About Aanika’s Teacher, Smt. Anandini Chandra Sekhar
Smt. Anandini Chandra Sekhar is the youngest daughter and student of Guru "Natya Veda Bharati" Sudha Chandra Sekhar. The third generation of dancers and musicians in her family, Anandini received further training from Guru T.K. Mahalingam Pillai, Guru K. Kalyanasundaram and Guru Karunambal of Sri Raja Rajeshwari Bharata Natya Kala Mandir in the pristine Thanjavur style. She has been performing Bharata Natyam since the age of 2, and teaching for over 20 years in various centers in Michigan, Chicago, New York and the Boston area. Anandini has additional training in Kathak, Kuchipudi and Mohini Attam as well as ballet, jazz, tap, musical theater, contemporary dance and African dance. Outside of dance, Anandini works in digital marketing and plays keyboards and sings with the popular local Bollywood band Din Check.
About The Vidyanjali Dance School of New England
Vidyanjali was formed to share knowledge of, and train young dancers in, the art of Bharata Natyam as taught by Guru Sudha Chandra Sekhar and the Gurus of Sri Rajarajeshwari Bharata Natya Kalamandir. The school is a branch of Nritya Sudha's Hindu Temple Rhythms (HTR), established in 1958 to promote Indian Classical arts in North America. Hindu Temple Rhythms has conducted 119 Bharata Natyam Arangetrams (dance debut recitals) and has additional centers in Washington, , Florida, Washington D.C. and North Carolina. Aanika’s Arangetram is HTR’s 120th Bharata Natyam Arangetram presentation.
About Guru Smt. Sudha Chandra Sekhar
Sudha's extensive experience dates back to 1943, when she first began her classical dance training in Manipuri and Kathak at the Rupatayan Institute in Bombay, India. She began studying Bharata Natyam in 1945 under the guidance of great gurus such as Sri Thiruvidaimarudur Kuppiah Pillai, Guru A.T. Govindraj Pillai, Srimati Karunambal, Guru T.K. Mahalingam Pillai and Guru K. Kalyanasundaram, the renowned masters of the Sri Rajarajeshwari Bharata Natya Kalamandir. They trained her intensively in the Thanjavur style, as passed down from the great Panchapakesha Nattuvanaar, Guru Kuppiah Pillai's own great-grandfather and the author of the Abhinaya Navaneetham, a treatise on Bharata Natyam in the language Tamil. Sudha has received numerous accolades and titles including Bharata Kala Shreshta and Natya Veda Bharati. She has conducted 119 arangetrams and continues to teach and perform today at the age of 81. The Vidyanjali dancers have the opportunity to participate in master classes with Sudha Aunty when she visits Boston.
Legacy of the Rajarajeswari Gurus
Aanika’s grand-gurus are the legendary gurus of Sri Rajarajeswari Bharatha Natya Kala Mandir in Mumbai, India. Guru, Smt. Sudha Chandra Sekhar studied with Bharatha Vidwan Sri T.P. Kuppiah Pillai, his son-in-law Kalaimamani Sri A.T. Govindraj Pillai, his daughter, Smt. Karunambal, and his sons, Kalaimamani Sri T.K. Mahalingam Pillai, and Kalaimamani Sri K. Kalyanasundaram.
The Rajarajeswari Gurus hail from the temple village of Thiruvidaimarudur in Thanjavur district of Tamil Nadu India with a rich tradition of the Hindu temple art of Bharatanatyam. They are part of an illustrious lineage of nattuvanars (dance teachers, conductors and chorographers) dating back more than two centuries, and include such luminaries as Sri Venkatakrishna Nattuvanar (court contemporary of the Tanjore Quartet), Sri Veeraswamy Nattuvanar, Chinnaappa Ammal, and Sri Panchapakesa Nattuvanar.
