February 13, 2011, 4:00 PM Anwesha Das
A student of Urmila Sathyanarayanan, Anwesha has been learning the art of Bharatanatyam for over 15 years. She has been performing since her Arangetram in March 2000. Critically acclaimed, Anwesha has been credited with several prestigious awards from leading Indian cultural organizations including the "Yuva Kala Bharati" from Bharat Kalachar and "Natya Chudar" from Kartik Fine Arts. In the recently held Cleveland Aradhana Thyagaraja, she was adjudged best dancer in the senior category and also awarded for the best performance across 40 dancers.
A graded artiste of the Doordarshan, India's national television channel, following are some of the important organizations and festivals where she has performed:
- Cleveland Aradhana Thyagaraja, USA
- Natya Kalakshetra, Wembley, London, UK
- Narada Gana Sabha, Chennai
- Krishna Gana Sabha, Chennai
- Triveni Chamber Theatre, New Delhi
- Bharat Kalachar, Chennai
- Kartik Fine Arts, Chennai
- Mahabalipuram Dance Festival
- Natyanjali Festival, Chidambaram
- Mylapore Fine Arts, Chennai
- Indian Fine Arts, Chennai
- Spirit of Youth festival, Music Academy
Anwesha is passionate about pursuing her dance career. Her goal is to share the richness of Indian culture and heritage through her love for Bharatanatyam. Always a Chennai-ite, Anwesha moved to the US in 2007 for her Masters in Marketing followed by her MBA (both from Univ. of Rochester, NY). She is now settled in Seattle and is actively pursuing Bharatanatyam.
Sayali Goswami
Initiated into classical dance at a very early age, Sayali first started her training in Bharatnatyam at the Nalanda Dance Research Center, completing her seven year "Kovid" diploma in the year 2000.
Captivated by the forcefulness of Kathak's pure dance form and the intricacies in even the minutest form of Abhinaya, she devoted herself completely to her training in Kathak. Sayali is a 'Gandabandh Shagirdh' of Guru Smt. Uma Dogra, the renowned Kathak exponent of the Jaipur Gharana.
She has a Masters degree in Dance (Kathak) from Samved School of Kathak and Society for Performing Arts. In the year 2006 she was recipient of the title 'Singar Mani' by Sur Singar Sansad.
She has been performing both as a senior dancer for Samved School of Kathak, and as a solo artist for past six years. Some of her notable solo performances include 52nd Swami Haridas Sangeet Sammelan, Mumbai and Raindrops Festival, Mumbai. She has had an opportunity to be a part of musical production "Romeo-Juliet" by Kalashram under Padmavibhushan Guru Birju Maharaji. Sayali also was a part of Kathak-Odissi dance collaboration for "Laadli Awards for Gender Sensitivity". Along with her Guru Smt Uma Dogra, Sayali has been part of prestigious festivals like Kala-Ghoda festival, Konark festival, Khajurahoo festival and Pt Durgalal festival. She has also toured Japan as part of Samved School of Kathak for ICCR in 2007 and Min-non Concert Association in 2008.
She recently founded Kathakārs School of Dance in Palo Alto, CA. More information on Sayali is available at http://www.sayaligoswami.com/ and http://kathakars.blogspot.com/
Nadhi Thekkek
Nadhi Thekkek has been learning Bharatanatyam for over 19 years and performed her arangetram in 2001 under the tutelage of Sundara Swaminathan in San Jose, CA.
She joined Padmini Chari and the Nritya School of Dance in 2006 and since then has performed and taught through the school. She has performed extensively in various productions including:
- Tales of Temple Dance (2003)
- Bharatam Amudham (2007)
- Maata Parashakti (2009)
- Kala Vandana's 20th Anniversary Celebration (2009)
Her recent solo performance in Houston, Bhakthi Margham, has been held to critical acclaim. She performed in Chennai during the 2009 December Music and Dance Season where she also had the opportunity to undergo advanced training from Gurus Adyar K. Lakshman and Bragha G. Bessell.
Nadhi currently lives in Houston with her husband, Roy and her baby girl, Diya, where she is obtaining her graduate degree in Bioengineering at Rice University.
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