Devika Bhise

Born and raised in New York City, Devika has been singing, acting, and performing since the age of 5. She began learning Bharatanatyam, the oldest form of Indian classical dance, in her early childhood, and over the years she has performed Bharatanatyam as a soloist at an array of venues in New York including Lincoln Center, Asia Society, Symphony Space, and Danny Kaye Playhouse. Her love of dance was never limited to Bharatanatyam and at the age of thirteen she began to broaden her abilities by pursuing other styles such as jazz, modern dance, hip-hop, and salsa.

Devika attended Brearley, an all-girls private school in Manhattan, where she participated in many school plays and musicals as well as productions in other New York City schools. In high school she sang in the Brearley B-Naturals, an a cappella group, and was a member of the Brearley Dance Troupe. The substantial focus of “old school jazz” in the a cappella repertoire piqued her interest in the style of artists such as Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday. Devika went on to perform solo jazz concerts as an invited artist for fundraisers at venues including The Plaza Hotel, Essex House, Select City Walk in New Delhi, and The Goa Literary Festival. In twelfth grade, Devika directed and produced a documentary film entitled “Hijras: The Third Gender”, which won the award for Best Social Documentary at the Independent Film and Video Festival in both New York and Los Angeles. Consequently, Johns Hopkins University awarded her the Hodson Trust Scholarship for outstanding academics, leadership, and community service.

At Johns Hopkins, Devika not only actively participated in the Theater program led by the esteemed John Astin but also acted in a play in Baltimore city. John Astin also served as her mentor for the Woodrow Wilson Research Fellowship, where Devika brought Kudiyattam, a nearly extinct UNESCO heritage art form to the United States for the first time. The troupe made debut performances in Shriver Auditorium in Baltimore and the Asia Society in New York City. As a fellow, Devika also wrote a comparative analysis between the acting techniques of contemporary western drama and ancient Sanskrit theater. Devika also participated in the Johns Hopkins Octopodes, the oldest a cappella group on campus and three time consecutive winners of the ICCA (International Competition of Collegiate A Cappella) Southern Quarterfinals. In the 2012 ICCA Quarterfinals, Devika won the award for Outstanding Choreography.

Devika graduated from Johns Hopkins University in December 2012 with both general and departmental honors in Art History and now lives in New York City to pursue a career in acting. She has studied with Kelly Kimball, Pamela Scott, Mark Cohen, The Barrow Group, Terry Schreiber Conservatory and NYFA.