IdentityWe, the Dhandapani sisters, Sandhya and Meera began learning Bharatanatyam from Smt. Sindhu Mohanraj ,who later on brought us into the able tutelage of Vidushi Smt. Mrudula Rai. We have been fortunate to further our training under Guru Smt. Mrudula Rai for many years now.
Alongside learning, both of us have also been assisting our guru in teaching Bharatanatyam as teaching faculty at Shree Natya Niketan school of dance for around 4 years.
As part of SNN, we have performed in dance festivals in and around India like the Chinnamelam dance festival 2022 at Tanjore Brihadeeswara temple, Perur Natyanjali, Chidambaram Natyanjali, Salem Natyanjali, Karur Natyanjali, Mayura Natyanjali, Bharatiya Vidhya Bhavan Dance Festival, Pollachi Tamizhisai sangam, Mylapore fine arts dance drama festival, and Temple festivals at Kasi Vishwanathar temple, Shirdi Saibaba temple, Srilanka Murugan temple, Udupi Krishna Matt, to name a few. Sandhya and Meera had performed for 'Kalaarpanam 2022' organized by Sangraha Cultural Trust. We were also selected to perform for "Ilamaiyil Thiramai 2022" organized by Shri Krishna Gana Sabha, Chennai.
Meera's recent accolades include performance at the Raindrops festival 2022, organized by Samved society, Mumbai, winner of Kalavedi dance competition at Coimbatore, episode winner of Jaya TV’s ‘Thakadhimi Thakajonu’ and performance at Scotland for the 'Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav' initiative organized by the ICCR. She has
completed 5 levels of the Yathnam exams with distinction, conducted by Prayathnam. She has completed her grade certificate program[VIII Grade] in Bharatanatyam from Annamalai University. Sandhya has completed Lateral Level 1 of Prayathnam exams with distinction and emerged as topper with the title "Yathna Pradeepa".
Bharatanatyam has been an integral part of our lives and we have been learning and practicing this art form for around 14 years. We are also undergoing training under Smt. Akkshita Suresh for the past 2 years on dancer wellness - a program designed specifically for classical dancers in order to preventy injury and complications by working on mobility, strength, flexibility, stamina and wellness in general. We completed our Bharathanatya arangetram in January 2021. We have also attended various workshops organized under the SNN banner by eminent artists – Shri Parshwanath Upadhye, Smt Rama Vaidyanathan, Smt Divyasena, Guru Manu master, Shri Pavithra Krishna Bhat and Tala workshop by Shri Hari Babu.
We have started the journey of "PRĀNĀ School of dance" where we offer online and offline Bharathanatyam classes for people of all ages, integrated with age and body appropriate fitness routine.
