Dr. Shashikala Ravi is the Founder Director of Amritanjali School of Bharatanatyam in Pune. Trained under legendary Gurus - Natya Kalanidhi late Smt Swarna Saraswathyfrom the Tanjavore Devadasi Parampara and by Padmabhushan Smt Kalanidhi Narayanan, she is one of the leading Bharatanatyam dancers today giving both solo Bharatanatyam recitals as well as thematic group choreographies. She is an ‘A’ grade artiste with Doordarshan. She has also seeked guidance in Abhinaya from the legendary dancer late Kalaimamani Guru Lakshmi Viswanathan.
Shashikala Ravi holds a doctorate degree (PhD) in Classical Dance Bharatanatyam . She is also well trained in Carnatic vocal music by her mother Smt. Thanga Varadarajan. Shashikala Ravi is a recipient of Natya Ratna Award, Akhil Bharatiya Marathi Natya Parishad Award, Rotary Leadership Excellence award and the Citadel Award for Performing Arts. She has also been conferred with the titles of Nrithya Choodamani by Vashi Fine Arts Society, Mumbai and Nritya Ratna- Lifetime Achievement Award by the Utkal Yuva Sanskrutik Sangh at the Cuttack Mahotsav.She is an empanelled artiste with the ICCR- Indian Council of Cultural Relations(a wing of the External Affairs Ministry),New Delhi. She is a recipient of the prestigious Senior Fellowship awarded by the Ministry of Culture, Government of India for carrying out research in Bharatanatyam. She has been featured in magazines like Citadel, Pune, Business India and Crème, Pune.She and her dance school have also been featured in the Japanese magazine ‘World Okeiko Report’, a magazine for the youth of Japan.
Shashikala Ravi hosts and conducts the yearly Amritanjali Festival of Classical Dance and Music where she invites renowned artistes of Classical Dance and Music to perform and conduct workshops and Amritanjali Nrityotsava, a festival of classical dance for the rising stars of various classical dance forms. She has choreographed several dance dramas and ballets like Ramayana, Aandaal Kalyaanam, The Dance of Shiva, Srishthi, Jai Shri Krishna, Stree – The different facets of a Woman, The Great Goddess Devi Parvati, Dashavataram etc.
Mrs Ravi has performed widely in India and abroad in countries like Germany, Greece, Sri Lanka, UK, Malaysia and Japan.She has given lecture demonstrations and taken workshops in Greece, Malaysia, Germany and Japan. She has performed in major dance festivals all over India like Parangatotsava (Mysore), Natyanjali (Chidambaram), Brhan Natyanjali (Tanjavore), Pune Festival, Shanmukhapriya Natyanjali Shivaratri Festival ( Mumbai), Shaniwarwada Festival (Pune), Durga Festival (Mumbai), h Sabha Dance festival ( Chennai), Kartik Fine Arts Dance Festival (Chennai), Bharata Nritya Utsav ( Bharati Vidya Bhavan , Chennai), Uday Shankar Dance Festival (Kolkatta), Samskriti Festival (Aurangabad), Naadaneerajanam (Tirumala Hills), Kumbh Utsav, Ujjain (organized by Sangeet Natak Academy), Kala Ghoda Festival, Mumbai, Dussehra celebrations Madurai Meenakshi Temple, Soundarya Noopuram International Dance Festival, Mumbai…… to name a few.
Shashikala Ravi is an ardent animal lover and actively participates iactively in the stray dog and cat vaccination and sterilization programs. She is also a versatile painter and also holds MSc. and MEd. Degrees in addition to her Bharatanatyam achievements.
Dr. Shashikala Ravi is the owner of the Amritanjali Dance Studio which is a fully air conditioned sound proof studio which has been established to promote culture in Pune. It has a wooden stage, motorized curtains, light,audio and slide projector facilities. The yearly Amritanjali Festival of Classical Dance and Music is conducted in Amritanjali Studio.
She has released two DVD’s of Bharatanatyam titled
I. The Dance of Shiva – Exploring some of the Cosmic dances of Lord Shiva
www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDidNcTEjtA
II. Ty?gaBrahm?njali – a tribute to ?r?Ty?gar?ja
www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEl7yvP_GPo
Both the DVD’s are released and marketed by Swathi Soft Solutions, Chennai as a part of their Sanskriti series.
Besides achievements in the field of dance Dr. Shashikala Ravi also holds MSc and MEd degrees.
