Dance Celebrities

U.S. Krishna Rao & Chandrabhaga Devi
Bharatnatyam dancers, Choreographers

Krishna Rao, scientist by qualification, began his artistic life as a drummer, continuing to train as a Bharatnatyam dancer, when the art was not popular. He married Chandrabhaga Devi in 1941, his student, who also trained in dance. Studying under famous Meenakshi Sundram of pandanallore, Tamil Nadu, their first' Arangetrapudi' was in the Tanjore palace in 1943.Pioneers, they wrote, taught dances and choreographed. Krishna Rao even trained singers and percussionists for Bharatnatyam, designed new costumes. For over 50 years they have been dancers, teachers, writers and choreographers of world repute, invited to perform teach and choreographing London, USA, Hong Kong, Singapore, Bangkok, Kualalampur, Colombo, Ireland, West Germany, France, Canada. They have authored books on dance (textbooks, a Bharatnatyam dictionary) and Chandrabhaga devi's travelogue of world experiences in dance, in Kannada won the 2nd prize of Karnataka Sahitya Academy. Their work has brought over 30 awards and felicitations.

Manju Bhargavi
Kuchupudi dancer, Cinema Artist

Manju Bhargavi gave her first Kuchupudi performance at age of 5,traning under Guru Vempatti Chinna Satyam, imbibing and perfecting difficult and intricate features of Kuchupudi. Performing her own troupe in 1978 she has given over 2000 performances around the world in Canada, USA, Malaysia, Kenya, etc. including on national television. internationally famous musical film 'shankarabharanam' is a feather in her cap. She is the chairperson of Kuchupudi syllabus committee of dance exams in Karnataka. She also runs about a dance school in Bangalore with about 40 students. She has conducted two dance festivals and is working to start a Kuchupudi Research Centre in Bangalore. some of her numerous award winning performances were at Kuchupudi festivals in Calcutta (1986), dance festivals in Bangalore, Madras, Delhi, etc.

Vani Ganapathy
Bharathanatyam Dancer

Initiated into the art of Bharathanatyam at a tender age, Vani has presented her programs both in India and abroad. after learning dance under Guru Kalyana Sundaram of Rajarajeshwari Kala Mandir at Mumbai she has performed in West Germany, Italy, Tokyo, Bangkok, Kualalampur and Singapore. She went to China on an extensive dance tour at the invitation of the festival of arts held in Zhuhai and Shenzen in 1989.She also danced for the 40th anniversary celebrations of Indo-Japan Diplomatic relations in Japan. She has been recognized as a 'Raj Bhavan Artiste' by the governor of Maharashtra and has also danced in honor of their majesties the king and queen of Nepal. Vani runs a dance institution under the name "sanchari" where she trains a lot enthusiastic and dedicated youngsters.