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Aravinth Venu Programmer by day and an active gamer by night,Aravinth also likes to dance. In addition to gaming he likes watching movies, skiing and travelling. He has already made 3 road trips, got stuck, got lost and has 25 states yet to visit. As for dancing, he's done a few performances in school and college and is looking forward to the Vanavil show and other Sanhiti activities. Back to Top
Asha Phillip Asha is currently working as a Buyer for a leading research/biotech company in Emeryville.She is what you would call an "all around" girl whose interests lie in various areas. On the weekends she loves to paint and go out dancing with her friends while on the weekdays she bakes and plays busy bee to the daily 9-5 schedule. She started dancing at a small age with the basic rocking back and forth moves to eventually taking ballet and bharathanatyam which helped her master the 'rhythm of the beat.' Growing up her parents encouraged her to do dance at MANCA (Malayalee Association) events and school shows which led into her passion for choreographing film, modern, hip hop, and eclectic dances for her high school and college teams. Other than dancing her interests include basketball, hiking, yoga, kayaking, rock climbing and reading. Back to Top
Chithra Gopalakrishnan Chitra Gopalakrishnan had her early formal training in Bharathantyam with 'Natya Arunanjali' under the tutelage of Kalaimamani Smt. Usha Parameswaran. She has given a few performances back in India and in Utah (where she came to pursue her Masters' program in ElectricaEngineering). Being an avid dancer, she always (and she still does) dances to enjoyable music while listening to it. Her favorite past times include reading books, listening to carnatic music and (of course) window-shopping! Chitra moved in recently to the bay area and works as an applications engineer. Back to Top
Jayasri Prabakaran Jayasri Prabakaran had started to learn Bharathanaatiyam right from the age of six and has an interest to learn the oher types of dance too. She was working as a Programmer Analyst in an MNC in Chennai and has recently moved to the Bay area. She is interested in sports and was a zonal level volleyball player. Her other hobbies include listening to music, gardening and browsing. Back to Top
Jyothi Durvasula Born and brought up in Andhra Pradesh, Jyothi had come to US in '98 to pursue her Masters in Electrical Engineering. Currently she is working as a Systems Verification Engineer at Xilinx Inc. Jyothi had learnt Kuchipudi for a few years as a kid and had performed in many school cultural events until '94. Then came a looooong break and she joined Sanhiti and her first show as part of Sanhiti was Vanavil in Nov '04. Since then dance had become a mania for her:-) She also performed for the Tsunami Fundraiser as part of Sanhiti for BATM in Jan '05, for Telugu New Year Celebrations as part of BATA in Apr '05, Tamil New Year Celebrations for BATM in April '05, for Galaata in May '05, for Independance Day celebrations as part of FIA in Aug '05 and is really looking for forward to Vibes!! Her other hobbies include singing(as part of a troupe called Prayas), writing poems, watching movies, playing tennis, cricket, reading novels and social service as part of Upakriti Inc (www.upakriti.org) Back to Top
Kavitha Moorthy I started learning Bharatanatyam since I was 5yrs old under Guru Mahalingam pillai and continued for almost 20 yrs.Dance has always been a passion for me and I am still continuing to learn from Nirupama Vaidhyanathan .I have given solo and group performances in classical and a few different folk dances of India. I have been learning karnatic music from Lata Sriram and working as a dentist in Livermore. I live in Fremont with my husband and my 6 yr old daughter. Back to Top
Manoj Mohan Manoj Mohan is a Principal Consultant from the Bay Area. He has been a major dance enthusiast right from his graduatio days and has performed on stage on few occassions. He loves all forms of dance and is particularly interested in Latin Dancing and is in the process of learning it. Hobbies include Ice-skating, Sand volleyball, Foosball, Working out and so on. He firmly believes in the quote... "It's the Attitude and NOT the Aptitude that determines your Altitude." He can be reached at ManojMohan@gmail.com. Back to Top
Mrudula Naveen Mrudula Naveen was initiated to Bharata Natyam by her grandmother and parents under the guidance of Smt. Sujata, student of Shree K. Adayar Laxman, Kalakshetra, at a tender age of two and a half years. She gave her arangetram (maiden stage performance) in May 1987 when she was only five and a half years old.Subsequently, she started learning from Smt. Sugandhi Subramaniam of Natanapriya, student of Shree Kalasadan Mani, Mumbai. Under her tutelage, she gave many performances in and around Mumbai. Later, she had the good fortune of learning under Guru Smt.Rajee Narayan, founder-director Nritya Geethanjali, under whom she has not only learnt the different aspects of Bharata Natyam but also Nattuvangam, Tala Shastra and Natya Shastra. Under her guidance, she has given various solo as well as group performances at Mumbai and Chennai. She has also learnt Carnatic music under Smt. Padma Ganapathy, Thane, Mumbai for many years. She gave her maiden concert in 1999, at Thane. She holds a Masters degree in Commerce and a diploma in business management. She has also done her diploma in software engineering from Aptech. Her other interests include reading, hiking and biking. Back to Top
Navaneethan Sundaramoorthy Navanee grew up in Coimbatore, studied engineering at Anna University in Chennai, India and then graduated with Masters from Brigham Young University, Utah. He has been involved in skits, dances and other cultural events in school and college. He is presently working on Embedded systems on FPGAs at Xilinx Inc. Navanee manages to have fun working with this cool group on a Sanhiti project when he is not at work managing a cool Xilinx project with a fun group. As part of the AID (Association for India's Development), Bay Area chapter, he is also helping organize the Sanhiti dance program Vibes 2005. Other than desi music and dances, he also likes Jazz, Country music and Salsa, Rumba, Tango, Country dances. Back to Top
Radhika Muralidharan She is extensively trained in Bharatnatyam and Carnatic Music for many years. She loves dancing in general, and has given many performances in India and in the US. She has also choreographed many filmi, fusion dances. She has a Master's in Electrical Engg and Computer Science and her other interests include outdoor activities like white water rafting, ice skating and swimming. Back to Top
Raja Mani Raja has performed on the stage when he was 15 and continued for a few more years until he became passionate about computer programming. Although he has no formal training in any form of dance, he can watch a movie dance sequence and perform the same with a few hours of practice. That way, his gurus are the famous tamil movie choreographers Mr. Sundaram, Mr. Raju Sundaram, Miss. Kala,!! He has performed as a singer in light music concerts in Atlanta Tamil Sangam, Bay Area Tamil Manram and TEAM. He is learning carnatic music from Anuradha Suresh. His hobbies include singing, dancing, cricket, watching tamil movies, camping etc He lives in Union City with his wife and 3 yr old daughter Back to Top
Roopa Krishnamoorthy Roopa Krishnamurthy was encouraged by her parents to learn Bharathanatyam from the age of eleven. After initially learning under Rekha Subba RaO she continued learning under the popular dancer couple " The Kirans"- Kiran Subramaniyam and Sandhya Kiran directors of "Rasika Academy of Performing Arts", Bangalore. She has taken part in their productions such as Nrityarpana 1999 "Yathra".She has also performed folk dances such as Karagam, Lavani and Bihu. At present she participates in some dance competitions held in BayArea.She also teaches folk and bollywood dances. Roopa holds a Bachelor degree in Electronics and Communication and hopes to continue making Dance a way of life by learning, performing and teaching this timeless art. Her hobbies include painting,stitching and teaching some handworks Back to Top
Sheetal Naidu Sheetal has always had a flair for dance. She has participated enthusiastically in stage shows during her school and college days. She is also trained in the classical dance of Bharatanatyam for 4 years during which she gave a few performances. Sheetal is a B.E graduate in Computer Science from Bangalore and currently lives in Sunnyvale with her husband. She has taken Sanhiti as a wonderful opportunity and looks forward to more Vanavils!" Back to Top
Srividhya Srinivasan Shrividhya enjoys being on the stage performing any kind of dance form.She has learnt Bharatanatyam since the age of five under the tutelage of various Gurus. She performed her arangetram under the guidance of Smt. Komala Varadan and is continuing her training with Smt. VidhyaSubramanium at Lasya dance company. She has given a number of performances including a Bharatanatyam recital at India International Center in New Delhi . Her other interests include reading, biking and tennis. She is currently pursuing a Ph.D degree in Molecular Biology at UC Santa Cruz. Back to Top
Suman Chandra Suman Chandra has always loved art in any form. She has given a number of stage performances and also participated in Folk dance competitions. Apart from dancing, her sewing interests have led her to design costumes for sanhiti's performances. She just got a certificate for "Dressmaking and Design". Sanhiti has helped her express her creativity. She holds an Engineering degree in Printing Technology from Anna University, India. She took a few classes in Graphic Design which helped her design brochures, logos, souvenirs, etc., for various non-profit organizations and schools in the Bay area. She has also done various stage plays in India. She is willing to explore all kinds of Art which she thinks keeps her mind "young and lively". She lives in Los Gatos with her Husband and has a full time Job of mothering three kids. Back to Top
Swathi Rangarajan Swathi has learnt Bharatnatyam for 12 years, under Kalamamani. Smt. K.J.Sarasa, from the age of four.She has participated and won many competitions, both district level and state level. She is currently a graduate student in Software Engineering, at SJSU.Her hobbiesinclude in music, reading and cooking. Back to Top
Vanisri Ragupathi Vani has been a passionate student of Bharatanatyam ever since she was introduced to the art at the age of three. Initially she learnt under Padma Ravi for two years and continued learning under Shrimati Vijaymalini, disciple of Kalaimamani K.P. N Pakirisamy Pillai. She has performed in several dance-dramas, group performances and has given solo performances both in India and USA. She specializes in "Karagam" where she can perform acrobatic acts with untied Karagam on her head. Besides her love for dance, Vani has also learnt Carnatic vocal music from her teacher Mrs. Chandra, daughter of Sri. P.K. Rajagopala Iyer,for 12 years. She is an active volunteer for Udavum Karangal, Bay area and is part of "Naatak", Bay Area Indian Drama Troupe. Vani works as a Solutions Architect at Akamai. Hobbies include art work, mono-acting and cooking. Back to Top
Vasu Muddagowni Srinivas Muddagowni aka Vasu is a freshman at San Jose State University. He's majoring in Electrical Engineering and hopes to continue his education by entering into the medical field to become a cardiovascular surgeon. Born and raised in Hyderabad, AP till he was seven, Vasu moved to Cincinnati, Ohio to live with his father along with his mom and elder sister. After finishing his high school in Hyderabad in the last four years, he has come back to the US and this time settled in the beautiful Bay Area. He has done two stage dance shows which were for BATA (Bay Area Telugu Association) for the Ugaddi Festival 2005, and the Independence Day show for FIA (Federation of Indian Association). He enjoys dancing, writing, hanging out with his friends, playing tennis, traveling, and partying. He hopes to learn atleast one form of dance professionaly and untill then, do as many shows as possible to have fun, for a good cause, meet new people, and celebrate whatever the occasion might be. Back to Top