ABOUT gURUJI'S

KALAIMAMANI GURU SAROJA VAIDYANANTHAN

Kalaimamani guru Saroaj Vaidyanathan, the disciple of Guru Lalitha Saraswati Gana Nilayam herslef is the disciple of the famous Guru Kattumannar Muthukumaran Pillai of Thanjavur. She has also undergone training in Carnatic Music under Prof. P. Sambamoorthy at the Madras(Chennai) University.

She has been one of the India's prominent Bharatantyam exponents earning her fame as an intelligent and innovative choreographer. Her dance repertoire has revolved around subjects ranging from mythology to current social issues. She has widely traveled within India as well as abroad performing and giving lecdems, conducting workshops at various prestigious venues for propagating our Indian Culture.

She was honoured with several titles and awards not only for her excellency in the art field but also for her services towards humanity through dance, She is the recipient of National and state awards and titles to name a few : Padmashri from Goct. of India, Delhi State Award from Sahitya kala Parishad of Delhi Govt. and Kalaimamani from Govt. of Tamil Nadu.

She has delved deeper in this field by bringing out several books. The Science of Bharatnatyam, Bharatanatyam-An In Depth Study, ( about dance) and Carnataka Sangeetam ( about music) and also submitted a research paper Encyclopaedia of Bharatanatyam to National Council for Research and Training ( NCERT ) and cassettes and C.D.'s set to the compositions of Subramania Bharti. Senior Fellowship from Govt. of India for the thesis based on "Aharya Abhinaya".

As the Founder President, she established Ganesha Natyalaya, a leading fine art institution in the capital in 1974, which has its own building in South Delhi. This Institution has churned out more than hundred and forty graduates up till now ( 2006) under Saroja's able guidance. Several of them have been given scholarships from various depts. for their ability and almost fifteen other arts centres in various names all over the world are being run by her disciples.

For Saroja. also a Rotarian and Patron on many NGO organizations, board member in many cultural, educational and government organizations, dance is a mean of expressing the inner quest for self realization. She aspires to use her dance as a medium to come closer to the supreme truth. While addressing several contemporary issues that ail society Saroja dreams of cutting across cultural barriers through art for spreading the message of harmony and peace. In this attempt, actions she has contributed socially, through free education of dance to some deprived sections of the society and has given charity recitals for deserving causes like women empowerment, handicapped, cancer, visual impairment, drug abuse and AIDS.

She has widely traveled within India as well as abroad performing and giving lecdems, conducting workshops at various prestigious venues for propagating our Indian Culture. She also visited to the first India-ASEAN summit at Cambodia along with former honorable prime minister of India Sh. Atal Bihari Vajpayee.