Hasika's Arangetram

Guru

Guru Smt. Akila Rao is the founder and artistic director of Sri Vidya Dance School in Sunnyvale, CA. Trained in the Kalakshetra tradition, she began her Bharatanatyam journey at the age of 7 under Guru Pasumarthy Ramalinga Sastry and completed her arangetram by 16, performing across India in numerous ballets and competitions. She has since trained with renowned Gurus including The Dhananjayans, The Charis, and others, and also studied Carnatic music under Sri D. Seshachari of the Hyderabad Brothers....

Dancer

Hasika's journey in Bharatanatyam has truly flourished under the loving guidance of Guru Smt. Akila Rao. Under her Guru's mentorship, Hasika has grown as a performer, refining her technique, deepening her expression, and strengthening her stage presence, while receiving wonderful opportunities to perform at prestigious venues. Hasika is also deeply grateful to Guru Smt. Vidhya Vijayakumar, who introduced her to Bharatanatyam at the age of four and laid the foundation for her early steps in the art form.

Hasika cherishes the guidance of Guru Smt. Akila Rao ...

To refine her craft, Hasika has trained in workshops led by acclaimed gurus such as Smt. Leela Samson, Sri. Mohanan, Sri. Shyamjith, Smt. Viraja, Smt. Shweta Prachande, and Sri. Shijith Nambiar, contributing to her understanding of technique, abhinaya, rhythm, and the spiritual essence of Bharatanatyam.

She is a ninth grader at Monta Vista High School. Music plays an equally significant role in her artistic development. As a cellist in her middle school Chamber Orchestra, she performed at Disneyland and won awards at orchestra concerts. Now part of her high school orchestra, she eagerly looks forward to the upcoming performance tour across Europe this summer. Her additional musical training in piano through the RSL School curriculum has strengthened her rhythm, emotion, and musicality—qualities that beautifully complement her dance. Her creativity further extends to the visual arts. With six years of formal art training, her paintings have been showcased in exhibitions. She represented the City of Cupertino as a cultural exchange ambassador, visiting Japan as part of the Sister Cities Student Delegation.

She proudly dedicates her arangetram performance to her Guru, her family, her friends and the rich tradition of Bharatanatyam that continues to inspire her every day.

Guest of Honor

We are deeply honored to have Smt. Kavita Thirumalai as our Guest of Honor for the event.

Smt. Kavita is an ardent student of Bharatanatyam trained under Smt. Meera Chandrashekhar, Smt. Ramya Ramnarayan, and Smt. Vidhya Subramanian and currently pursuing advanced Abhinaya under Smt. Bragha Bessell. She has five unique solo dance productions that has been staged in many prestigious venues. She is a regular performer in the Chennai Dance Season with performances in several leading arts organizations in the city. She is an active member is several organizations in the Bay Area serving the Indian Dance Community and is the co-curator of IDIA, Bharatanatyam conference & festival in Bay Area.

Orchestra

Nattuvangam

Guru Smt. Akila Rao

Guru Smt. Akila Rao is the founder and artistic director of Sri Vidya Dance School in Sunnyvale, CA. Trained in the Kalakshetra tradition, she began her Bharatanatyam journey at the age of 7 under Guru Pasumarthy Ramalinga Sastry and completed her arangetram by 16, ...

Vocal

Guru Smt. Snigdha Venkatramani

Guru Snigdha Venkataramani is an accomplished Carnatic vocalist and has undergone training under veteran vocalists Padmabhushan Guru Nookala Chinna Satyanarayana, Sh. K. Vageesh and Smt. K. Sudha, Smt. Sarada Subramanian and Guru Smt Radhakrishna. ...

Mridangam

Guru Sri. Ravindra Bharathy Sridharan

Hailing from the well-known Embar family, Ravindra Bharathy Sridharan has been a performer for the last 43 years, having accompanied many leading musicians both in US and India, in both music and dance. ...

Violin

Guru Sri. Vikram Ragukumar

Guru Vikram Ragukumar had his initial training under violinist Vidwan Guru H.V. Krishnamurthy at Vijaya College of Music, Bangalore. He later pursued intensive training under the able guidance of AIR A grade violinist ...

Flute

Guru Sri. Ashwin Krishnakumar

Guru Ashwin Krishnakumar is an accomplished classical flute artist who trained under several legendary gurus – Guru Sri A V.Prakash and Guru Sri B. N. Suresh. He was recognized with a scholarship from the Central Govt. Of India ...

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