Chitra Ramaswamy (Bharatanatyam):
If Chitra could dance all day, she would. Chitra has rhythm in her eyes, her face, her hands, her feet and of course, in her body! So say her students.
Chitra has been learning bharatanatyam since the age of 9. She began her education in the Kalakshetra style under the able guidance of her Guru Padmashree Adyar. K. Laksmanan of Chennai. When she was ready, Chitra gave her Arangetram in the premises of Shree Vara Siddhi Vinayakar temple in Besant Nagar, Chennai.
Chitra pursued dance even while earning a Bachelors degree in Engineering at BITS, Pilani. And in spite of her deliverables as a software engineer, chitra continued to master the complexities and intricacies of this art under the expert tutelage and arduous training of her Guru.
Chitra’s love for the dance form, metamorphosed her into a teacher. She tutored students in Bhrathanatyam and Fork dances while working as an instructor at the “Padmini Institute of Fine Arts”, in the US. Apart from the Academy of Indian Music, Chitra is also attached to the Nrithyanjali Institute of Dance based at South Brunswick. Looking at Chitra, we guess its true – once a dancer, always a dancer!
Anuradha Renganathan (Bharatanatyam):
Inspired by a dance performance, Anuradha has been learning bharatanatyam since the age of 4. When she was ready to go to college, Anuradha decided that her love for Bharatanatyam was no infatuation and decided to pursue it full time. Anuradha started her advanced level training at Kalakshetra, under the able guidance of pioneers such as Smt. Pushpa Shankar, Prof. A. Janardhanan, Smt. Krishnaveni Lakshmanan, Smt. Vijayalakshmi Krishnaswamy, Shri Sheejith Krishna, Shri Mohanan and others. She also learnt Nattuvangam from Smt. Kamalarani (first lady nattuvanar) Kalakshetra, Chennai.
Anuradha’s career as a professional dancer include performances with Lakshmi Vishwanathan at the 2003 Natyanjali Festival in Thirupoorur, Tamilnadu, India. Anuradha has also worked as an assistant at Alarmel Valli's Institute "Dipashka" for 6 months (Dec 2002 to June 2003) as well as tutor the diploma & post diploma bharatanatyam students of Kalakshetra.
Anuradha feels that bharatanatyam is more than dance. It has taught her to be a spiritually, balanced person. “I do not jump into decisions nor do I get upset if things don’t go my way. This balance of emotions in me is definitely thanks to my dance form – bharatanatyam!
Darshana Jani (Bharatanatyam):
The latest Bharatanatyam faculty to join AIM,Darshana is a direct disciple of Padmashree Dr. (Smt) kanak Rele. Darshana has also received training from famous gurus such as Smt. Malati Agneswaran, Smt. Ambika Vishwanathan, Shri Vaibhav Arekar & many other respected faculty members at Nalanda Nrityakala mahavidyalaya. As a Bharatanatyam teacher, Darshana believes in striking the right cord with her students, “by making dance fun and interactive”. A performer at various ballets and competitions, Darshana has to her credit, performances for Doordarshan, ISKCON, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, NCPA, and the Nehru Science Centre amongst others.
Abhilasha Chawdhary Saxena (Kathak):
Shringar Mani Abhilasha started her learning career at the age of 7. She has now 22 years of strong experience in India and Abroad. Her basic learning of Kathak started under Guru Smt. Shashi Gupta, Bireshwar Gautum and later she started with Dr. Padma Sharma. She is also blessed with the blessing of Pandit Kalinath mishra, renowned tabla artist with whom she had several performances.
She learned Bharatnatyam from Guru Mrs. Baby Johnny and Guru Murugan arunachalam, and Folk dance under Guru Dr. Tushar Guha.
Acknowledged with many honors and awards – and honored with the most prestigious award – ‘Shringar Mani’ – The Dancing Legend. She has done double Post graduation in Sociology from Mumbai University and “Alankar” from Akhil Bhartiya Gandharva MahaVidyalaya Miraj.
She has number of performances to her credit. She had performed at various festivals in India and abroad. Some of her few performances are at Haridas Sammelan Mumbai, kala ghoda festival Mumbai, Vasantutsav Festival by Kalashram at Delhi, Itarsi Sangeet Samaroh at Itarsi(MP), Mahashivratari Festival at Banaras (U.P), Ajamgarh Mahotsav at Ajamgarh , Yugal Nritya at Kathak Sandhya organized by Rashtriya Kathak Sansthan, Lucknow (UP), Maharashtra Sugam Sangeet awards function at Mumbai, Kinkini Festival organized by Bharata college of Fine Arts, Mumbai, International Fleet organized by Indian navy, Mumbai, Kathak Recital Shravan Mahotsav at Om Kaleshwar Mandir in Ujjain, Kathak and Thumri at Jamnagar Festival (Gujarat), Duet Kathak at Iskon temple Mumbai, Kathak On Thumri by Asmita Cultural Foundation, Mumbai,
She had Kathak performance at Lucknow Doordarshan and Mumbai Doordarshan, dance performance with Alisha Chinoy at Bangalore for Miss World contest, Performed Geet Ramayan 50 at Shivaji park, Mumbai which had been telecasted live on Zee Marathi, Given Folk Performance at Birla Matushri, Churchgate that was covered by IN Mumbai Channel telecasting it all over Mumbai, won the championship for Kathak and Folk dance competition at Boogie Woogie, Sony TV.
Apart from her achievements she was also blessed to perform with other eminent artist like Ronu Majumdar at Vishnudas Bhave Natyagraha for Cityjan Times, Aakash Naik student of Smt. Kumudini Lakhia at Doordarshan and N.C.P.A. for production Ghunghroo, a lecture demonstration with Sunil Kothari at N.C.P.A Mumbai, with Jayanthi Mala at Dubai and Sharajah for Lucknow Ki Sham festival and also performed with her dance ballet Ramayana, gave dance Recitals with Nandita Puri.
A Leading Artist of Nrityanjali Institute of Music Dance Dramatics and Personality Development under Dr. Tushar Guha and performed folk and kathak, Played the leading role of Vishnupriya- Wife of Nimahi, an incarnation of Lord Vishnu in the dance drama Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, which has been staged at least 25 times till date, Had been invited to perform in Dance ballet Mahabharata under the banner of Gita Productions, U.K. This ballet has completed its 51 shows at London and other cities in U.K. Attended the workshops held by Birju Maharaj, Maulik Shah and Ishira Parikh.
Choreographed dances for Rotary clubs and different Organizations and for Schools and Colleges in Mumbai like the dance ballet Krishna Leela at Chinmayananda , Ashram.
Apart from her performances she was also a member of Nadira Babbar’s Hindi theatre group Ekjute.
Abhilasha started training students at the age of 17. This had given rise to a now well-flourished dance institute – ‘Nritya Jhankar Cultural Academy’ which officially came into existence in the year 1999. With its 10 years of completion, Nritya Jhankar has presently around 300 students getting trained in Kathak, Folk and Bollywood dances. She also use to train students at Ghatkopar Sangeet Vidyalaya Ghatkopar, India. She is an examiner for Kathak dance form Akhil Bhartiya Gandharva Mahavidyalaya, Miraj.
Year 2008 sow the seeds of yet another institute here in U.S.A.- “Classical Rhythms Dance Academy”
In a span of one year they have number of performances to their credit. They won Bollywood dance competition organized by NICE in senior level on May 3rd 2008. They also performed at the Anand Mela organized by Gujrati Samaj of tri-state during the month of May. She performed solo Kathak dance at Wheaton Arts, independence day festival at Philadelphia, International day, republic day With Abhilasha as its guru, it is sure that Indian art precisely Kathak will spread its knowledge and goodness in the air here too.
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