Manjula Lusti Narasimhan

🪔 About

Manjula Lusti Narasimhan is a renowned Bharatanatyam dancer and a classicist, recognized among the most established dancers of her generation. Her training in Bharatanatyam commenced at the tender age of four, under the guidance of eminent gurus such as the late Smt. Swarna Saraswati and the late Sri Kuttalam Ganesam Pillai. In September 1976, she performed her Arangetram in Chennai at the Bharitya Vidya Bhavan. Since 1981, she further honed her skills under the tutelage of Padmasri Prof. Sudharani Raghupathy, a senior dancer at Sree Bharathalaya. Beyond Bharatanatyam, Manjula also received training in the Martha Graham style of modern dance, Carnatic vocal music, comparative religion, and Indian philosophy. Academically, 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.. Her impressive career spans over two decades, encompassing more than four hundred unique recitals, lecture demonstrations, and workshops across India, Switzerland, Bahrain, the U.K., France, Germany, Austria, former Czechoslovakia, former Yugoslavia, and the United States. She has been a regular participant at the prestigious Music and Dance Festival in Chennai and performed at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in 1991. Manjula represented India at various international gatherings, including the International Year of the Child (1979), India Year (1986), the International Dance Alliance (1989), and the 50th anniversary of the United Nations (1995). In 1992, she founded her own Bharatanatyam school, Silambam, in Geneva, Switzerland, which operates as an alliance of Sree Bharathalaya. She is also a scientific director in a biotechnology company in Geneva and was the curator of the first European exhibition on Bharatanatyam at the Ethnographic Museum in Geneva in 2002. The profits from her dance recitals and school are dedicated to humanitarian projects. Awards & Honours: Bharata Kala Bhushana (1995), Yuva Kala Bharathi (1997), Nadana Mamani (1999), Kalaimamani (1999).