Nataranjali

Shalini Shivashankar has been a disciple of the Natyacharyas the Dhananjayans, founders of Bharatakalanjali, Chennai for several years, as well as with their senior disciples Radhika Shurajit and Shyamala Surendran. In her early years, Shalini had her initial Natya training under the guidance of late Guru Smt Padmini Ramachandran – Artistic Director of Natyapriya, Bangalore. Shalini has also trained in Mohiniyattam, predominantly with Guru Sreedevi Rajan,  Shalini has done an Abhinaya intensive with Guru Venu through the Navarasa Sadhana. She also trains in mridangam and Carnatic vocal.

Shalini  has performed both forms of Natya widely in the UK and abroad. Having taught students through the years in India and Bahrain, she founded Upahaar School of Dance in 2003 in Croydon, UK. Upahaar now has several branches across greater London and follows a structured syllabus offering training in Bharatanatyam, Mohiniattam, Kathak, Carnatic vocal and Mridangam. Upahaar curates the popular international festival of classical dance Nrithya-Upahaar and organises several workshops and demonstrations.

Shalini’s primary objective is to carry forward the legacy of her Gurus and sincerely transfer these beautiful art forms. She was honoured with the Nrithya Aacharya Ratna in 2019 by Milapfest UK and the Vidushi or Nrithya Rathnaakara award in 2021 from Griffin College, both for her outstanding contribution to teaching dance in the UK.

The Upahaar Dance Company is a semi-professional core group of well-trained dancers who undertake intensive training in Bharatanatyam under the guidance of Guru Shalini Shivashankar. They present both traditional Margams as well as thematic productions and have been actively performing across the UK since 2014 and abroad since 2017, including Chennai’s Margazhi festival. Through regular presentations, they reiterate Upahaar’s objectives of promoting the arts and making it available to one and all. The Bharatanatyam Ensemble have performed at a variety of prestigious locations in the UK such as The British Museum, Nehru Centre – London, The Curve Theatre – Leicester, Skandavale Temple – Wales, and overseas in India, Bahrain, Canada and Latvia.