Srividya Dance Academy

Srividya Chellappan

A passionate Indian Classical Bharatanatyam Dancer

Vijayadasami Celebrations

Sharing insight on the auspicious occassion at Jaya Hanuman Temple, Bellevue, WA

Young budding SNFA students

Young students at the Vijayadasami Celebrations

New Goongru

SNFA students seeking blessings from the Lord Nataraja

Performance

SNFA students ready to perform on the auspicious occassion

Picture Day!

SNFA Bellevue, WA Students

Bellevue

In person classes are conducted at Jaya Hanuman Temple, Bellevue, WA.

Redmond

In person classes are conducted at Shirdi Sai Baba Temple, Redmond, WA.

Bahá'í Center

In person classes are conducted at Eastside Bihai Center, Bellevue, WA.

Online

Online classes are conducted via Zoom based on student preference.

About Me

A versatile bharatanatyam dancer started learning at an early age of six under the guidance of Late Guru Smt. Nagamani Srinivasa Rao, Adyar, Chennai. Srividya was born and brought up in Besant Nagar, Chennai. She completed her Masters in Business Administration in 2000. After marriage she moved to the USA and lived in Boston, MA for nearly twelve years. In 2012, she returned to Bangalore, India where she became a disciple of Guru Vidushi Smt. Shantha Srikanth founder and director of Shri Nrityaranjani Fine Arts Academy, Bangalore. She completed Visharad from Akhil Bhartiya Gandharva Mahavidyalaya Mandal, Navi Mumbai. In 2018, she became a Guinness Book of World Records holder. Srividya relocated to Seattle, USA in 2020 and established the dance academy in Bellevue, WA in October 2021.

Late Guru Smt. Nagamani Srinivasa Rao

Late Guru Smt. Nagamani Srinivasa Rao started the institution in 1988, teaching the Kalakshetra bani (style) of Bharatanatyam. She needs no introduction as she is a dancer, nattuvanar, musician and comes from an artistically inclined family. She is the sister of legendary Bharatanatyam Guru, Padmashri Sri Adyar K Lakshman, and the legendary gottuvadyam player, musician and dancer, Guru Sri Adyar K Rama Rao, and mridangist, Sri Adyar Gopinath.

Guru. Smt. Shantha Srikanth

Guru. Smt. Shantha Srikanth is an accomplished Bharatanatyam and kuchipudi dancer. She is the founder of Shri Nrityaranjani Fine Arts Academy, Bangalore, India. She has been trained under Guru.Smt. Jayanti Thygarajan and Chitra Vinod and later was under Guru Smt. Revati Srinivasa Raghavan and is currently pursuing further dance lessons under the mentoring of the great Karnataka Kalashri Guru Kiran Subramanyam and Sandhya Kiran.

She has completed her M.F.A from teh Bharatidasan University and also her Nritya Alankar from Akhil Bharatiya Gandharv Mahavidyalaya. She has been awarded the title 'NRITYA SHIVALI' by the SHIVALI CULTURAL ASSOCIATION, Mumbai, India. She has also received Shrivari Kalpashree award from the Kalpashree Academy. She has recently received the Natya Choodamani award in the International Dance Festival conducted at Hyderabad. She has performed at various places in India. She has also received the Guinness Book Of World Recrods twice once in 2017 and once in 2018. She has also received the Natya Kala Choodamani from Shree Sai Center For Performing Arts.

History

Bharatanatyam (Tamil: பரதநாட்டியம்) is a major form of Indian classical dance that originated in Tamil Nadu. It is one of the eight widely recognized Indian classical dance forms, and expresses South Indian religious themes and spiritual ideas, particularly of Shaivism and in general of Hinduism. The theoretical foundations of Bharatanatyam are found in Natya Shastra, the ancient Hindu text of performance arts. Natya Shastra is attributed to the ancient scholar Bharata Muni, and its first complete compilation is dated to between 200 BCE and 200 CE, but estimates vary between 500 BCE and 500 CE. The most studied version of the Natya Shastra text consists of about 6000 verses structured into 36 chapters. The text, states Natalia Lidova, describes the theory of Tāṇḍava dance (Shiva), the theory of rasa, of bhāva, expression, gestures, acting techniques, basic steps, standing postures—all of which are part of Indian classical dances. Dance and performance arts, states this ancient text, are a form of expression of spiritual ideas, virtues and the essence of scriptures. A famous example of illustrative sculpture is in the southern gateway of the Chidambaram temple (≈12th century) dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva, where 108 poses of the Bharatanatyam, that are also described as karanas in the Natya Shastra, are carved in stone