Sindhura School Of Dance
About Us
Bharatanatyam
Bharatanatyam is one of the oldest dance forms in India. This style of dance, as an art form, was nurtured in the temples and received the patronage of the royal courts in South India for centuries.
The name "Bharatanatyam" has two distinct roots. One is its reference to Bharata, the author of the Natyashatra, the ancient Sanskrit text that serves as a guidebook to classical dancers even to the present day.
Broken up into three syllables, 'bha', 'ra', 'ta', it also refers to three important aspects of the form: bhava (mood), rasa (sentiment), and tala (rhythm).
Sindhura School of Bharatanatyam was founded by Priya Krishnan in Chantilly (Fairfax County), Virginia. Priya was trained under the tutelage of Smt. Padmini Ramachandran at her acclaimed dance school Natya Priya in Bangalore, India.
Priya has a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology (India) and a degree in Health Informatics Systems (US).
Since the early 1990s when she first arrived in the US, she has given numerous performances all across the US and Canada at several events.
Priya first started teaching Bharatanatyam at the University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY and then at Denver, CO. These experiences eventually led her to start Sindhura.
As the students learn and train they concurrently prepare for performances throughout the year at various venues in the DC metro area, for competitions, primary and grade level dance examinations, for the grand finale at the end of every academic year in early summer, and some for their arangetrum. The dance students at Sindhura range from all age groups - age six to adults.
Sindhura has carved a niche for itself with its unique choreography that combines ancient style with creativity. The Sindhura Ensemble gives many performances annually that include benefits to charity, Cherry Blossom Festival in DC, performances at the Pentagon, performances at Kalanjali, performances at Fiesta Asia, and several other community events.
She has frequently been invited to serve as a judge in national Indian classical dance competitions, with the most recent one being the one organized by Nataraj Dance Showcase, in New Jersey back in Sep 2019.
She was bestowed the title of Natya Saraswati by the Bharatha Academy of Fine Arts in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
As a young dancer she represented India at the Festival of India in the former USSR. She was part of the Karnataka contingent of eight dancers who were selected after several qualifying rounds. In addition, she has also performed in numerous other events in India, including performances on Doordarshan (a TV network channel) in their Bangalore, India station.
Sindhura through its annual fund-raising efforts for Uplift-a-Child International has sponsored many underprivileged children for education in India and other parts of the world from 1st grade through 12th grade.
