Elena Tarasova

🪔 About

Elena Tarasova is a prominent practitioner, performer, choreographer, dance teacher, and art researcher of Indian classical dance, based in Saint-Petersburg, Russia. She has been involved in Indian dance since 1987. Tarasova holds a diploma with distinction from Saint-Petersburg State University of Culture and Arts (1994-1999). Her extensive training includes Kathak and Bharatanatyam basics from Tatyana Vladimirovna Rymareva, Tatyana Stanislavovna Yatsenko, and Anna Styazhkina in the 1980s. She further specialized in Kuchipudi under Anna Vyacheslavovna Maschak (1994-1996), and later received training from esteemed gurus such as Dr. Sobha Naidu (2003-2004, 2006-2007), Shiv Adinarayana Chinta, Vempati Ravi Shankar (2008), Sailaja, Yashoda Thakore (2012), and Jaykishore Mosalikanti (2009-2020). She also attended workshops with Deepika Reddy, Ananda Shankar Jayant, Kaushalya Reddy, Praveen Gangani, Rajendra Gangani, Sharmila Sharma, Mahendra Parihar (Jaipur gharana Kathak), Ashwani Nigam, Shyamala Surendran (Bharatanatyam and Mohiniattam basics), and Sujata Mohapatra (Odissi basics). In 1996, Tarasova established the Indian Dance School «Apsara» in Saint-Petersburg. She was invited to create and teach a course on Indian dance at the Academy of Russian Ballet named after A. Y. Vaganova in 2008. The same year, she participated in the International Kuchipudi Dance Convention in the USA. In 2009, she founded the Center of Indian Culture in Saint-Petersburg. Tarasova is also the creator of "The dance without limits" (2013), a video learning tool for four Indian dance styles. She is a holder of a Guinness World Record for Kuchipudi dance. Her professional activities encompass performances, workshops, choreography (over 100 dance items), daily practice and teaching of Kuchipudi, Bharatanatyam, Kathak, Bollywood dance, Indian classical dance theory, plastic art, yoga, dance therapy, and the philosophy of dance. She has trained over 500 students. Awards & Honours: Guinness World Record for Kuchipudi dance.