United States, November 24: US-based Bharatanatyam/Kuchipudi exponent Aparna Satheesan has won the prestigious Abhinandan Saroja National Award 2021 by the National Institute of Indian Classical Dance at Samarpan on November 15th 2021. The Abhinandan Saroja National Award was started on the birthday of the legendary Guru Smt. Padma Bhushan Saroja Vaidyanathan for honoring the legacy in the field of Indian Classical Dance.
Abhinandan Saroja award is a national award given to eminent dancers for their notable excellence in choreography, performance and contribution in promoting and preserving the traditional classical dance forms of India. The award will be given by the legendary Bharatanatyam exponent Padma Bhushan Guru Saroja Vaidyanathan. Due to covid restrictions, this year’s festival was conducted virtually and had participants from all over the world. The selection panel of judges included very famous dancers like Dr. Swati Daithankar, Sri. Narendra Kumar, Smt. Sukanya Mahadevan and Smt. Aparna Ramesh.
Aparna is an established Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi dancer who not only demonstrated her artistic skills across the globe but also demonstrated her social responsibility through her charity work by giving back to society, using her gifted dance talent. She was nominated for her excellence in performance, choreographic skills and charity work in the field of dance.
Aparna Satheesan is also a recipient of the prestigious Natya Shiromani National Award by India festival Organization USA and Bharata Shastra Nritya Praveena Award by the All India Dancer’s Association for her outstanding achievement in Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi. Aparna’s previous dance production has gained more appreciation across the globe, especially Sri Rama Charitham, Krishna, Indian Raga, Arohanam.
Vijay Singh