SRI. SHEKAR son of Smt.Pushpa Rajendran and Sri.Rajendran from Bangalore is graduate of Commerce. He was initiated into this divine art form of Bharathanatyam at the age of 11 years, under the guidance of Guru Smt. Suparna Venkatesh, Director of Sai Arts International and has successfully completed Junior and Senior Examination conducted by K.S.E.E.B securing high first class during this period .
Thereafter, he has been acquiring and widening the horizon of his knowledge at the Shivapriya school of dance under Guru Sri Dr.Sanjay Shantaram. With his determination and perseverance, he cherished his dream of Rangapravesham on 20th October, 2002 by participating in the grand festival Navarangapraveshotsava conducted by Dept.of Kannada and Culture and Sri Vivekananda Kala Kendra, winning critical acclaim and immense appreciation.
INDIAN TALENT MAGAZINE - PUBLISHED ARTICLE ON SHEKAR RAJENDRAN
Shekar Rajendran has created a niche in the dance field that manifests our traditional, spiritual, cultural and classical aspect of Indian Heritage. He is an ardent Bharathanatyam dancer trained for over 3 decades under the guidance of eminent Gurus Dr. Suparna Venkatesh and Dr.Sanjay Shantaram and has been acclaimed as a versatile soulful artist.
Shekar has enthralled a wide spectrum of audiences with his innovative, graceful, picturesque poses and excellent acting skills and is known popularly in the dance fraternity as an inspiring masculine dancer who has vigor, grace and agile equally. He is very popular and sought after for his vivid costumes, exceptional make-up, lighting design, and stage design, be it in the characters he plays in dance ballets or in pure dance.
Shekar is pursuing his knowledge for dance under Guru Dr. Sanjay Shantaram, both in Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi for the last 20+ years now. An urge to learn different dance forms inspired him to complete his basics in the western classical ballet, from the foundation of classical ballet in U. K. Besides his intense training in Bharatanatyam & Kuchipudi he has learned the other art forms like Contemporary-Kathak, Folk dances of India and Modern Dance.
Shekar’s abhinaya and spectacular performances in all esteemed dance productions conducted by legendary directors have spell bounded the art lovers and connoisseurs across the globe. His noted characters which are carved in the hearts forever are Viroopa – An Ugly Beast (an Indian adaption of Beauty & the Beast), Krurasimha- An evil Uncle from Rajasimha (an Indian adaption of Lion King), Genie – Aladdin, Dushkara – Sea Witch (an Indian adaption of Little Mermaid) and other mythological characters like Hiranyakashyapu, Ravana, Mahishasura, Krishna,Ilvala, Rama in Hanuman, and many more. He has also spread his creativity in designing costumes, makeup, conceptualizing and presenting the traditional compositions in a creative and visual treat to the audience.
Today, Shekar is recognized as an ace dancer, choreographer, actor, art promoter of Bangalore & India. He has performed in numerous corporate events, charitable shows, government events & prestigious dance festivals in India & abroad for ICCR, other prestigious organizations with his versatility and unique dance presentations. He has toured extensively across Australia, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Bahrain, Bangkok, Canada, Dubai, Europe, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Thailand, UAE, UK, and the USA.He had the honor to perform in the presence of The King of Ipoh – Malaysia and the Wodeyars of Mysore. Shekar has been a recipient of the awards Kala Kusuma, Nritya Kuvara, Natya Kalamani, Aryabhatha Youth Award, Abhinaya Chatura, and Natya Samrat from the Telugu Association of Columbus Ohio (TACO). He has recently been honored with awards in the USA – Natana Tilaka from Live for the Moment, NewJersey and Kala Arathi Ratna Award from Phoenix, USA in recognition of his proficiency in Bharatanatyam and Ballet character portrayals and “Award of Excellence & Friend of the Museum Ambassador of India’s cultural Dance Heritage” from Texas State Museum of Asian Culture. To his credit, he has also received the Guinness World Record for participating in the longest variety show of 100 hours.
A diploma Holder in Dance from Chandigarh University, Shekar has successfully completed his Arangetram, Dance examinations conducted by KSEB. Besides being a passionate dancer Shekar is post graduate in Human Resource Management and working as a professional in an MNC.
Shekar has joined his Guru Dr. Sanjay Shantaram promoting the Guru Shishya Parampara and has bloomed into Male Duet performers, presenting both Bharathanatyam & Kuchipudi classical dance forms of India. This duo has been performing in various dance festivals across India & abroad, spreading the Indian culture and heritage not only to the art connoisseurs but even to the common man by exhibiting their unique concepts. Their presentations are a perfect example of innovation in tradition. Both Dr. Sanjay Shantaram and Shekar Rajendran intend to present their unique work with specialized choreography, focused techniques, subtle nuances, and grace and précised execution. The duo complements each other in the vibrant presentation of both Nritta – Pure dance & soulful Abhinaya- expression.
To promote and show his creativity, Shekar has established a new team to the dance world named MAYA Dance Ensemble which has been performing extensively in India winning critical acclaims and appreciation for their unique choreography, vibrant costumes, and world-class neo presentations. Alongside, he has a dance institute Shekar Dance Academy in Bengaluru to spread and inculcate this divine art form to the aspiring students and who would like to take forward the Indian heritage and culture across the globe. This institute also supports underprivileged students with free dance education and programs.
As part of the contribution to the art field, Shekar has been conducting dance festivals “Putaani Hejje “- A Music and Dance festival for budding talents of age 5 to 15 years), Nrityaarpanam – A Festival for Intermediate Level Artists, Prayaana – First Solo performance for the artist etc.), recognizing talents and rewarding them with rewards and also celebrates the joy of dance with the promotion of art and artists from remote places. Recognizing the talents in the field of Technical support such as Makeup artist, Dance Photography, Light Designers, Costume Designers, and Stage Designers has been his key initiative and he is a pioneer in awarding these artists.
Looking at his excellent acting skills in the dance ballets and his passion for acting, the Silver Screen has invited him with open arms for acting in Movies and Tele Serials. His work includes Bhunatakamandali – Art movie, Title Songs in Shiva Leelamrutham, Shiva Charitamrutham, he has played as Lead in Akkamahadevi (Kannada Theatre/Drama) etc.
Coming from a background where there was no scope for music and dance or any art form, Shekar was initiated into the field of dance by his mother Smt. Pushpa Rajendran at the tender age of 6. Looking at his artistic behavior at home, she persuaded him to take classes of Bharatanatyam. Though the journey for him was very stringent and tough during his course of learning due to Male stereotype jobs, hobbies, education, Shekar was very confident, believed in himself and broke all the barriers and has outshined in both Academics and Art.
He says “I have always been very passionate anything related to art, be it painting, cooking, designing, sketching, dancing etc., all that I wanted to show was ‘we can excel in Art and Academics if one is determined and Passionate”. Art has no gender!!
Shekar proved to the society that one can be a dual professional if and only you have a drive and belief in you. He intends to learn many more art forms to reach the zenith in the dance field spreading joy, not only to himself but to the world.
PROFILE
SRI. SHEKAR son of Smt.Pushpa Rajendran and Sri.Rajendran from Bangalore is graduate of Commerce. He was initiated into this divine art form of Bharathanatyam at the age of 11 years, under the guidance of Guru Smt. Suparna Venkatesh, Director of Sai Arts International and has successfully completed Junior and Senior Examination conducted by K.S.E.E.B securing high first class during this period .
Thereafter, he has been acquiring and widening the horizon of his knowledge at the Shivapriya school of dance under Guru Sri Dr.Sanjay Shantaram. With his determination and perseverance, he cherished his dream of Rangapravesham on 20th October, 2002 by participating in the grand festival Navarangapraveshotsava conducted by Dept.of Kannada and Culture and Sri Vivekananda Kala Kendra, winning critical acclaim and immense appreciation.
He has also obtained a certificate of Diploma Prarambhik in dance and music with distinction awarded by Pracheen Kala Kendra, Chandigarh, and a Certificate of Merit issued by Lalithakala academy.He has played key roles in all the projects of his dance institution and has won the hearts of the viewers by his special performance . Besides his intense training in Bharathanatyam he has learnt the basics in Kuchupudi and performed in various places and has also gained the knowledge of popular Folk Dances of India and contemporay and also has got trained the basics in western classical ballet from renowned dancer Yana Lewis, England..
PERFORMANCES
Shekar has given performances in various prestigious concerts across the Globe spreading our Indian Heritage by participating in various State, National and International Cultural Extravaganzas winning immense appreciations, noted ones being-
Andaman and Nicobar Island Festival-2007.
Hari Deepavali-2006 at Kota Baru-Malayasia .
Diwali Gala Evening , organised by Indian Association, Switzerland .
Methodist Cultural Centre Singapore-Indian embassay,organized by ICCR .
Malaysia-Temple Of Fine Arts-Penang-2006.
Bangkok Cultural Excahnge 2006 -Thailand Cultural Centre-ICCR .
Malaysia State Festival at Ipoh-2006.
Malaysia-Kaulalumpur-2006.
Tirupathi Brahmotsavam –07-Tirupathi.
SriPuram-Golden Temple - 07
Yuva Nrityotsav-1998,Bangalore.
Lasya Ranjani –2000-Mysore.
Mysore Dasra Festival- Mysore.
Natarjaotsava -Mysore .
Ankura-2000-Bangalore .
Sanskruthi-2001 .
Samskruthi Samagama –2001 .
Bangalore District Level Yuva Janotsava –2002 .
Aryabhata Youth Music & Dance Festival-2003.
Tunga Mahotsava-2004- Tungabhadra .
Hampi Utsava-2003 and 2004 .
Rajotsava (Rajajinagara habba)
Trisha-03 .
Swar kalyan-2005 .
Navaraspur dance festival- Bijapur .
Pushkaralu- Rajamandri .
Iskcon Bramhotsavam-Bangalore .
Namura habba- Bangalore .
Karavali Utsava-2004, Mangalore .
Kannada Rajyotsava Samithi-04 .
Bahubali Mahamastabhisheka-06, Shravanabelagola. .
Sri Nrusimhotsava Bhaktimela-06 .
Bhramakalashotsava-06 .
Mysore Dasara –06 .
Tirupathi Brahmotsavam –06-Tirupathi.
Hampi Utsav-2006,
Suvarna Varsham-2007,Kerala.
Many corporate and charity shows.
Yuva Nrityotsav-1998,Bangalore.
Lasya Ranjani –2000-Mysore.
Mysore Dasra Festival- Mysore.
Natarjaotsava -Mysore .
Ankura-2000-Bangalore .
Sanskruthi-2001 .
Samskruthi Samagama –2001 .
Bangalore District Level Yuva Janotsava –2002 .
Aryabhata Youth Music & Dance Festival-2003.
Tunga Mahotsava-2004- Tungabhadra .
Hampi Utsava-2003 and 2004 .
Rajotsava (Rajajinagara habba)
Trisha-03 .
Swar kalyan-2005 .
Navaraspur dance festival- Bijapur .
Pushkaralu- Rajamandri .
Iskcon Bramhotsavam-Bangalore .
Namura habba- Bangalore .
Karavali Utsava-2004, Mangalore .
Kannada Rajyotsava Samithi-04 .
Bahubali Mahamastabhisheka-06, Shravanabelagola. .
Sri Nrusimhotsava Bhaktimela-06 .
Bhramakalashotsava-06 .
Mysore Dasara –06 .
Tirupathi Brahmotsavam –06-Tirupathi.
Hampi Utsav-2006,
Suvarna Varsham-2007,Kerala.
Many corporate and charity shows.
PRESS REVIEWS
SUNDAY EXPRESS(MYSORE) 17th March 2002,
“Shekar was all agile and could exhibit grace and assume stances nearing the desired precision”.
SUNDAY TIMES OF INDIA ,BANGALORE 22th July 2001,
“Shekar was noteworthy for the exacting Nritta, performed with masculine vigour, he deserves appreciation for the neat presentation as well as grip over rhythm”.
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