Manjula's training in Bharatanatyam since the age of four has been under eminent gurus like (late) Smt. Swarna Sarawaswati, (late) Sri Kuttalam Ganesam Pillai and Smt. Chitra Visweshwaran. She performed her Arangetram at the Bharitya Vidya Bhavan in Chennai in 1976. Since 1981, she has been a student of Padmasri Prof. Sudharani Raghupathy and a senior dancer at Shree Bharatalaya, one of the leading Bharatanatyam schools in India today.
Through an impressive career spanning over twenty years, Manjula has several hundred unique recitals to her name. She has performed widely and given lecture demonstrations both in India and Switzerland, but also in many countries in Europe, the Middle-East and the U.S.A. Manjula has also been invited to represent India on many international gatherings including the International Year of the Child in 1979 in ex-Yugoslavia, India Year in ex-Czechoslovakia in 1986, the International Dance Alliance in India in 1989 and 50th anniversary of the United Nations in Switzerland in 1995, to name a few.
Although Manjula has resided outside India from the tender age of five, she has continued to perfect her art in India and has maintained a high degree of purity in her rendering of Bharatanatyam recitals. She has been a regular participant of the prestigious Music and Dance Festival in Chennai for almost twenty years now. For her outstanding contribution to dance, Manjula has been awarded the "Bharata Kala Bhushana" (Shree Bharatalaya award) in July 1995, the "Yuva Kala Bharathi" (Bharat Kalachar award) in December 1997 and the "Natana Mamani" (Kartik Fine Arts award) in January 1999. She has also received the "Kalaimamani", the highest state award in Tamil Nadu in November 1999. This was the first and only time that this prestigious honor has been given to a dancer residing outside India. Additionally, for the first time, this honor was given not only for the dancer's artistry, but also for her unique role in promoting Bharatanatyam outside India. Manjula has played a pivotal role both in maintaining a high standard in dance and as an ambassador to this ancient art form in Europe and around the world.
Manjula founded her Bharatanatyam school in Geneva in 1992 called Silambam. Silambam in almost ten years of existence has recently presented seven of its students for their stage début or Rangapravesham.
Manjula's manifold contribution to this art form includes a double CD recording of Bharatanatyam items that has been sponsored by the Ethnographic museum of Geneva. This is the first time that such a unique recording has been carried out in Europe. She is additionally the curator for the first European exposition on Bharatanatyam that will be organized for Spring 2002.
A unique feature of Manjula's dance is that all the benefits of her dance recitals for over thirty years have been offered to charity. She has thus helped many non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and other trusts in projects destined to help build schools, temples, hospitals and providing medical and financial aid to the destitute. Among her many contributions are the building of hot water facilities in a home for mentally handicapped children in Hyderabad, the laying of the foundations of a temple in New Delhi, a day care center for children in Bengal, an irrigation project in Bihar and a plan for providing free meals to the destitute in Kerala. The benefits of Manjula's dance school are used to help orphaned and handicapped children in India.
Manjula has also received training in the Martha Graham style of modern dance in the U.S., Carnatic vocal music from Alagramam Ramachandran in Chennai, as well as comparative religion and Indian philosophy. A scientist by training, she holds a B.Sc. in Physics from Bryn Mawr College, U. S. A. and a Ph.D in Chemistry from the University of York, U. K. Manjula is the scientific director of a leading biotechnology and venture capital company in Switzerland and is settled in Geneva where she is married with three children.
Prof. Sudharani Raghupathy grew up in Bangalore. A graduate in Philosophy and Sociology from the University of Mysore, she learned Bharatanatyam from U.S. Krishna Rao, K.P. Kittappa Pillai and Mylapore Gowri Amma. She studied Carnatic music under T. Chowdiah, K.P. Kittappa Pillai and Vidwan Madurai N.Krishnan. Sudharani has also studied Modern dance from Eleanor Struppa at Randolph Macon Women's College, (Virginia, U.S.A during 1964-65) and western music from Elaine St. Vincent of the U.S.
Sudharani has been president and principle dance teacher of Shree Bharatalaya since it was established. And is one of the laeding figures in Baharathanatyam. Sudharani has won many awards and titles. Some of these include -
Vidwan Madurai N. Krishnan belongs to a family whose members have been known both for their music and social service as practitioners of astrology and mantrasastras. The two streams have co-mingled in the career of Krishnan. He was a close disciple of Ariyakudi Ramanuja Iyengar and also studied at the Central College of Music in Madras. In his career as a Carnatic vocalist, he is regarded as a faithful exponent of his guru's style. He has been placed in A-top category by All India Radio. Despite his busy schedule, he finds time to provide spiritual aid and comfort as a siddha purusha.
