Sahasra's Bharatanatyam Arangetram

About the Guru

Dr. Praveena Vajja is the owner and director of Natyom Dance Academy. She is the Disciple of Guru Natyacharya Shri Avasarala Rukmaji Rao, who is a disciple of Padma Shri Adyar K. Lakshman in Bharatanatyam Kalakshetra style and Kuchipudi, Padma Bhushan Dr. Vempati Chinasatyam. She specializes in teaching Bharatanatyam and has extensive training in Kuchipudi and Kathak as well. She has trained, performed, and taught dance for over 40 years. Natyom Dance Academy’s core curriculum develops a foundation of Bharatanatyam for all students. The basis allows students to easily pick up other forms of Indian Classical and Modern Dance. Students graduate at Natyom by taking certification exams in 4 levels through SAMPADA Siliconandhra and performing arangetrams.

About the Shishya

Sahasra Reddy Kunam, a junior at Carroll Senior High School, has been dedicated to Bharatanatyam since the age of seven, training at Natyom Dance Academy. Her commitment to the art form has earned her a Senior Certificate in Bharatanatyam from the SAMPADA SiliconAndhra Organization. Alongside her passion for classical dance, Sahasra also enjoys dancing to Bollywood music.

Outside of dance, Sahasra has a strong enthusiasm for basketball. She is a varsity player on her 6A category school team, showcasing her athleticism and teamwork on the court. Academically, she is a part of the Carroll Medical Academy and aspires to become a doctor. In her free time, Sahasra loves hanging out with friends and listening to music.

Date & Time

DEC

2:30PM
(Seating starts at 2:00PM)

Venue

Granville Arts Center,
300 N 5th St,
Garland, TX 75040

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Accompanists

Induvadana, an exponent of Bharatha Natyam was fortunate to be born in a family of highly accomplished artists. It is not surprising that she inherited her love for dance and music since her childhood, which blossomed in a highly creative and artistic environment. She is the daughter of Guru Padmashri.Adyar K. Lakshman a highly acclaimed dance guru, choreographer, Nattuvanar, composer and director of the internationally recognized institute of fine arts "Bharatha Choodamani"

Trained rigorously in both Bharatha Natyam and Nattuvangam her thorough foundation is revealed through well-executed rhythmic patterns in scintillating nritta and highly emotive and sensitive abhinaya. She has also been closely associated with her uncle Shri K Rama Rao and her aunty Smt Nagamani Srinivasa Rao, both well-known dance gurus and her uncle Shri K Gopinath who is an acclaimed mridangam player. She has performed in various dance programmes organized by Bharatha Choodamani and various cultural organizations in India and abroad.

Apart from her dancing career she also teaches Bharatanatyam and Nattuvangam and conducts Bharatanatyam recitals to her students in the Kalakshetra Style of Bharatha Natyam, which is characterized by traditional purity, grace and vigor and also Nattuvangam in the unique style of her illustrious father Guru Shri Adyar K. Lakshman. She also teaches Bharatanatyam as a Fitness Program for adults.

Smt. Akshaya Ramanathan hails from a musical family and she got her first training from her mother A.Jayanthi. Under her father's guidance she took music full time.She moved to Texas with her husband and continues to pursue her music career.

She went on to learn from Carnatica brothers and Smt. Padma Sandilyan. At present, she is getting advanced music training under the tutelage of Smt. Prarthana Sai Narasimhan (Disciple of Smt. Mani Krishna Swamy & Sri Chingleput Ranganathan), Sri. Chembai Srinivasan (Bharatanatyam Vocal).

She is a Master of Fine Arts in Carnatic Music from Annamalai University, Chidambaram. She also completed her Carnatic Vocal Grades from the same University.

Akshaya has worked as Music Lecturer in Sri Shankarlal Sundarbai Shasun Jain College for Women, Chennai, for 4 years where she has trained more than 500 Students. She holds 10 years of teaching experience in Carnatic Music for Students in India and abroad. She has rendered Carnatic vocal concerts and performed in The Music Academy and Sabhas for Bharatanatyam in India and USA with guru's blessings. To her credit, she has also done playback singing in Albums, Jingles, and Films (Tamil, Kannada) and worked with Eminent Carnatic Musicians and Music Directors.

Umamahesh is an ardent lover of music and started learning Mridangam and later his interest continued as a violinist. He started learning violin from the young age of 5 from Guru Pala Balakrishna Pillai who was an eminent violinist and was known for his unique style. Umamahesh had his first public concert at the age of 9. He continued his lessons from Shri. Nedumangad Sivanandan in Kerala and Prof. R Thyagarajan of Swathi Thirunal Music college, Trivandrum, Kerala.

He is now pursuing advanced lessons from Smt.Vaikom Padma Krishnan who is a senior disciple of Kalimamani/Padmashree A. Kanyakumari and consulting lessons from Shri. TKV Ramanujacharlu of Srirangam.

He actively participates and supports music activities & vocal and dance arangetrams in the DFW area.

He is a Software Engineer /IT Professional and employed in a reputed IT company in a Senior management position and currently lives in Plano, TX, USA.

BaluKurup is a renowned Mridangist & percussionist who experiments with multiple genres like Indian Classical, Jazz, African and world music percussion. He is fortunate to be a small leaf of huge Banyan tree, TheThanjavurBani Mridangam lineage of Palghat Mani Iyer,under renowned gurus Sri.Nagoor AmbiIyer, Sri Mavelikara Velukutty Nair and Sri.Erickavu Sunil. Balu has been performing for notable maestros in south Indian film music fraternity and carnatic music exponents for the last 25 years. He is part of Valle Venia, a symphony group based in Germany and performs for world music concerts across European countries, US and the Middle East.Balu believes music is a universal medium to communicate the most innate expressions with nature and is open to experimenting with any form of music and artists.

Program Details