SNA: Events 2004-2005::

Urmila Sathyanarayanan initially received training under the tutelage of Shri K.N. Dandayudhapani Pillai, Smt. K.J. Sarsa and Shri A. Lakshmanan. She has had special training in Abhinaya under the guidance of Smt. Kalanidhi Narayanan. Urmila Sathyanarayana has established herself as a prominent Bharatanatyam dancer of the new generation. She has performed extensively within the country and abroad in prestigious dance festivals, including Sri Krishna Gana Sabha, Narada Gana Sabha, Khajuraho Dance Festival, Golden Jubilee Celebration of India's Independence by the Government of Tamil Nadu, Konark Dance Festival, Ganges festival at Varanasi, National Centre for Performing Arts, Tata Centre Mumbai, Ganatantra Samaroh organized by Sangeet Natak Akademi Festival in Assam. Her performances abroad include Festival of India in Edinburgh, Dance India Taste India Festival in Perth, extensive tours of Europe, Canada and Sri Lanka.

Urmila has been honoured by well-known Sabhas such as Krishna Gana Sabha, Bharath Kalachar, Narada Gana Sabha, the Madras Music Academy, Karthik Fine Arts, and the Shanmukhananda Sabha, Mumbai. She has received the Kalaimamani Award from the Government of Tamil Nadu in the year 1997. Urmila Sathyanarayanan has established her own institution Natya Sankalpa in Chennai where she is engaged in imparting training to young students.

KALAMANDALAM KSHEMAVATHY

Among the senior exponents of dance, Kalamandalam Kshemavathy specialized in the art of Mohiniattam under Smt. Chinnammu Amma and Smt. Sathyabhama at Kerala Kalamandalam Cheruthuruthy. She also received training in Bharatanatyam under Shri Muthuswami Pillai, Smt. Chitra Visweswaran and Shri Adyar Lakshmanan. Under the guidance of Shri Vempati Chinna Sat yam, Kshemavathy learned Kuchipudi dance.

Kshemavathy has performed extensively in national and international dance festivals of prestigious organization. Some of her major performances include the Autumn Festival and Festival of India in Paris, World Youth Festival held in Germany and the then USSR. She has also travelled to Helsinki, Finland and various European countries for presentation of Mohiniattam. She has conducted lecture-¬demonstration and workshops on Mohiniattam at several dance seminars and conferences. Kshemavathy established her own institution Kerala Kalamandiram School of Dance at Thrissur in 1964 and here she has trained several promising dancers since then and is widely respected as a dedicated teacher.

She is a recipient of several honours and awards including the Kerala Kalamandalam Award in 1994, Kerala Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1999 and the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1998 for her dedicated service to the art of Mohiniattam.

SHARODI SAIKIA

Acclaimed as a leading exponent of Sattriya dance. Sharodi Saikia has received training under the guidance of Shri Raseswar Saikia Barbayan, Shri Ghanakant Bora and Shri Rameswar Barbayan. She has also studied the dance of the Devadasis. She trained in Kathak dance under Shri Charu Bardoloi and in Manipuri dance under Sri Rathin Singh. She has also taken lessons in Sitar from Shri Haribilash Dutta and Smt. Lipika Banerjee.

She started her dance performance in 1972 beginning from the National Music Conference held at Guwahati. In 1974 renowned Odissi exponent Smt. Indrani Rahman conducted a conference where Sharodi was noted for her performance of Sattriya dance, and since then she has performed both at the national and international dance festivals and has emerged as an outstanding exponent of Sattriya dance. She has also been engaged in research work associated with the history and evolution of this art form. In addition to her writings on Sattriya dance she has to her credit publications on education, women and development themes.

She also imparts Sattriya dance training to young dancers in her own institution.

PRERANA SHRIMALI

Prerana Shrimali is among the front ranking Kathak dancers of the country. She was groomed in dance under the guidance of Shri Kundanlal Gangani at Kathak Kendra, New Delhi and has emerged as a leading exponent of the Jaipur School.

Prerana Shrimali has performed extensively within the country and abroad in prestigious dance festivals. She has choreographed several compositions based on the poems of Kalidas, Meerabai, Padmakar and Keshavdas and her works have received high appreciation.

She has been teaching Kathak in Delhi for many years and has trained young promising dancers. She is also engaged in research work and writing on Kathak. She has received several awards and honours for her outstanding performances in Kathak. She is a recipient of the Rajasthan Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for the year 1993.

ARUNA MOHANTY

Aruna Mohanty is a leading exponent of Odissi dance. She received her initial training in dance from Shri Srinath Rout and Shri Govind Charan Pal and later she specialized under Shri Gangadhar Pradhan at Orissa Dance Academy, Bhubaneswar. She has also worked under the guidance of maestros of Odissi dance, namely Shri Kelucharan Mohapatra, Shri Pankaj Charan Das and Smt. Sanjukta Panigrahi.

Aruna Mohanty has performed in most of the major dance festivals within the country and abroad including Khajuraho, and Konark festivals, Nritya Parva Bhubaneswar and Swarn Samaroh of Sangeet Natak Akademi, and Jeevan Pani Memorial festival. Her performances abroad include India festival in Germany, Cyprus, Yugoslavia, Festival of India, USSR, Burlington & London, Nigeria, Spain & France and Canada. She has received honours including Utkal University Award and the Mahari Award by Guru Pankaj Charan Odissi Research Foundation, Bhubaneswar. At present she is assisting her guru in teaching and choreographing at the Orissa Dance Academy, Bhubaneswar.

JAYARAMA RAO & VANASHREE RAO

Jayarama Rao and Vanashree Rao are among the leading exponents of Kuchipudi dance. Shri Jayarama Rao received training initially at Siddhendra Kalakshetra under Shri Chinta Krishna Murthy, Shri P.V.G. Krishna Sharma, Vedantam Parvateesam and Shri Vedantam Satyanarayana Sarma. Subsequently he trained under Shri Vempati Chinna Sat yam at Kuchipudi Art Academy, Chennai. He started his career in dance by performing female roles in traditional dance dramas. Later, he established himself as a solo dancer. Vanashree Rao has been trained by Shri Jayarama Rao, Shri Krishna Kumar, Shri Vempati Chinna Sat yam. She received lessons in Abhinaya from Shri Nataraja Ramakrishna and Smt. Kanaka Srinivasan. Under the guidance of Shri Mayadhar Rout, Vanashree also learned Odissi dance.

Jayarama Rao and Vanashree Rao have been performing together and have established themselves as one among the front ranking Kuchipudi exponents of the country. They have travelled extensively to perform in major dance festivals all over the world touring more than forty-five countries. Jayarama Rao is also known as a senior teacher of Kuchipudi dance and has trained some well-known dancers. Jayarama Rao and Vanashree Rao have been honoured by various reputed organizations. Andhra Pradesh Samman, the Telugu Academy and Delhi Andhra Association Samman, the Sahitya Kala Parishad Award by the Delhi Government and the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1998 are some of these Awards. Shri Jayarama Rao has been awarded the Padma Shri by the Government of India in the year 2004.

W. LOKENDRAJIT SINGH

Lokendrajit Singh had his initial training in dance under Shri L. Amuyaima Singh and Shri Th. Babu Singh. Later, he specialized in Manipuri dance from Jawaharlal Nehru Manipur Dance Academy, Imphal. He has received training in Pung from Shri Kulla Singh, Shri L. Bokul Singh, Shri Th. Babu Singh and Shri N. Gulamjat Singh. Under the guidance of Shri S. Debavrata Singh, Lokendrajit also learned Thang Ta. He has graduated in choreography from the Natya Institute of Choreography, New Delhi under Smt. Maya Rao.

Lokendrajit has travelled widely for presentation of Manipur dance in U.S.A. Germany, Canada, France, Sweden, South Africa and U.K. He has composed and choreographed dance dramas and has worked as Assistant Director to Aribam Shyam Sharma for his award winning film "Meitei Poong". Presently, he is a senior artist of Jawaharlal Nehru Manipur Dance Academy, Imphal.

PUKHRAMBAM LAKSHMI DEVI

P. Lakshmi Devi received her initial training in Manipuri dance under the tutelage of Shri Maisnam Amubi Singh. Subsequently, she undertook formal training in dance from Jawaharlal Nehru Manipur Dance Academy, Imphal under many well-known gurus including Shri Th. Babu Singh.

She has performed solo Manipuri dance as well as in group in the national and international dance festivals such as the Khajuraho, Konark, Soorya, Anjika and dance festival organized by Manipur State Kala Academy. She has toured as an artist of cultural delegation through ICCR to the Festival of India in France, and the then USSR, North Korea, Philippines, South Korea and South Africa. She has conducted lecture-demonstrations and workshops for various art organizations. She is presently working as senior artist in Jawaharlal Nehru Manipur Dance Academy, Imphal.

NONGTHOMBAM AMUSANA DEVI

N. Amusana Devi had her initial training in Manipuri dance under the guidance of Shri Maisnam Amubi Singh and subsequently she trained and specialized at Jawaharlal Nehru Manipur Dance Academy, Imphal under different gurus such as Shri Th. Babu Singh and Smt. Th. Suryamukhi Devi.

She has participated in major dance festivals within the country and abroad as an artist of the Academy. She has toured to several countries including China, Russia, London, Germany for both solo and group presentation. She has presented lecture¬-demonstrations and workshops in Manipuri dance for several prestigious art institutions. She has been honoured by Huyen Lalong Thang Ta Association. She has performed lead roles in the dance drama productions of Jawaharlal Nehru Manipur Dance Academy, which has received wide acclaim. She has also acted in the international award winning film Imagi Ningthem. She is at present working as senior artist in Jawaharlal Nehru Manipur Dance Academy, Imphal.

SADANAM P. V. BALAKRISHNAN

Shri Sadanam Puthiyaveeti Balakrishnan received his initial training in Kathakali from Shri Kurumathur Narayan Namboodripad at Kannur. Subsequently, he was trained by renowned guru Shri Ramunni Nair and K. Kumaran Nair at the Gandhi Seva Sadan Kathakali Academy, Perur. Shri Kumaran Nair also guided him in choreography and direction in Kathakali idiom. He has specialized in the Kalluvazhi style, besides studying other styles in Kathakali.

Shri Sadanam Balakrishnan has excelled both in performance and teaching of Kathakali and has also worked towards its propagation outside Kerala. Proficient in playing different characters such as Nala, Srikrishna, or Ravana, he has won wide appreciation for his portrayal of the white-beard character of Hanuman in plays like Kalyana Saugandhikam, Thorana Yudham, and Lavanasura Vadham.

After teaching for a brief period in Kerala, Shri Balakrishnan joined the International Centre for Kathakali, New Delhi in 1974 and took charge as its Principal and Chief Artiste in 1980. Since then he has performed extensively traveling to over twenty five countries, trained and guided several artists, and scripted and directed several new plays. He has joined eminent artists in other dance styles in duet presentations, conducted workshops, and participated in seminars across the country and abroad. Shri Balakrishnan has also authored a book on Kathakali. He has been conferred with several awards including Parishad Samman of Sahitya Kala Parishad, Delhi and the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for the year 2003.