Staff

Aishwarya Harish

Aishwarya hails from a family of artistes representing the fifth generation of performing artistes. Initiated at the age of four under her mother, Guru Dr. Smt. Jayashree Rajagopalan, she has gone on to finish her Nritya Praveshika, Nritya Visharad and Nritya Shali (course in the 108 Karanas of the Natya Sastra) at Nrithyodaya, Mumbai. She has also undergone training in Nattuvangam and conducted programmes. A Grade ‘B’ artiste with the Doordarshan Kendra, Mumbai, Aishwarya has also had the opportunity to participate in productions of her mother’s Guru Dr. Padma Subrahmanyam, in who’s august presence Aishwarya had her Arangetram. She has been fortunate to have had her first dance performance at the age of seven before Bhagwan Sri Sathya Sai Baba.

Aishwarya is the recipient of the ‘Shingar Mani’ Award from the Sur SingarSamiti, the ‘NrithyaShivali’ from the Shivali Festival and the ‘Maanikya Mani’ from Nrithyodaya, to name a few. She has performed in several dance festivals such as Raindrops Festival, Samsara Festival, Natya Kalavardhini Festival, Mood Indigo Festival, Kala Ghoda Festival etc.

Along with acquiring the knowledge of this ancient dance form, Aishwarya has meticulously trained under her mother in aspects of expression and choreography. She has also choreographed solo pieces like Jathis, Thillanas and Padams and also put up group shows for school children on various contemporary topics. She holds an M.A. degree in Ancient Indian Culture, History and Archaeology from the Mumbai Univesity. She has also obtained a post-graduate diploma in Social Communications Media from The Sophia Polytechnic, Mumbai.

Aishwarya heads its Tilak Nagar branch. She also teaches Bharata Nrityam, as part of the regular school curriculum, at The Green Acres Academy, Chembur.

Savita Subramanian

Savita, a home-grown talent of Nrithyodaya Mumbai, started her training in Bharata Nrityam under the tutelage of Guru Dr. Smt Jayashree Rajagopalan, 22 years back. She, a senior disciple and teaching staff at the institute has a Bachelor’s degree in Commerce and worked in Banking & Finance for 8 years before deciding to pursue it as a career.

She has completed her Nritya Praveshika, Nritya Visharad and Nritya Shali, a course specialising in 108 Karanas of Natyasastra. She is a Grade ‘B’ artiste of Doordarshan Kendra, Mumbai for dance and has performed at various venues and dance festivals including annual Natyanjali Festivals, Kanha Festival, Mahagami Festival and Kala Ghoda Festival. Some of her notable contribution to Nrithyodaya’s production includes Bhakta Sakha Vitthala, Abhijnana Shakuntalam, Ponnolir Bharatam, Seeta Swayamvaram, Ritu Ranjan, Chandalika, Markandeya Chitram, Krishnasya Dasosmyaham and Anandaanubhavam.

Besides helping spread the knowledge of dance via teaching, Savita’s natural interest towards creativity along with her prolonged training & practise has helped her grow as a choreographer at Nrithyodaya. She also teaches Bharata Nrityam at The Green Acres Academy, Chembur, Mumbai.

Prapti Iyengar

Initiated into the guru-shishya parampara of Bharatanrithyam at a young age by Dr. Jayashree Rajagopalan, Prapti has been performing under the Nrithyodaya banner for the past 20 years. Having completed her Nrithya Praveshika and Nrithya Visharad and Nrithya Shaali course under her Guru’s tutelage she has also completed her Masters in Bharatanatyam from Sastra University Tanjavur, under Dr. Padma Subrahmanyam. She is presently continuing to pursue the Nrithya Shaali course, specializing in the theory and performance of the Nrtta Karanas of the Natyasastra. As an institution Nrithyodaya encourages holistic development of a complete artist and hence she has had the opportunity not only to showcase her talent on stage but also off stage as a compere and a makeup artist. Honoured with the Sringarmani award by the Sur Singar Samsad, she is also a Grade B Doordarshan artist. She has performed for several prestigious events and has also participated and won several dance and music competitions. She is a member of The Association of Bharatanatyam Artists of India (ABHAI) and was one of the participants chosen to represent the Mumbai Shaakha on the Makkal TV program Adal Arasigalin Sangamam. She is presently a semi-finalist on the Bharatnatyam dance reality show Natyaratna conducted by Shankara TV.

In line with Nrithyodaya’s philosophy of all round development, Prapti has a Master’s degree in Counselling Psychology and a Post-graduate Diploma in Psycho-Oncology. When not teaching dance at the Institute, she practices as an oncology counsellor with INHS Asvini.