New England Dance Students Excel at the 44th Cleveland Thyagaraja Festival

Cleveland Thyagaraja Aradhana, the largest dance festival outside India, celebrated its 44th festival between April 10th and 24th 2024. This festival pays homage to Saint Tyagaraja, one of the Trinity composers of Carnatic Music, is attended by over 5000 attendees and also brings in the finest musicians and dancers from all over the world. Similar to prior years, competitions were held in various music and dance categories featuring over 1000 participants. As with other years, several Carnatic music and Bharathnatyam students from the New England area enthusiastically participated in competitions and events and won numerous prizes.

Bharatanatyam

Below is the list of New England dance students who won prizes in various competitions

Ananya Magesh:

Ananya Magesh has been learning Bharatanatyam under the tutelage of Acharya Smt. Aishwarya Balasubramanian of Arpanam Academy of Bharatanatyam since the age of 6. She won third place in the Keerthanam category (age group 9-12) at the prestigious Cleveland Thyagaraja Aradhana dance competitions this year. With the blessings of her Acharya, she also participated in the Margam presentation by Guru Smt.Srekala Bharath at Cleveland. Ananya has also participated and won prizes in various dance competitions conducted by NJNS(NJ) and locally in NEMA, NETS, MTS, KANE, TARANG & TAGB. Now age 12, Ananya is a passionate and a dedicated dancer. With the blessings of the Almighty, her Acharya, parents, family & friends, last year she completed her Arangetram on August 12, 2023. In addition to dance, Ananya also learns Carnatic music from Guru Smt.Tara Anand of Framingham, MA. A sixth grader at Gates Elementary School in Acton, MA, Ananya enjoys listening to music, reading books, singing and also exploring different art techniques during her free time. Ananya is extremely thankful to her Acharya Smt. Aishwarya Balasubramanian for her valuable guidance and training, and she looks forward to learning more from her in the future. ‎

Ananya N Chandramurthy:

Ananya is a dedicated and expressive 5th grade Bharthanatyam dancer who began her tryst with this beautiful art form at the age of 8 under the meticulous guidance of her Guru Smt. Pooja Kumar Shyam of NrithyaPooja Dance Academy.   

She competed in Cleveland Thyagaraja Aradhana dance competition and won the 2nd prize in the Invocation category. Additionally, she has won top honors in multiple competitions in the New England area, by renowned organizations like CIFA (Tarang), NEMA, MTS, and KANE. Ananya also performed alongside her guru at CIFA’s thematic guest performance “East Meets West”. She is diligently training towards her Bharathanatyam Arangetram slated for the 10th of August of this year under the auspices of her Guru. Ananya is very passionate about story telling through her skills in acting, dancing and music. She is also a Junior Black Belt in Martial Arts. 

Ananya Venkatesan

Ananya Venkatesan has been learning Bharatanatyam for the past 17 years and finished her arangetram in 2017 and she is been under training with Guru Smt. Sujatha Meyyappan for the past 7 years. She won third place in the Keerthanam category (age group 20-25) at the prestigious Cleveland Thyagaraja Aradhana dance competitions this year. With the blessings of her guru and God almighty, she also did a Margam in Kanda Matsya Thalam with her sister in 2018 with the guidance of KalaimamaniGuru Maduari R Muralidharan at chennai, India. Ananya has also participated and won many first prizes in various dance competitions in the past 12 years conducted by our local NE Organizations like NEMA, NETS, KANE, TAGB, IANH. Ananya is very passionate and a dedicated dancer. She finished her Bachelors degree with Data Science in 2022 and currently working with Travelers Insurance company for the past 2 years as Data Analyst in NY. She is also been an assistant teacher to her Guru for the past 7 years. Ananya is extremely thankful to her Guru Smt. Sujatha Meyyappan for her valuable guidance and training and looking forward to learn more from her in the future. 

Divya Rajan: 

Divya Rajan, a senior student of Smt. Sunanda Narayanan won several prizes in her age group at the Cleveland Aradhana Dance festival 2024: Varnam - First prize, Keertanam - Second prize, Choreography - Second prize

Divya began her Bharatanatyam journey at age five under the training of Guru Smt. Sunanda Narayanan of the Thillai Fine Arts Academy and completed her Arangetram in 2018. Divya is a hard-working Bharatanatyam student with a keen interest in perfecting her dance and performing with joy. Divya enjoys choreographing dance items and learns nattuvangam from her Guru. At age ten, Divya's talent was spotted by acclaimed Guru Rhadha, as she played the key role of child Krishna in Saint Thyagaraja’s dance production “Nowka Charitram” choreographed by Guru Rhadha.

Divya has taken part in various programs, competitions, and productions over the years. Divya is a repeat winner at the Cleveland Aradhana Dance festival over the past five years and a prize winner at the New Jersey Natyanjali dance competition. Divya has been awarded first prize in Papanasam Sivan global competition, Annamacharya competition, NEMA, KANE, and Tarang where she won the title of "Natya Prathibha". She was awarded the IndianRaga fellowship, where she collaborated with other artists in the country. Divya learns Carnatic music from Smt. Aparna Balaji. Divya is a drum major for her High School band, a lead tenor saxophonist at her school and at the Rivers Youth Wind Ensemble Conservatory. Divya will be attending Brown University for her undergraduate studies in fall 2024. Divya is very grateful to her Guru, Smt. Sunanda Narayanan for her training and guidance. 

Harini Jeyaraman

An 8th grader at Hopkinton Middle School, Harini (age 13) has been a dance student of Guru Smt. Sujatha Meyyappan for 8 years. She participated in the Keerthanam competition and the Margam program by Guru Smt. Sreekala Bharath at the Cleveland Thyagaraja Aradhana Festival. This was Harini's first experience dancing with a live orchestra, and she thoroughly enjoyed the 8-week memorable experience. Harini also took part in the Cleveland Thyagaraja Aradhana's Michigan Margam program in May. Since 2021, Harini has been a prize winner in solo competitions in the NE region (NEMA, KANE, NETS). She actively participates in fundraisers and cause-driven events and has been part of Vision Aid for the past four years. During the summer school break, she looks forward to meeting her Vision Aid team and learning from Guru Smt. Sripriya Moorthy and Guru Smt. Jayanthi Ghatraju as part of the Vision Aid dance production.With the blessings of her Guru Smt. Sujatha, Harini is making her international stage debut this summer in Greece. She feels humbled and honored to represent the USA and present a Bharatanatyam solo recital at the UNESCO CID dance festival among international delegates and renowned dance connoisseurs from around the world. Harini is also preparing for her dance arangetram scheduled for 2025 and is concurrently preparing for theory grade course. In addition to dance, she learns Carnatic music from Guru Smt. Radhika Karandikar.

Outside of her classical pursuits, Harini is an equestrian who loves horse riding and spends her free time at the barn.Harini is immensely grateful to her Guru Smt. Sujatha Meyyappan seeks blessings from her gurus, the almighty, family, friends, and dance rasikas to continue learning and spreading the love of the art form with the world.

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