Taniya and Puneet Panda
Taniya and Puneet Panda are a husband and wife dancing duo. They were soloists until 2 years ago when they decided to merge their styles. Taniya trained in the vazhuvoor style and is a disciple of Sri. A Lakshmanaswamy and Puneet Panda trained in the Kalakshetra style and is a disciple of Sri Dhananjayan and Smt Shanta Dhananjayan.
Taniya is also a trained Carnatic vocalist ( disciple of Smt Padmavathy Ananthagopalan) and loves to combine her love for dance and music by singing for dance performances. She teaches music starting from basics. Puneet is also an accomplished nattuvanar and has accompanied many artists.
They are new to Danbury, CT and are extremely excited to share their artistry with the CT community!
Taniya is also a trained Carnatic vocalist ( disciple of Smt Padmavathy Ananthagopalan) and loves to combine her love for dance and music by singing for dance performances. She teaches music starting from basics. Puneet is also an accomplished nattuvanar and has accompanied many artists.
They are new to Danbury, CT and are extremely excited to share their artistry with the CT community!
Rachna Agrawal: Kathak
Rachna Ramya Agrawal has studied the Lucknow style of Kathak under Smt. Maya Rao and the Jaipur style of Kathak under Guru Rajendra Gangani who are both the recipients of Sangeet Natak Academy award. She has undergone further training in the expressive and interpretative aspects of Kathak with Smt. Sandhya Desai, a Kathak virtuoso.
Rachna received a Master's degree in dance from the prestigious Pracheen Kala Kendra in India. She also trained in Choreography at the Natya Institute of Choreography in New Delhi, India. In addition to her degrees in dance, Rachna holds an MBA from the University of Hartford, a Master's degree in Hindi Literature from Delhi University and a Senior diploma in Classical Indian Vocal Music from Prayag Sangeet Samiti. Rachna also has studied Tabla with Pt. Subhankar Banerjee.
Rachna is currently running the Sumbhaav School of Kathak Dance at five locations in Connecticut. She is the Artistic Director of the Sumbhaav Dance Project. Rachna is also on teaching faculty at Trinity College in Hartford.
Website: http://www.kathakusa.com/index.html
Rachna received a Master's degree in dance from the prestigious Pracheen Kala Kendra in India. She also trained in Choreography at the Natya Institute of Choreography in New Delhi, India. In addition to her degrees in dance, Rachna holds an MBA from the University of Hartford, a Master's degree in Hindi Literature from Delhi University and a Senior diploma in Classical Indian Vocal Music from Prayag Sangeet Samiti. Rachna also has studied Tabla with Pt. Subhankar Banerjee.
Rachna is currently running the Sumbhaav School of Kathak Dance at five locations in Connecticut. She is the Artistic Director of the Sumbhaav Dance Project. Rachna is also on teaching faculty at Trinity College in Hartford.
Website: http://www.kathakusa.com/index.html
Charu Pandit: Bharatanatyam
Charu Pandit is an accomplished dancer, teacher and choreographer well known to CT Indians. She began her dance journey at age 17 in India. She performed her arangetram in 1988 under the guidance of Guru Shri Mani from Kalasadan Institute of Fine Arts in Pune, India. In 1993 she moved to the U.S. and her passion for dance led her to begin performing classical and folk dances. Since 1994 she has given several solo and group dance performances, taught Bhartantyam and folk dances to all ages.
Charu started teaching Bharatnatyam in 1994. Her passion for dance was so great that she taught for free or minimum rates to encourage dancing in young children. Not only was she teaching them Bhratnayam, but she was also introducing them to the Indian culture. Growing up in America, children lose the traditions that their parents grew up with, but she makes sure this doesn’t happen. By teaching Bharatnayam and other folk dances, she is teaching children about their heritage and culture.
Over the years she has taught folk dances, classical and semi-classical dances to kids and adults. They have performed at CTMM programs, Kalpavriksha (Children’s festival), International festival, and annual fund raising events for Connecticut Valley Hindu Temple Society (CVHTS), Volunteer Services in Education in India (VSEI), Balavihar, India Association of Greater Hartford (IAOGH), Asha Foundation, and Hindu Cultural Center of CT, Miss India CT just to name a few. She also participated in a New York based traveling dance show, Aali Thumkata. Along with performing a few dances, she also choreographed few of the pieces in the show. Charu encouraged one of her student to teach Indian dance after school program that helped the girl getting receiving her Gold Award in girls scout. Gold award is the the highest achievement in girl scout. This experience of performing various dances for different events from childhood has helped children to participate in high school drama and at college dance or Bhangra team or even majoring or minoring in dance.
The pure happiness she gets from sharing her knowledge and passion of dance with others is what continually motivates her to teach. She recently moved to Stamford from Orange and will continue teaching her students and is excited to welcome new students. Apart from her part time dancing career she is a full time nutritionist.
Charu started teaching Bharatnatyam in 1994. Her passion for dance was so great that she taught for free or minimum rates to encourage dancing in young children. Not only was she teaching them Bhratnayam, but she was also introducing them to the Indian culture. Growing up in America, children lose the traditions that their parents grew up with, but she makes sure this doesn’t happen. By teaching Bharatnayam and other folk dances, she is teaching children about their heritage and culture.
Over the years she has taught folk dances, classical and semi-classical dances to kids and adults. They have performed at CTMM programs, Kalpavriksha (Children’s festival), International festival, and annual fund raising events for Connecticut Valley Hindu Temple Society (CVHTS), Volunteer Services in Education in India (VSEI), Balavihar, India Association of Greater Hartford (IAOGH), Asha Foundation, and Hindu Cultural Center of CT, Miss India CT just to name a few. She also participated in a New York based traveling dance show, Aali Thumkata. Along with performing a few dances, she also choreographed few of the pieces in the show. Charu encouraged one of her student to teach Indian dance after school program that helped the girl getting receiving her Gold Award in girls scout. Gold award is the the highest achievement in girl scout. This experience of performing various dances for different events from childhood has helped children to participate in high school drama and at college dance or Bhangra team or even majoring or minoring in dance.
The pure happiness she gets from sharing her knowledge and passion of dance with others is what continually motivates her to teach. She recently moved to Stamford from Orange and will continue teaching her students and is excited to welcome new students. Apart from her part time dancing career she is a full time nutritionist.
Anindita Nanda: Odissi
Anindita Nanda, a danseuse par excellence, is not only an accomplished dancer and but an North Indian classical vocalist, an acclaimed Master Artist, who trained under Guru Shri Kishore Mohanty since she was 5. She has a Masters degree in Classical Dance and Music, ABGMM, Mumbai. She specializes in the Odissi sytle of Indian Classical dance from the eastern state of Odisha in India and is also a north Inidan classial vocalist.
She is a recipient of several awards and titles like the "Nritya Shree","Nritya Visharad" and "Nritya Praveen" , National Scholarship from Ministry of Cultural Affairs, in India, the US and other countries. She has performed for several Sangeet Natak Academy sponsored events of Govt of India, Konark Festival, the SAARC Nations, the Festival of India in Argentina, Jaganaath Society America, OSA National Conventions, Festival of Arts, Reno, Nevada amongst others. She was the recipient of the "Human Greatness Award" presented by the Mayor Boughton of Danbury for her community outreach programs. She was nominated for the New England Women of the Year Award.
She is the founder and artistic director of her creative venture, Soortaal, School of Dance and Music located CT. Soortaal offers training in the Odissi dance and Indian Classical Vocal. She is a visiting professor of Dance at the Indostan school of performing arts, Argerntina and also in the west coast of USA. Not only as a performer, teacher and practitioner of the ancient arts, she is an ardent promoter of thr arts and has established Natyatarang Festival of Arts (NTFA) at Yale, an annual International Cultural Arts festival to promote classical arts, which completed its 5th year anniversary in 2015. Natyatarang will be hosted on April 30th 2016, at Yale.
Website: www.soortaal.org
She is a recipient of several awards and titles like the "Nritya Shree","Nritya Visharad" and "Nritya Praveen" , National Scholarship from Ministry of Cultural Affairs, in India, the US and other countries. She has performed for several Sangeet Natak Academy sponsored events of Govt of India, Konark Festival, the SAARC Nations, the Festival of India in Argentina, Jaganaath Society America, OSA National Conventions, Festival of Arts, Reno, Nevada amongst others. She was the recipient of the "Human Greatness Award" presented by the Mayor Boughton of Danbury for her community outreach programs. She was nominated for the New England Women of the Year Award.
She is the founder and artistic director of her creative venture, Soortaal, School of Dance and Music located CT. Soortaal offers training in the Odissi dance and Indian Classical Vocal. She is a visiting professor of Dance at the Indostan school of performing arts, Argerntina and also in the west coast of USA. Not only as a performer, teacher and practitioner of the ancient arts, she is an ardent promoter of thr arts and has established Natyatarang Festival of Arts (NTFA) at Yale, an annual International Cultural Arts festival to promote classical arts, which completed its 5th year anniversary in 2015. Natyatarang will be hosted on April 30th 2016, at Yale.
Website: www.soortaal.org
Sarada Nori Akella: Kuchipudi
Sarada Nori Akella is an accomplished Kuchipudi dancer and is a disciple of Guru Vempati Chinna Satyam, the pre-eminent master of the Kuchipudi dance form. Dr.Vempati Chinna Satyam is known for his single minded goal of establishing Kuchipudi as a recognized, purely classical art form. Sarada has imbibed the nuances of kuchipudi at Kuchipudi Art Academy - Madras and Hyderabad for over 15 years. She has also been trained in Carnatic classical music for over 10 years, which gave her further insights into this journey of “Bhava, Raga and Thala”.
As a solo and a character artiste in Dance ballets, Sarada has performed at functions organized by Sangeet Natak Academy, Department of Culture (Govt. of Andhra Pradesh), Sanskara Bharathi Siddhendra Yogi Festival (Kuchipudi village), Dassera festival (Tirupati) and at the Margazhi Festival (Chennai Music & Dance festival conducted annually in December/January). Sarada was sponsored by the Government of India to perform in Kuchipudi dance ballets in Singapore and Mauratius. She has won numerous accolades over the course of her career. She is a graded artiste on Doordarshan and has given solo and group performances.
She started her dance school in 2011 and currently teaches Kuchipudi in Southwindsor, CT . She performs and choreographs Kuchipudi solo items and dance dramas.
Website: https://layavinyas.wordpress.com
As a solo and a character artiste in Dance ballets, Sarada has performed at functions organized by Sangeet Natak Academy, Department of Culture (Govt. of Andhra Pradesh), Sanskara Bharathi Siddhendra Yogi Festival (Kuchipudi village), Dassera festival (Tirupati) and at the Margazhi Festival (Chennai Music & Dance festival conducted annually in December/January). Sarada was sponsored by the Government of India to perform in Kuchipudi dance ballets in Singapore and Mauratius. She has won numerous accolades over the course of her career. She is a graded artiste on Doordarshan and has given solo and group performances.
She started her dance school in 2011 and currently teaches Kuchipudi in Southwindsor, CT . She performs and choreographs Kuchipudi solo items and dance dramas.
Website: https://layavinyas.wordpress.com
Aishwarya Chakravarthy: Mohiniattam
Aishwarya Chakravarthy started learning Bharathanatyam at the tender age of 4. She started learning at Shivanjali, Chennai till 1995 and moved to Koothambalam to continue the journey under the tutelage of Guru Sri Aravindan and Smt Vasantha Aravindan.
Aishwarya Chakravarthy is recipient of several prestigious awards and recognitions including a dance scholarship from the Central Govt of India (CCRT)
Aishwarya Chakravarthy was the teacher-in-charge at Koothambalam, Chennai until 2008 before moving to CT, USA.
Classes are currently being conducted in Avon, East Granby, South Windsor and Unionville.
Website: http://www.natyakshetram.com
Aishwarya Chakravarthy is recipient of several prestigious awards and recognitions including a dance scholarship from the Central Govt of India (CCRT)
Aishwarya Chakravarthy was the teacher-in-charge at Koothambalam, Chennai until 2008 before moving to CT, USA.
Classes are currently being conducted in Avon, East Granby, South Windsor and Unionville.
Website: http://www.natyakshetram.com