vocabulary is further informed by Indian martial arts and movement theatre training with John Britton. A Doordarshan-graded artist and recipient of national scholarships and awards, she has performed extensively with leading dance companies, and worked across theatre and film, creating work that bridges classical tradition with contemporary inquiry.
Lines Between the Lines is a Bharatanatyam production that critically engages the classical repertoire without altering musical or textual structures. Revisiting tradition through present-day perspectives, it addresses gender, devotion, identity, love, and nationhood. Structured as a reimagined Margam, the work includes a karana-based Alarippu, narrative pieces for intergenerational audiences, a varnam inspired by Akka Mahadevi’s vachanas, a modern Javali, and a Thillana reflecting India’s plural cultural landscape—positioning Bharatanatyam as a living, dialogic, and globally resonant practice.