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A life dedicated to Bharatanatyam

Sunita Menon

She literally wandered into the arena of dance, but she never knew that the casual encounter was to become a lifetime vocation.

Sunita Menon, young Bharatanatyam dancer based in Delhi, had gone to the Rukmini Devi Lalit Kala Kendra in Delhi at the age of seven for painting classes.

One day, she happened to walk into one of the Bharatanatyam classes. The teacher, Guru Sujata Dinesh, at the Kala Kendra insisted that she join the dance classes.

The encounter may have been pure chance, but as she grew up, Sunita realised that her true vocation in life was in the avenues of dance.

From a young age, she started giving performances winning accolades wherever she went.

A graduate from Delhi University, Sunita is also a double diploma holder in Bharatanatyam in both the Pandanelloor and Kalakshethra styles.

Living at Rohini in New Delhi, she completed her senior diploma in Bharatanatyam from the Prayag Sangeet Samiti, Allahabad.

In 1998, she joined the Shriram Bharathiya Kala Kendra in Delhi under the American Bharatanatyam dancer Justin McCarthy and took a diploma in the Kalakshethra style.

In 1999, she got a two-year scholarship from the Ministry of Culture.

She participated in all the leading dance drama productions made by Justin McCarthy. `Kaladarppanam', institution for Bharatanatyam she opened in 1998, at present has around 40 students.

Sunita recently fulfilled one of her long cherished dreams last week when she performed at the conclusion of the Navarathri Dance and Music Festival at Panachikkadu Temple in Kottayam district, popularly known as Dakshina Mookambika.

Renu Ramanath

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