Shobanaa Bhalchandra is the youngest of the renowned Trio Sisters of Chennai. A seasoned and versatile artiste, she is also recognized as a senior Bharathanatyam "Guru".

One of the early disciples of the famous dance duo, Dhananjayans, Shobanaa was trained in the popular Kalakshetra style. She went on to complement this with an extensive study of Abhinaya (Expressions) under PadmabushanKalanidhi Narayanan. In her quest for all-round excellence Shobanaa underwent professional training in Classical Music as well as Nattuvangam. Her dedication to this art form is also evident by the fact that she opted for a career in performing and teaching this dance despite possessing a Master’s degree in Business Administration.

Bharatanatyam Training

Trained in Kalakshetra style of Bharatanatyam- Gurus “Padmabhushan” Natyachaaryaa Sri VP Dhananjayan&“Padmabhushan”Smt. Shanta Dhananjayan

Abhinaya (Expressions) training- Guru “Padmabhushan” Smt. Kalanidhi Narayanan

Over 100 stage shows performed as part of Dhananjayans’ Bharatakalanjali troupe

Seasoned stage performer as part of “Trio Sisters” through 1970s and 1980s

Teaching Career

Commenced at alma mater Bharatakalanjali

Established own school in 1988 with 200 students - Tharanginee School of Bharatanatyam headquartered in Chennai for full time and part time dancers - Global Workshops in USA, UK, Germany, South Africa and Dubai

Currently the executive creative director of Bharatakalanjali

Kalaimaamani Shri Suryanarayana Murthy. Murthy Sir is an unique multifaceted talented dancer par excellence, a dedicated artist, an eminent performer, an accomplished, committed and revered teacher and artist adorned for his true love for dance.He is a faculty in Kalakshetra,a world renowned Dance institution for the past 30 years. He is a top ranked Doordarshan artist and won many accolades, awards and scholarships.

Murthy Sir hails from the traditional bagavathulu family, born in Kuchipudi village of Andhra Pradesh. Murthy got initiated into this aesthetic field at age of 7. He came to Chennai in 1982 to learn the art of Bharatanatyam in Kalakshetra. He is blessed to be guided by the "Dhananjayans" and receive tutelage on Nattuvangam, nuances of teaching, culture and dance.

He has performed in many iconic choreographies of his gurus in the dance dramas and the concepts playing vital key roles like Krishna,Shiva, Rama and many more. He is also an examiner for dance in CCRT Scholarship board and Open University TN, he has been teaching in all aspects of Bharatanatyam for more than 30 years. Academically he has a Masters in Arts along with M.Phil. and MBA.

Few of the awards that he has to his credit are Natyapoorna- Guru Dhananjayans, Bharatakalaratna-Sudharani Raghupati, Natya Tendral - Doordarshan Kendra Chennai, Natya Jyoti- Kartik fine arts, Nartaka Nipuna- Abhai and Yuvakala Bharati and Nrityakalabharati by Bharatakalachar. He was conferred the Tamilanadu State title - "Kalaimaamani".

With a family steeped in the arts, it is little wonder that Divya Shiva Sundar took to dancing at a very

young age and has spent more than 3 decades honing her skills in this wonderful dance form called

Bharatanatayam.

Training under the icons of Dance: The Dhananjayans, has made her evolve into a consummate

artist, combining grace and artistry, with panache.Her deep knowledge, coupled with rigorous

training, has resulted in her exquisite performances that show her command over the numerous

nuances of Naatyam. She has travelled extensively, performing in major festivals in India and abroad,

both, as part of The Dhananjayans’ Ensemble as well as solo productions and has won the

appreciation of connoisseurs of this art form.

An active proponent of imparting knowledge, Divya founded the Disha Centre for Arts to promote

classical dance, music and yoga. She also continues to teach and train at her alma mater Bharata

Kalanjali (Natya school of The Dhananjayans). Additionally, she is much sought after for her master

classes across various countries like Canada, USA, UAE and Europe.

Awards and Recognitions

Divya has been a recipient of several awards – Yuva Kala Bharati from Bharat kalachar, Nritya

jayanthika from Delhi, Vasantha Lakshmi Narasimhachari Endowment Award from Narada Gana

Sabha, Natya Kala Ratna from Trinity Arts Festival to just name a few. She is also a recipient of the

Government of India scholarship and is a graded artist of the Chennai Doordarshan.

As a Narthaka (male dancer) who continues to strive to expand his knowledge and learning horizons, Sri Nidheesh is one of the creative directors of Indisha, who choreographs and creatively imparts knowledge about the arts to the children of the school. Nidheesh has had the opportunity to play and perform several powerful, lead characters in many of Smt Rukmini Devi’s productions. He has been noticed and highly praised for his larger-than-life stage presence and immense dedication to the art form. He continues to travel the world to perform in several productions in which he is invited to such roles, and he is grateful for the wealth of experiences he has received from his Alma Mater (Kalakshetra Foundation, Chennai), and renowned gurus in providing the guidance and inspiration for such experiences in this art form. His inspiring personality continues to enthrall students and rasikas alike, spreading happiness and joy through the medium of his art.

K.Mahalakshmi is an accomplished and

well seasoned dancer. Being the

daughter and student of Kalaimamani

Shri.S.K.Kameswaran and Smt.Saroja

Kameswaran, her age is truly her

e x p e r i e n c e . S h e h e a d s S r i

Mahalakshmi Natyalaya, a 50 year old

institution founded by her parents

dedicated to providing fine training in

Bharatnatyam. She is a teacher par

excellence, committed to inclucating

not just the technicalities of dance to

her students, but also a sense of

aesthetics, culture and love for the art

form.

K. Mahalakshmi is a highly talented

choreographer, ‘Krishna Leela’, ‘Valli

Thirumanam’, ‘Bharatham’, and

‘Shakunthalam', are a few of her

critically acclaimed works. She is also a

brilliant soloist and has performed in

many prestigious places in the US and

Europe. While in Kalakshetra, she has

performed lead roles in ballets and has

toured with them for various festivals

in India and abroad.

Mahalakshmi ha s a l s o p la ye d

significant roles in a number of dance

drama productions-‘Sita Rama Katha’,

‘Jaya Jaya Devi’ and ‘Sangamitra' all of

which have toured extensively in North

America. She has been an integral part

of 'The Jungle Book', which was a

c o l l a b o r a t i o n b e t w e e n T h e

Bharatakanjali, India and The Ohio

Ballet Company, USA. Being the

Principal of The Avigna Dance

Ensemble, Mahalakshmi has been the

lead dancer in all of G. Narendra’s

dance drama productions, 'Abyasa’,

‘The Living Tree’ and ‘Silapadhikaram'.

Mahalakshmi along with her students

were invited to perform at the

prestigious Khajuraho Festival. A gifted

teacher, she has conducted Bharata

Natyam dance workshops at various

universities in the United States of

America including the Case Western

University and Cleveland State

University. Ably guided by her,

Mahalakshmi's students have also

performed at the esteemed Wembeley

Audi torium, UK. She was duly

commissioned to perform with her

team of dancers at St. Peter’s Square-

Vatican City, Italy for His Highness the

late Pope John Paul II. She has also had

the honour of presenting her work for

the late former President of India, Shri

APJ Abdul Kalam, once during his visit

to Singapore and twice in Chennai.

Mahalakshmi has also been the official

examiner at The Singapore Indian Fine

Arts Society and has been actively

involved in choreographing for many

of their events. ‘Dashavatharam’ and

‘Sapthastuthi’, both of which done in

c olla b o ra ti o n wi t h E s pla na de,

Singapore, have been very well

received and highly appreciated. She

was also the artistic mentor for the

well received Shivdasi Chauladevi, a

dance production choreographed by

Ms. Minal Merai and presented at the

Esplanade, Singapore.

She had also successfully conducted

the Golden Jubilee celebrations of Sri

Mahalakshmi Natyalaya in September

2018 at Kamaraj Arangam, Chennai.

Her most recent performance was a

Purna Margam, o r g a n i z e d b y

Natyarangam (the dance wing of

Narada Gana Sabha trust) in February

2019.

Mahalakshmi focuses on maintaining

an immaculate style of performance

and choreography. Blending classical

dance with a modern approach, she

strives hard to maintain an immaculate

style of presentation. This being her

forte, she focuses primarily on

providing value based entertainment

which is widely known for its

sensitivity, creativity and lucid

presentations.

Smt. Kalaimamani Kayalvizhi Kabilan, performed more than 1000 performance as both Solo and theamatic productions.

Kalaimamani Smt. Kayalvizhi Kabilan have an eminent presence in bharathanatyam with more than three decade of career in of the most ancient yet vibrant art forms of India.

Tutored in the Pandanallur style of Bharathanatyam under Kalaimamani Smt. Krishnakumari Narendran. Smt. Sangeetha Kabilan and Smt. Kayalvizhi Kabilan popularly known as Kabilan Sisters have a spectacular career of more than thousand performances to their credit spanning across various counties like USA, UK, Srilanka, Singapore, Malaysia to name a few. Accolades and awards followed them throughout with the government of Tamil Nadu bestowing the prestigious kalaimamani awards in the year 2008..

Smt. Kayalvizhi kabilan have hosted and facilitated by several prestigious international organizations with continues presence in mamallapuram dance festival hosted by government of Tamil Nadu (Tourism) for more than decade since 2001; the second world hindu conference, Srilanka in 2003; FeTNA USA during the years 2001 to 2006 and the Nehru centre cultural wing of high commission of India, London in 2012.

She had several theamatic production to her credit Thiruneera Thirumanna a unique composition from sacred books of saivism and vaishnavism. Set to music by the violin maestro Late. Sri Kunnakudi Vaidhyanathan was well received amongst the elite circles of dance connoisseurs. Natya Samarpanam a tribute to Sri thyagaraja swami one of the music trinities of carnatic music and bhava Nrithyam are some other productions.

Continuing for her thirst for her knowledge she have a degree in Master of Fine Arts (Bharathanatym) from the Kalaikaviri college affiliated to Bharathidasan University. She has her Masters in Bio Informatics from the university of Madras and PH Diploma in food and nutritions from IGNOU.