Dr Ananda Shankar Jayant inhabits the worlds of administration, academics and arts, straddling them with equal ease. Celebrated as one of India’s most eminent and renowned classical dancers, choreographers and dance scholars, Ananda’s artistic body of work spans mythologies, abstraction, historical chronicles, women studies, poetry, philosophy and humour.
As the Artistic Director of Shankarananda Kalakshetra, Ananda leads an acclaimed ensemble, besides training and presenting the next generation of Bharatanatyam artists. For her contribution to the field of classical dance, Ananda was conferred the “Padma Shri” in 2007 and the Sangeet Natak Akademi Puraskar for Bharatanatyam in 2009.
Ananda is a sought-after motivational speaker and actively engages with young India on a wide range of topics, at leading corporate entities, leadership programs, hospitals, universities and schools.
A TED speaker in 2009, her TED talk has been ranked as one of 12 Incredible TED talks. Harnessing technology for arts, Ananda has conceptualized and created Natyarambha, a first of its kind digital arts initiative – a Bharatanatyam practice app that was launched in January 2017, and is now followed across the globe.
Publisher
