Sevens

Nina Rajarani MBE is an award-winning choreographer of classical Indian dance with over 30 years’ experience as a dance-maker. She fuels traditions of Bharatanatyam and Kathak with a love of storytelling and a firm desire to reflect contemporary life in her productions. Nina’s professional dance work has been performed extensively within the UK, India, Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, the US, Canada and many European countries. In September 2006, Nina won the Place Prize, Europe’s largest choreographic competition sponsored by Bloomberg for her piece QUICK!

Nina runs her thriving school of dance based at the Harrow Arts Centre in Middlesex, since 1991. She is a founder committee member of the Classical Indian Dance Faculty of the ISTD (Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing) and served as the Secretary and later the Vice Chair of the Faculty. She is a senior Bharatanatyam examiner for ISTD, currently serving as Lead Examiner of Vocational and Teaching Qualification Bharatanatyam exams.

Nina Rajarani was awarded an MBE (Member of the British Empire) in the Queen’s 2009 Birthday Honours, in recognition of Services to South Asian Dance. The award recognizes Nina’s many years of work developing and raising the profile of South Asian dance.

Yadavan trained from a very young age in Sri Lanka under Sangeeta Bhooshanam S Balasingam and later with Sangeeta Kalanidhi B Rajam Iyer. Yadavan holds a Bachelor of Arts in Indian music from Madras University, India, as well as a Diploma from the Music Academy of Chennai, for which he was awarded the “Sangeetha Rathna” title. Yadavan performs on a regular basis with various dance teachers based in the UK, Switzerland, France, Germany, Norway, Australia, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, India, Canada and the US.

Since April 2002, Yadavan has been collaborating with his wife Nina Rajarani MBE, touring internationally with her professional dance company, SRISHTI – Nina Rajarani Dance Creations and composing original music scores for the company’s new dance productions. In addition to this, he teaches Karnatik vocal music at Srishti’s dance school as well as on an individual basis. Yadavan teaches the music component of the Bharatanatyam syllabus of the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing (ISTD), and has sung for the ISTD’s Bharatanatyam audio resource for teachers.

Kirsten Newell is a Bharatanatyam artist based in Scotland. She began her dance journey in ballet and contemporary dance before studying Bharatanatyam in Edinburgh with Priya Srikumar. Kirsten later trained at Attakalari in Bangalore and Kalakshetra Foundation in Chennai. Since returning to Scotland, she has spent over a decade honing her craft and contributing to projects across the UK and internationally, including with Subathra Subramaniam (Akademi), Leela Samson, Shane Shambhu, Seeta Patel, to name a few. Kirsten co-directed and choreographed MaMa a touring production in the UK and internationally, and is the lead artist for Hebridean Treasure: Lost & Found, currently touring the UK. In 2019, Kirsten began collaborating with Oxana Banshikova to further develop Bharatanatyam’s presence in Scotland. Together, they have grown the Cosmic Dance School in Edinburgh.

Suhani Dhanki Mody is a Bharatanatyam performer, teacher, and choreographer, trained in the Thanjavur tradition under Guru Dr Sandhya Purecha. She holds a Gold Medal in Masters in Dance from Bharata College, Mumbai, and is a recipient of the National Scholarship to Young Artists by the Ministry of Culture, India. Suhani moved to London in 2019, where she works as a full-time dance artist, performing and teaching. She has collaborated with UK-based dance companies and co-founded Manch UK, a virtual platform for cross-arts collaborations. Suhani has performed in prominent Indian dance festivals and is a graded artist of Doordarshan. She has also featured in leading Indian TV shows and theatre productions. She was also featured in the list of 40 under 40 promising artists to look out for in the UK released by Akademi. 

Mithun Gill is a dance artist with training in Kathak and Contemporary dance styles. Mithun’s most recent performances include a Kathak adaptation of Swan Lake, performing live with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra to Tchaikovsky score with SBDC. Mithun premiered ‘You with U’ a co-created trio at Resolution 2023. Mithun has worked with choreographers such as Nina Rajarani, Vidya Patel, Gary Clarke, Akram Khan, Chandenie Gobardhan as well as with companies Springs Dance Company, Akademi, Jaivant Patel Dance, Alleyne Dance, Hawk Dance Theatre, Sujata Banerjee Dance Company, Tees Dance and Nutkut. He continues to explore new ways to use his training in both styles whilst performing both indoor and outdoor works nationally and internationally. Mithun was named as one of Akademi’s 40 under 40 South Asian dance artists to look out for. 

Abirami Eswar is a Kathak dancer, teacher and choreographer based in London. She specialises in the Lucknow gharana, which emphasises grace along with speed and complexity. Abirami runs a dance school, Teentaal Kathak, for aspiring kathak dancers of all ages and regularly conducts workshops across the UK. In 2019, Abirami has been recognised as one of Akademi’s 40 under 40 South Asian Artists, for her dedication and contribution to Kathak in the UK. She has also been featured in The Times and has been interviewed by the BBC in light of her cultural and professional journey having been raised in South India. Abirami is an exciting and daring performing artist working with leading dance companies across the UK and abroad.

Mathusuthanan is the first student of “Venuganamani” P Gnanavarathan, and also trained with S Shashank and “Sikkil” Mala Chandrashekar in India. He is a regular accompanying artist for dance performances, a soloist and a member of his contemporary music band. Mathusuthanan has accompanied many playback singers and Vijay TV “Super Singers”, including “Chinna Kuyil” KS Chithra, Vijayaprakash amongst others. He is a committed teacher, affiliated to several Tamil schools in London. Mathusuthanan has had the honour of performing in the presence of Sri Sathya Sai Baba in Puttaparthi, India, in 2004, 2005 and 2007 and considers this to be the greatest blessing in his life.

Kartik began his music training in classical Hindustani vocal from his mother and later was introduced to the violin due to his father’s love for Karnatik music. Growing up in London he was exposed to a wide range of cultures and musical influences. He has recorded and performed with many artists such as Kavita Krishnamurthy-Subramaniam, Akram Khan, Nitin Sawhney, BBC Concert Orchestra, Susheela Raman, Yaima and Kaya Project to name a few. Kartik has taken the Indian violin beyond its traditional boundaries, seamlessly blending Indian music on the violin with a wide range of eclectic genres.