
Nataraj Vashi and Praveena Mehta at BMC. Digital print from archival scan. Western Regional Archives, State Archives of NC.
Nataraj Vashi (b. 1924 Gujarat, India – d. 1999) and Praveena Mehta (b. 1923 – d.1992 Mumbai, India)
Nataraj Vashi and Praveena Mehta were faculty of BMC during the Summer Art Institute of 1949. Vashi taught Hindu philosophy and dance. He also studied the “mechanics of dance” and kinesthetics while at BMC after performing in a dance troupe with Praveena internationally. Praveena was a dancer, architect, and political activist who worked and studied in India and the United States and participated in the Indian Independence Movement. While at BMC, she taught philosophy and Hindu dance, bringing together the foundations of Indian music and dance with the language of architecture.