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On our first episode of season 2, “The resilient Entrepreneurs” we speak to Akhila Krishnamurthy, the founder of Aalaap. Akhila is a freelance journalist and the founder of Aalaap, a boutique arts management company based in Chennai. Akhila founded Aalaap after a 15-year career in journalism where she worked across leading publications in India, including The Times of India where she was the Editor of all the supplements. As a freelance writer, Akhila has contributed essays and features across The Hindu, the India Today Group, Outlook, Tehelka, Open, and Sruti.  Aalaap is Akhila’s brainchild and is an ideas and innovations company that works with classical artistes from across the world across aspects of ideation, curation, production, publicity and strategy. Personally, she is passionate about artistes and the world they inhabit, and is constantly investigating the many shifts that make it so dynamic and exciting. She is a mother of a six-year-old and has spoken at TEDxNapierBridge on her two babies – Aryan and Aalaap – and how the principles of parenting and that of entrepreneurship, in a sense, mirror each other.

  On our final episode of Season 1 ‘Victory against the odds‘ on Indian Artpreneur Podcast, we speak to Music Maestro Smt. Sudeshna Bhattacharya, residing in Oslo, Norway. Smt. Sudeshna began to learn at the age of four from her father Pandit Shri Krishnamohan Bhattacharya and later at the age of eight she began to learn sarod from one of the greatest sarod maestroes of the world, the legend Ustad Amjad Ali Khan. Smt. Sudeshna became Ustad Amjad Ali Khan Gandabandh disiple. In 2003 the Ministry of Culture in France invited her to the Strictly Mondial international festival, and offered her a ten year contract. She lived in Marseilles where she gave concerts, recordings and participated in French cultural happenings with the support of the French Ministry of Culture. In 2015, she moved to Norway, and is a university lecturer for master students at the Norwegian Academy of Music, and continues touring the world for her concerts, recording albums, and making musical projects.

On our 11th episode of Indian Artpreneur, Season 1, Victory against the odds, we speak to Kuchipudi dancer Avijit Das. Born in a small village in West Bengal, Avijit moves to Chennai and eventually to Bengaluru for his passion towards dance. Despite many challenges Avijit navigates his way in mastering the art form from various gurus. He is the founder of KimAham School of Dance Avijit was initiated into Bharatanatyam at the age of five under the guidance of Smt. Sanaka Biswas of Shanti Niketan,West Bengal, India. He obtained his Diploma in Bharatanatyam from Kalakshetra (Rukmini Devi College of Fine Arts), Chennai, India on a meritorious scholarship in 2011. He also developed keen interest in the Kuchipudi style of dance. After initial training in Kuchipudi Art Academy under legendary Guru Sri Vempati Chinna Satyam and renowned Kuchipudi exponent Smt. Manju Bharggavee, he is currently training under the guidance of Sri Jaikishore Mosalikanti .Avi also has a Diploma in Carnatic music. s an artist he has over 10 years of experience and has been invited to perform as a soloist at prestigious dance festivals across the globe including USA, Mexico, Australia, Malaysia, Singapore, Bhutan. Nationally he had more than 100 performances to his accolade across India.

  On the 10th episode of Indian Artpreneur, season 1 Victory against the odds, we speak to Surabhi Bharadwaj, a protean Bharatanatyam dancer, who is also adept in Yoga, Kalaripayattu and light design. Surabhi is currently based in San Francsico, USA. On this episode Surabhi shares her journey as a dancer. Surabhi is a Founder and Artistic Director of Siddhi Dance Academy, CA, is a seasoned Bharatanatyam dancer and teacher who is presently training over 70 students at her institute. She has won accolades through her performances across India, USA, Europe, and the Middle East. Surabhi started her training in the Pandanallur tradition under the tutelage of Guru Natyashree K M Raman. She later continued her training under Karnataka Kalathilika Smt. Radha Sridhar and Karnataka Kalashree B Bhanumati. She studied Karanas (a movement style from the ancient treatise Natya Sastra) under Nirupama Rajendra and Dr. PadmaSubrahmanyam. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Biotechnology and an Advanced Diploma in Genetic Engineering from Jain University, India. She has completed Master of Fine Arts (M.F.A) in Bharatanatyam from Sastra University, India, and MFA in Dance: Design & Production from Saint Mary’s College of California. Her education and her experience working as the Principal Dancer in two leading Bharatanatyam companies in India (Punyah Dance Company and in Raadha Kalpa Dance Company) have given her an edge in both the artistic and technical aspects of bringing dance productions to life.

On our ninth episode of Indian Artpreneur, Season 1, Victory against the odds, we speak to Raphaëlle Brochet, whose never ending journey into the world of global performing arts and music has lead to her becoming a truly powerful and inspiring performer. Her versatility and dedication to learn have all fed into her unique sound. Born to musician parents, Raphaëlle grew up in family surrounded by jazz, and destined to be an artist. She started her career at the age of 17 by recording an album with Floris Nico-Bunink (Mingus, Billy Holliday) under the label Daybreak. Her studies began at the Poitiers Conservatory in France where she studied the piano for three years. She graduated from the Nantes Conservatory and deepened her knowledge of jazz in Canada, where she received a scholarship from the University of Montreal. She then spent a year in New York City to write music for her project KrsTal, blending jazz and Indian music traditions. In parallel to her jazz studies, Raphaëlle went to South India for more than 17 years to study Carnatic singing with Sarada Thota and konnakol with Ghatam Govindarajan. Then she received a full scholarship from the Wesleyan University, USA, to study with B.Balasubrahmaniyan and D.Nelson, and then got a Masters of Ethnomusicology from one of the highest ranked universities of the world. She is very involved in cross-disciplinary collaborations, like theater (the Jena Theaterhaus; Théâtre de Satrouville; Bruital Compagnie), dance (Kadek Puspasari; Stephanie Roussel, Compagnie Kalavati) and collaborated on a documentary with film director Amin Moghadam: Le Souffle d’Allégresse (Iran)

On our eighth episode of Indian Artpreneur, we speak to Shekar Rajendran who created a niche in the art field that manifests our traditional, spiritual, cultural and classical aspect of Indian Heritage. He is an ardent Bharathanatyam dancer trained for over 3 decades now under the able guidances of eminent Gurus Smt. Prabhavathi Shastry, Guru Dr. Suparna Venkatesh and Guru Dr. Sanjay Shantaram and has been acclaimed as a versatile soulful artist. Shekar has enthralled a wide spectrum of audiences with his innovative, graceful , vibrant eye catching dance with picturesque poses & excellent acting skills and is known popularly in the dance fraternity for his extraordinary character portrayal & as an inspiring masculine dancer who has vigor, grace and agile equally. He is very popular and sought after for his vivid costumes, exceptional make-up, light design, and stage design, be it in the characters he plays in dance ballets or in pure dance. Shekar is pursuing his knowledge for dance under Guru Dr. Sanjay Shantaram, both in Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi for the last 20+ years now. An urge to learn different dance forms inspired him to complete his basics in the western classical ballet, from the foundation of classical ballet in U. K. Besides his intense training in Bharatanatyam & Kuchipudi he has learned the other art forms like Contemporary-Kathak, Folk dances of India and Modern Dance

On our seventh episode of Indian Artpreneur, Season 1: Victory against the odds, we speak to Dr. Chethana Radhakrishna. We all know that almost every dance student undergoes dilemma at some point. For some, this could be to obtain certification from education boards such as KSEB or pursue a full-time masters degree in dance, or sometimes the purpose of the dance itself. We feel that in order to gain victory against the odds, it is not enough to gain knowledge, but absolute necessary to have clarity about our pursuit. To answer these questions, we approached  Dr. Chethana Radhakrishna, who is a Bharathanatyam dancer, choreographer, and PhD in Performing Arts. She is a faculty for Bharathanatyam at the KSGH University in Mysore. Dr. Chethana learnt the basic lessons of Bharatanatyam from guru Natya Visharade Smt. Sheela Sridhar in Kalakshetra style, Mysore style of Bharatanatyam from Vid. Smt. Shankuntalamma and Tanjore style from great guru Late Smt. Narmada, Bengaluru. In order to advance her knowledge and proficiency, she went to Chennai to learn from advance lessons from Smt. Savitri Jagannath Rao. In 1995, Dr. Chethana started the Gurudev Academy of fine arts in Mandya, where she continues to teach. In Gurudev Academy, the students not only learn Bharatanatyam, but also learn to teach, sing and Nattuvangam. Dr. Chethana’s taught several students, who are now spread across the globe and have their own schools to teach Bharatanatyam.  

On our sixth episode of Indian Artpreneur, Season 1: Victory against odds, we speak to Kuchipudi dancer Sarvani Yadavalli and a disciple of Padmasree Dr. Sobha Naidu, who’s among the India’s top most exponents of Kuchipudi dance . For many of us who live in a city, it is probably easier to find a dance teacher next door. Now let’s imagine, we are in the 90s, living in a village, with no access to dance teachers, but wanting to learn dance. Would one be willing to travel 500 kms to reach the place where the art form got originated and learn. Not all are blessed with opportunities next door. But pursuit their passion leaving no stone unturned. This is the Story of a dancer who makes the best out of every situation and every time paves path for herself in dance and engineering. She has toured 17 countries in Europe & Asia, performing and conducting workshops and propagating the rich Indian cultural heritage. She has won several accolades across the world. She was selected as the Indian ambassador for 19th World Festival of Youth & Students, Russia. Sarvani is blessed to learn Kuchipudi under various gurus Smt Seetha Nagajothy, Sri Vedantam  Radheyshyam, and Sri. Raja Ram at a very early age.  

On our fifth episode of Indian Artpreneur, Season 1: Victory against odds, we speak to Aishwarya Nityananda, who is a Bharatanatyam dancer, Carnatic vocalist and a Chartered Accountant from Bengaluru, Karnataka. On this episode, Aishwarya shares her journey into Bharatanatyam and Carnatic music, her daily routine and the way she manages her time balancing between dance, work and family. Aishwarya has undergone 28 years of rigorous training and practice, in the traditional Pandanallur style of Bharathanatyam ,under the able guidance and tutelage of Karnataka Kalatilaka and Rajyotsava awardee Guru Radha Sridhar of Venkatesha Natya Mandir, Bengaluru. has also undergone advanced training in Carnatic music under the guidance of Guru Smt Vasantha Madhavi. She has also rendered vocal support for several dance performances. Recognizing her innate talent, the Indian Council for Cultural Relations[ICCR] empanelled Aishwarya in its list of performing artistes of classical dance for the Indian cultural missions and festivals abroad. She is also an A grade artiste of Bengaluru Doordarshan Kendra.

On our fourth episode of Indian Artpreneur, Season 1: Victory against the odds, we speak to Emmanuelle Martin, who is a Carnatic musician living in Paris, France. Listen to this interesting episode where she shares interesting stories and the challenges she faced in learning Carnatic music. Emmanuelle learnt Carnatic music under Shri T.M. Krishna residing in Chennai for 10 years. Since her return to France in 2014, she travels between India, Europe and the United States where she gives concerts, transmits this art and continues her own practice.

On our third episode of Indian Artpreneur, Season 1: Victory against the odds, we speak to Nidhaga Karunad, who is a versatile classical dancer. He is a resident of Bengaluru, Karnataka. At the age of seven, he started his journey in performing arts with traditional Indian theater form Yakshagana and eventually learnt two entirely different classical dance forms Kathak and Bharatanatyam. He has performed in India and several countries abroad. Nidhaga holds a Bachelors degree in Electronics & Computer Science and Masters degree in Bharatanatyam from Bangalore University. Nidhaga speaks about various topics including challenges of being a male dancer, difficulties faced to learn Bharatanatyam and Kathak being trained in Yakshagana for 15 years. He also shares his visions for future. Nidhaga is a disciple of Karnataka Kalashree awardee Dr. Suparna Venkatesh.

On our second episode of Indian Artpreneur, Season 1: Victory against the odds, we speak to Divya Ravi, who is a Bharatanatyam performing artiste and choreographer.  Divya is currently based together with her husband Dr. Sharan Subramanian in the United Kingdom. On this episode Divya speaks about her daily routine, working process behind her first solo work Manjari, her love for food and also shares her recipe to crack social media. This is a story of the quest for excellence. In 23 years of a passionate relationship with Bharatanatyam, Divya has navigated a career in Marketing while evolving as a sensitive artiste and a respected soloist. A graded artiste of Doordarshan and empaneled with the Ministry of Culture for Festivals of India Abroad and SPICMACAY, Divya has extensively performed at coveted dance festivals in India, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Kuwait, Hong Kong, UK and China. Her solo works MANJARI, SARVASYA, POEMS OF LOVE, SAARINI and NARMADA have been lauded for their thought-provoking premise and creative choreography. Divya’s sound technique stems from rigorous formative training under the guidance of Sri. Kiran Subramanyam & Smt. Sandhya Kiran, Dr. Soundarya Srivathsa, and mentoring in Abhinaya under Smt. Bragha Bessel. She is also intensively trained in the Navarasa Sadhana actor training module under Sri G Venu, and she continues to explore her artistic pursuits in the UK, training with Sri. Mavin Khoo.

On our first episode of Indian Artpreneur, Season 1: Victory against the odds we speak to versatile dancer Kinga Malec from Poland. She is currently based in Liverpool, United Kingdom. Kinga started dancing when she was young and her passion to learn Kathak dance made her visit India three consecutive years. She learnt dance from legendary gurus such as Pandit Birju Maharaj, Pandit Arjun Mishra and Vidushi Nirupama Rajendra. This is a journey of exploration especially when one truly believes in following the heart and no matter what the odds are only your resilience can get us there. Listen to this episode where she tells wonderful stories about her childhood, and her experiences in India.

Indian Artpreneur Trailer