Born on February 21st 1959, in Baroda, The Cultural Capital
of Gujarat, Shri Sharad Pandya had a deep love for the Indian
performing arts since his childhood. A performer of high caliber,
a celebrated choreographer and a devoted guru of today, he,
began his long journey very early. He started learninig Bharatanatyam
at the Faculty of Performing Arts, M.S. University of Baroda,
Gujarat. Later he took up an intensive training in Bharatanatyam
from renowned dance teachers like Guru Shri C.V. Chandrashekhar,
Smt. Nargis Katpitia & Late Shri Pradeep Baruah.
Under the able guidance of Guru Shri C.V.Chandrashekhar, He
performed in various cities in India such as Delhi, Jaipur,
Banaras, Ujjain, Vrindavan, Kanpur, Kolkata, Mumbai, Chennai,
Bangalore, Mysore, Hyderabad, Coimbatore, Bhavanagar, Surat,
Ahmedabad, and Vadodara etc. He also performed in various
South East Asian countries like Laos, Kampuchea, Vietnam,
Thailand, Malaysia, Philippines, Indonesia and many
more. Besides these, he has also performed in 16 states in
the USSR as well as in 18 states of the United
States of America.
The major dance festivals in which he has participated include
- The Festival of India in Russia.
- The International Festival of Performing Arts, Bangkok
- ICCR Sangeet Nritya Mahotsav, New Delhi
- December Dance Festival, Chennai
- Nitya Nritya Festival, Bangalore
- Kalidas Samaroh, Ujjain
- Swarna Sankhya Dance Festival, Bangalore, Hyderabad,
Mysore
- Uttarardh Utsav of Classical Dance Festival,
Modhera
- Choreography Festival, Calcutta
- International Classical Dance Festival, New Delhi
- Gujarat Sangeet Natak Academy Festival Bhavnagar
- Centanary celebration of GRG foundation, Coimbatore.
- Chinmaya Mission, New Delhi and several
others
A person of great devotion and dedication towards this ancient
art, he went on to become a Nrutya Aacharya. With a dream of
preserving & promoting the rich cultural heritage of India,
he established ‘PURVA’
School of Bharatanatyam in 1983 in Baroda.
He always has an aim to provide platforms to the young students
so that they could showcase their artistic talents, and to fulfill
it, he choreographed several dances & dance dramas such
as ‘Prakruti Varnan’ , ‘Nal Damyanti’,
‘Krishna Leela’ to name a few. His choreography
has been highly appreciated and critically acclaimed. He was
also the event choreographer of a dance composition in Sanskrit
“Mahishasura Mardini Stotram” which was staged at
the International Garba Festival, hosted by the Govt. Of Gujarat,
in Oct. 2004.
As a teacher he is a strict disciplinarian and a perfectionist
to the hilt. He is also a thorough professional. The students
come to learn dance as a hobby but the training given is very
intensive and in a scientific manner. This gives them the knowledge
of the depth inherent in this style of dance. The pose, postures
and movements are explained with such deep insight that only
a well read and knowledgeable teacher can. He also imparts knowledge
about the Indian culture and values. He has successfully followed
the ‘Gurukul Parampara’ of the Indian Culture.
He is also the writer of the book “NRITYA SHASTRA”
which states the history of Indian Classical Dances and their
theories. He is the paneled artist of Doordarshan. He has also
been invited by many institutes from around the globe to give
lecture-demonstrations and to conduct workshops. He had been
invited to give presentations at various places in Mauritius
& recently in the World Performing Arts Festival 2005 held
at Pakistan. |
