Archana's guru in Bharatanatyam is her inspiration and aspiration, Santha Bhaskar.

 

Santha Bhaskar

Artistic Director & Resident Choreographer

Santha Bhaskar is a graduate of the Chempakassary Arya Kala Nilayam in Kerala and a student of the late Ramunni Panicker, Guru Kunchu Kurup and Kutralam Ganesam Pillai. Under these masters, she mastered Mohini Attam, Bharatanatyam and Kathakali. She also holds a diploma in Karnatic music from the Tamil Nadu Government.

Joining her husband in Singapore in 1956, she taught and choreographed at Bhaskar's Academy of Dance, now known as Nrityalaya Aesthetics Society. Santha is well known for her contributions to the development of Indian classical dance in Singapore and Malaysia. She has also studied traditional Chinese and Malay dance in Singapore, Thai dance and music at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok and Odissi dance at the Rabindra Bharati University in Kolkata. Besides dance and music she has had training in theatre studies.

For her outstanding services and contributions to the arts scene in Singapore, she was awarded the prestigious Cultural Medallion in 1990.

In addition, the "Natya Kalanidhi" award by the great poet Sudhananda Bharathiyar in 1957, "Kala Rani" award by Indian Film Arts Society and "Kala Ratnam" award by the Singapore Fine Arts Society, are a few of the other awards she has received for her brilliant work in this field. She has conducted more than 100 Arangetrams for which she has composed many 'Margams', specially designed for each individual dancer. She also has choreographed more than 50 programmes for television.

Her unique interpretation of traditional and modern dance idioms has resulted in many of her dance productions like Ramayana and Manohra which have made her a well-known choreographer in this region. The dance drama Manohra which fused Indian and Thai dance gained attention at the 1996 Singapore Arts Festival, while her interpretations of the Ramayana epic won acclaim at the Angkor Wat International Ramayana Festival in 1995 and at the Ramayana Festival in India in 1999. Her prolific output also includes the ongoing Aum Muruga series and the more recent Rasa & Dhwani at the Esplanade in 2003, where she set verses by Singaporean poets in all four official languages to dance.

Presently, she teaches at the Nrityalaya Aesthetics Society and at the Centre for the Arts, National University of Singapore. She is also resident choreographer at the Centre, for which she has choreographed its Sanskrit drama in English, Shakuntala of the Mahabharata in 2002. She has also written many articles on dance for seminars and performing arts magazines.

Click here for her exclusive interview:

http://video.xin.msn.com/watch/video/episode-1/2b13vi1t1

 

Archana's guru in Kathak is Pandit Charan Giridhar Chand.

The eldest son of the Late Nriyacharya Narayan Prasadji, Chand learnt the traditional art from his father and studied for the Sangeet Prabhakar degree from the Prayag Sangeet Samiti, following it with the Nritya Bhaskar – masters degree in music (Kathak Dance) – from Pracheen Kala Kendra Chandigarh for which he won the coveted gold medal. He has followed this with numerous other awards and has taught at Gandharv Mahavidhyalaya in Delhi and Pracheen Kala Kendra in Chandigarh. He is a frequent examiner for graduate and post graduate students of the leading Universities of India.

 

He is presently working at the Nrityalaya Aesthetics Society as a choreographer, lecturing in Kathak and North Indian Music.

 

 

Archana's guru in Kuchipudi are the renowned Raja and Radha Reddy.

 

The world-renowned dancing couple, Raja and Radha Reddy, have given a new dimension to the age-old art of Kuchipudi dance without sacrificing the traditional poetry or dramatic sensibility. With rare excellence and perfection of technique, they stand tall on the highest stage of Kuchipudi today, among the major dance forms of India. They hail from the state of Andhra Pradesh, the birth place of Kuchipudi style of Indian classical dance.

Through their togetherness and perfect unison, Raja and Radha Reddy portray the masculine vigour and lyrical charm of the classical pairs of Hindu mythology--such as Shiva-Parvati, Rama-Sita and Krishna-Radha--thus identifying themselves with the twin concept of Purusha and Prakriti, the male-female principle in Indian philosophy. In precise postures and refined patterns the duo re-enlivens the magnificent sculptures chiseled in the ancient temples of India.

Raja-Radha Reddy have formulated a syllabus for the Kuchipudi repertoire systematizing the basic movements and mudras. They have choreographed each item to make Kuchipudi classical dance form acceptable to modern cosmopolitan audiences. 

Raja-Radha Reddy have taken upon themselves to propagate music and dance among the growing younger generation. What started as a passion for Raja and Radha has now changed into a tradition with both maestros working, indefatigably, towards initiating fresh talent into the cultural paradigm and perpetuate this art form. 

Click here for more info:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raja_and_Radha_Reddy‎

www.rajaradhareddy.com

 

 

​

Rajashree Biswas - Archana's guru in Odissi

Dancing is the form of the art that is presented by the combination of acting along with taal, bhaav, bhangi and body movements. This perfect combination defines well Rajashree, the eminent Odissi dancer. Her rhythm in the feet has the divine connection that mesmerizes the audience in her every performance. Formal training of Rajashree began under the supervision of Guru Smt. Aruna Mohanty and Guru Padma Shri Gangadhar Pradhan in Orissa Dance Academy.
Rajashree, with her presentation and performance spreads the charm of the Odissi apart from the grace which are the distinguishable features of Odissi dancing with other forms of dancing. The sculptural poses included in the Odissi form of dance like the Chauka or Tribhanga with the Bhangis are well illustrated with the renowned dancer Rajashree.
She is the young dancer who acts upon on stage with the grace and creativity. She has an eternal quality by which she expresses the pleasure of creativity. She has been providing trainings for the last 15 years and is a well graded artist of Doordarshan Kendra Kolkata. Earlier, she has records of working with Kendriya Vidyalaya and International school as a dance teacher. She is also a National scholarship holder with an active contribution of popularizing the Odissi dance in India.

​

Ambujah Thiru - Archana's other guru in her guru's school - Nrityalaya Aesthetic Soceity

A captivating and mesmerising performer, Ambujah is currently a member of the Bhaskar’s Arts Academy performing troupe. An effortlessly expressive dancer, Ambujah played lead roles in several productions including Vinayaka (2003), Sita’s Complaint (1993) and Vikramorvasiyam (2002). Aside from these roles, she has also performed in most of the Academy’s major productions such as Thandava (2010), CHAKRA(2009), Quest (2003) and Manohra (1996) to name a few. She has performed in Malaysia, India, Jogjakarta, and Cambodia, on some of the Academy’s many tours. Her solo shows Maatha (2002) and Nayika (2000) showcased her as a dancer with her own characteristic style, where she is both sentimental in her portrayals and crisp in her executions.

Ambujah demands the same clarity she renders to her own performances from the students she teaches at Nrityalaya Aesthetics Society. Thus far she has conducted several Arangetrams, where she proves to shine as a nattuvanar and in her choreography.

Her penchant for choreography and her creativity came to light in Thirukutrala Kuravanji (2008), her first major choreographic production. For her contributions to the field of dance, Ambujah has been conferred the title of ‘Nritya Kala Nipuna’ and given the Postgraduate Certificate of Honours by Nrityalaya Aesthetics Society.

 

Neeraja Ramani - Archana's other guru in her guru's school - Nrityalaya Aesthetic Soceity

​

http://neerunatya.ca/

Steps came to Neeraja very naturally. The little girl in her was already an aspirant and took to learning classical dance very early. She made her debut as a girl of seven, and dancing has been an ever-growing passion with her.

The first nine years of her training was under Mrs. Jayashree Narayanan of Pondicherry. She then Joined Kalakshetra Foundation as a full time trainee and graduated in the art in 1992.

Thus began her career as a dancer. She was a lecturer in her field of study for five years at the university affiliated Institute ‘Bharathiyar Palkalai Koodam’ in Pondicherry, and that got her many opportunity of performing in and around the state and also in other states representing Pondicherry State.

It was at Bhavan’s Gandhi Vidyashram in Kodaikanal, that Neeraja, the performing artist, found herself zealously exploring the classical dance system in all its variety of style and expression, both as an experimenter and innovator, keeping up all the while the traditional and integrity of the genre. It was in recognition of her work she did here, she was invited to perform abroad.

Her hard work, creativity and her skills as a performer was very well recognized and appreciated in ‘Basker’s Arts Academy’ – Singapore, where she rendered her service as a teacher and as performing artist for five years.

Mention must be made of the guidance and training she received from noted artistes as Mrs.Krishnaveni Lakshmanan, Mr.Balagopalan, Mr. Janardanan and all the other gurus at Kalakshetra who have made her what she is and what she means today as a performer and teacher.

Of course the first gurus of her life have been her parents. Neeraja has been fortunate in having had such an ideal parents as A.Nagarajan a painter father, and Krishangini a writer – mother, equally affectionately – disposed. Her inspiration and aspiration from her childhood to peruse dance and achieve to a great degree in it, had been her aunt late Mrs.Krishanveni Lakshmanan who was a very well acclaimed and renowned performer and teacher of Kalakshetra.

Neeraja have worked on the modern Tamil Poems expressing women’s issues and social issues, bringing them into the language of Bharatanatyam since 1994. Her creative choreographies and performances were well received both by the press and the public, and won the praise of other senior artistes, poets and dance critics.

Presently Neeraja Ramani is living in Toronto, Canada where she is performing and running an art school ‘Kalavriksha’.