INDIANAPOLIS: Indian Classical dancer Aparna Satheesan has been honoured with the prestigious National Natya Shiromani award for her contribution towards promoting multiple dance forms across the world and for the charitable work she does as part of “Transforming Life Through Dance” project helping the welfare of the society.
The award was conferred during the 12th Annual India Festival USA for International Dance and Music festivals. She received the award from the Founder and Director of India Festival USA, Sri. Bharat Kumar.
India Festival USA is an annual event that attempts to bridge cultures, generations and communities through one-day of togetherness. It is a day when visitors are encouraged to participate in a thematic display of the rich culture and diversity of two of the greatest nations on earth – India and the USA. India Festival USA promises an immersive environment that salutes history, embraces globalization and celebrates communities.
The India Festival USA is supported in part by the residents of Cuyahoga County through a public grant from Cuyahoga Arts & Culture. We are also supported in part by an award from the Cleveland Foundation.
Aparna Satheesan, a multi-talented internationally recognized dancer who is trained in different classical Indian dance forms like Bharatanatyam, Kuchipudi, Mohiniyattam, Kathakali, Ottam Thullal, Kerala Nadanam from eminent legendary dancers like Padma Bhushan Dhananjayans, Smt. Vyjayanthi Kashi, Regatta Girija Chandran, Nelliyodu Vasudevan Namboothiri, R.S Lekshmi, Smt.Chithra Mohan. She has been trained in this art form for more that 25 years and has been giving a lot of performances in India and abroad. Prestigious events organized by Indian Council of Cultural Relations [ICCR], Karur Natyanjali festival, Soorya Festival(India), Guruvayoor Temple festival, Cleveland Thyagaraja Aradhana, featured performer at The Balaji temple Chicago, Samarpana at Vyllopilli Samskruthi Bhavan, Light and Sound Show, Global Rhythms, Navratri Festival by Soorya Performing Arts USA and many more, are some of her major performances.
She has won several awards and recognition and is renowned for her creative dance productions, choreographies and music sense. Performing for an event directed by Oscar Award Winner, Sri. A.R Rahman had added more stars in her career. In 2017, she was selected as the state ambassador in Kuchipudi for the international organization, IndianRaga and also was awarded the dance fellowship at IndiaRaga.
Aparna has premiered her own first dance production “Krishna '' at The Sangam, organized by Eli Lilly Corporation, Indianapolis, IN USA, where she played the main role as Krishna. Her other major productions/choreographies are Aarohanam, Sri Rama Charitham, Shivoham, Natya Samyoga, Samarpana, Nirvikalpa and many more. She was state level winner for various dance forms for Kerala State Youth festivals and Kalathilakam (Overall Champion) for other dance competitions like Sri Chitra Thirunal Cultural Trust and many more.
In 2015, She won runner up in Bharatanatyam for one of the International Dance competition, Cleveland Thyagaraja Aradhana which is one of the prestigious global events for Indian Classical Dance and Music. She is a graceful and talented dancer who excels in nritta as well as abhinaya aspects of dance and also a well-trained nattuvanar. She has organized and performed for several charitable events for fundraising.
She is well known for her charitable work through the project “Transforming Life through Dance”, organizing multiple fundraising events to give back to the society, under Samyoga Foundation which was founded in India in 2015, in memory of her father G.Satheesan and the event was officially inaugurated by Princess of Travancore, Her Highness Aswathi Thirunal Gowri Lakshmi Bayi.
Apart from these, she had also worked as a VJ for some of the leading television channels like Asianet, Soorya TV, Kairali, Asianet Plus etc. She had also worked as an RJ and dubbing artist for Malayalam movies.