Newport residents click her for discounted tickets

Click on the banner above for Lights of Diwali details.
​Your involvement and support for festivals and events hosted by Surati for Performing Arts, enables us to raise funds to sustain our programming and in bringing, diverse, unique and quality programming to the community.   Click here to learn more

Who we are... 

​Surati’s mission is to create and present performing arts and cultural experiences that globalize themes rooted in Indian culture, conveying the universal messages of equality, inclusion, and unity in diversity, through, Staged Productions, Arts-in-Education, Community Events, and Workshops.
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​Incorporated in 2012 in New Jersey, Surati has been invited to perform at the Library of Congress, Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, The United Nations, The Lincoln Center, Reichhold Center for the Arts (USVI) & Alaska Center for the Performing Arts among others. Surati works relentlessly to bring communities together by organizing Indian festivals, which have universal appeal, like Holi and Diwali. Surati provides arts in education for students through lectures, demonstrations & workshops in collaboration with cultural organizations at the state and county levels. Surati's community outreach extends beyond the tristate area in the US since the introduction of online programming in 2020

Staged Productions & Performing Arts

Shows presenting India's rich cultural heritage and history.  Ramaavan, ​​Glimpses of India & Festivals of India . . .  these productions reflect the diversity and vibrant culture of India with original scripts, music and choreography.

Community Festivals

Indian Festivals that bring the world together. . . Holi, The Festival of Colors and Diwali,  The Festival of Lights, bring communities together in celebration of  universal messages of tolerance inclusion and brotherhood

Arts-in-Education

Surati brings art programs to students, minorities, under-represented, the physically challenged as well as senior citizens, with the vision to share the diverse arts and culture from across the world 

Surati Holi Hai Color Walk and Color Festival 2021


​Surati Holi Hai ​is an initiative to bring the community together through a celebration of colors, culture and diversity while also raising funds for 501(c)(3) tax-exempt nonprofit Surati for Performing Arts to sustain and continue its India-inspired artistic programming of producing and creating Original Staged Productions, Arts-In-Education programs, Cultural themes and experiences and Community outreach through the arts.
​Supported in part by a grant from NJ Department of State, Division of Travel and Tourism and New Jersey Arts & Culture Recovery Fund of the Princeton Area Community Foundation. This program is made possible by a grant from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, a division of the Department of State, and administered by the Hudson County Office of Cultural & Heritage Affairs, Thomas A. DeGise, Hudson County Executive & the Hudson County Board of County Commissioners.

Surati's Rakhi Festival 2021

Surati for Performing Arts celebrated its Second International Rakhi Festival on Wednesday, August 18, 2021, outdoors in downtown Jersey City at Amiya Restaurant. In attendance were Mayor Steven Fulop of Jersey City, Ward-E Councilman James Solomon, officers from the JCPD, and the Jersey City LGBTQ community leaders, among others. It was a smaller than usual Surati event but of immense significance.​..
Video courtesy ITV Gold
Supported in part by a grant from NJ Department of State, Division of Travel and Tourism. New Jersey Arts & Culture Recovery Fund of the Princeton Area Community Foundation. This program is made possible by a grant from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, a division of the Department of State, and administered by the Hudson County Office of Cultural & HeritageAffairs, Thomas A. DeGise, Hudson County Executive & the Hudson County Board of County Commissioners.​​

Surati @ National Night Out 2021 in Jersey City ​

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​Surati participated in the National Night Out on Tuesday August 3 at the Hamilton Park, in Jersey City.  Surati presented its youngest students and showcased the dances that they have been learning. Rimli presented a dance workshop while the crowd present at Hamilton Park joined in for a fun session. After that Jay sang a couple of songs to close out the performance.  Please visit our National Night Out Gallery to see some photographs from that day. 

Our 2021 programming is made possible by

​New Jersey Arts & Culture Recovery Fund of the Princeton Area Community Foundation
​New Jersey Tourism
​Hudson County Office of Cultural & Heritage Affairs / Tourism Development
New Jersey Economic Development Authority
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Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation 
  • Supported in part by a grant from NJ Department of State, Division of Travel and Tourism.
  • New Jersey Arts & Culture Recovery Fund of the Princeton Area Community Foundation
  • This program is made possible by a grant from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, a division of the Department of State, and administered by the Hudson County Office of
    ​Cultural & Heritage Affairs, Thomas A. DeGise, Hudson County Executive & the Hudson County Board of County Commissioners.

To India with Love 

Loews Theatre, Jersey City - June 12 2021
Photo Credits : Paul Martin

Saturday May 15

Surati's annual online event "Tagore Live"
Performances by artists from India, U.S and U.K to celebrate Nobel Laureate of India Rabindranath Tagore's 160th Birth Anniversary
  • Tagore Dance workshop with Sriradha Paul
  • Artist performances featuring Shib Narayan Banerjee, Priyanjali Sen, Sriradha Paul, Saibal Banerjee​​
  • Christine Goodman, Director, Jersey City Cultural Affairs​
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Virtual Concerts & workshop

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The Jersey City Arts Council is honoring us for our contributions to the arts. Please join!
2020 Jersey City Art Awards
Tuesday, December 1st,
​7-9pm Pay what you can tickets! You're invited to a special watch party where we can chat live during the awards presentation. Those who RSVP will receive an email with the YouTube premiere link. Please help us celebrate by visiting and sharing our award announcement on Facebook and Instagram.​

Surati Independence Day Salute was made possible by
Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of NJ
Hudson County Office of Cultural & Heritage Affairs - VisitHudson.Org
Jersey City Cultural Affairs

Our Annual Sponsor
Outdoor Event - Sunday, Aug 9 2020
PERFORMERS AND ARTISTS
Watch the "Facebook Live" Recording of the Aug 2, online event here
Ashwin Kumar
Luis Lujan
Pritha Majumder
Sriradha Paul
Rukmini Sofi
Tanvi Malushte
What is Rakhi?
Rakhi or Raksha Bandhan originated in India as a festival that celebrated the bond between a brother and a sister. However, over the years the festival has been embraced by many as a mark of brotherhood, safety, trust and reliability.Surati is excited to bring to the people of Jersey City and beyond the 1st official Rakhi celebration

Tying a Rakhi (an artistic amulet) signifies brotherhood, acceptance, protection against harm and mutual respect. Keeping in mind the state of current affairs, Surati extends the meaning of Rakhi to embrace people from all over the world and encourage cross-cultural exchange and dialogue. In these difficult times, we understand the need to stand for peace, equality, brotherhood, goodwill, forgiveness and unity in diversity. Through this Rakhi festival and movement, we hope to spread the message of love and peace by inviting members of the community to celebrate this joyous occasion with us.

Surati Participated in #HudsonGives 

Surati participated  for the first time in Hudson Gives on May 14th, 2020, to raise funds to support its all-year programming, current online events, and new and ongoing works. Just like Giving Tuesday, Hudson Gives is a "Day of Giving" to nonprofits in our very own Hudson County. We seek your support in making this endeavor a success. Read more...

Our Work...

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Company dancers @ The United Nations
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Workshop with kids @ US Virgin Islands
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Attendees participating in Color Countdown@ Surati Holi Hai 2019
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Summer program with kids in Hudson County, NJ

What your donation would mean to us...

  • $5 - Never too small
  • $20 - Donate a spot for the underprivileged or people in need of art therapy in our programs
  • $50 - Free arts-education online for participants from lower income communities or those in need of art therapy
  • $100 - Support our online programming - arts-in-education, interactive workshops,  company artist performances
  • $250 -  Support our performing artists and creation of new works
  • $500 - Community sponsor - Donation goes towards Surati live performances
  • $1000 - Support online festivals and community events
  • $5000 - Support Surati programs online and creation of a quality virtual space - performances, workshops, demonstrations, family programming, creation of news works

About founder and artistic director - Rimli Roy

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RIMLI ROY is an artiste, choreographer, producer, director and also an accomplished Indian classical dancer, trained in three distinctly different styles – Odissi, Bharatnatyam and Manipuri under renowned gurus (masters) from India since she was four and first performed on stage at age six. She is the Founder and Artistic Director of Surati, an India-focused award winning and leading performing arts, entertainment and arts education company based in Jersey City. She has choreographed, led and performed in prestigious venues all over the US including the United Nations, Kennedy Center and Lincoln Center and also in India, the U.S Virgin Islands, Barbados, Alaska PAC to name a few. Her work has also been featured in the Vogue.
Other than Classical dance forms, daringly innovative artiste Rimli, ventures outside the domain of conservative classical dance, experiments with various classical and folk dances, Tagore dance forms and has fused elements of modern, ballet, jazz, opera and musical theatre into the stage productions directed and choreographed by her globally for stage and television. Hailing from a family of artistes based in India (her father is renowned composer, musician and singer Sumit Roy, her mother Arati Roy is a visual artist, poet, writer and lyricist, her brother Rajesh Roy is composer, singer-songwriter who also works in the Bollywood industry) she is the recipient of grants from the Hudson County Office of Cultural & Heritage Affairs and the New Jersey State Council on the Arts and most recently by the State of New Jersey Tourism Department. Rimli has been engaged in promoting Indian art and culture across the United States and beyond by means of stage performances, educational collaborations with various institutions (museums, schools, libraries) as well as teaching Indian classical music and dance for over two decades.
A visionary community worker, she and her team train new dancers and musicians every year, and partners with various organizations in the Tri-State area to take arts to the community. Her group constitutes a diverse group of dancers, musicians and actors trained in a wide range of styles, individually hand-picked from various parts of the world. Hailing from a family of highly accomplished musicians, Rimli works around the clock to create path-breaking concepts in musical theatre, eclectic and traditional staged productions originating in Indian culture, often with interpretations from around the world, incorporating a blend of styles and traditions to create a thoroughly multicultural experience for the audience.
Her recent work “Ramaavan – A Musical”, in English  based on the Indian epic tale “The Ramayana” was performed in the NJ/NY tristate area in 2018 and 2019 to rave reviews from viewers and sold out shows. The Musical was critically acclaimed - created a unique mix of Indian classical / traditional /contemporary dance and music genres with musical theatre, Shakespearean style verse, poetry, storytelling, opera and jazz. Rimli and her Ramaavan team have also been recently invited by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations, Government of India to perform this production in India.
Rimli has been producing the Holi festival– Surati Holi Hai – Festival of Colors along with the Surati team for the past 11 years. 2020 would have been the 12th year. Surati Holi Hai has attracted between 12,000 - 15,000 people from up to 22 U.S States and 6 countries around the world. Apart from Holi, Rimli and Surati also produce other festivals like Surati Summer Fest and Surati Lights of Diwali every year. They have also produced the International Children’s Festival and the 1st Children and Youth Open Mic.
Notable performances: Rimli and the Surati for Performing Arts company have performed at the United Nations Headquarters, in Washington D.C at The Kennedy Center and The Library of Congress, in New York City at The Lincoln Center, at Incredible India’s Annual Road Show (the Indian Ministry of Tourism), The World Financial Center Wintergarden (now known as Brookfield Place), New York City Hall, The Indian Consulate, for The Export Promotion Council for Handicrafts (Indian Ministry of Textiles), in St. Thomas at the University of the U.S Virgin Islands’ Reichhold Center in NJ at the Rutgers University, in Anchorage at the Alaska Performing Arts Center, at Barbados for the University of the West Indies and at the Las Vegas Convention Center (NV). 
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