Prehelika Rajagopalan

🪔 About

Prahelika Rajagopalan is a Bharatanatyam dancer, teacher, and choreographer with a strong foundation in the classical Indian dance form. She began her dance training at the age of four, initially under the tutelage of Smt. Santha Bhaskar and Smt. Ambujah Thiru in Singapore. As a child, she performed extensively in Singapore, including solo and group presentations with Nrithyalaya Aesthetics Society, and won a silver medal at the Singapore Youth Festival (SYF). Rajagopalan later moved to India, where she continued her Bharatanatyam education under the guidance of Sri. Pandanallur Gopalakrishnan Pillai and Smt. Indu Varma, specializing in the Tanjavur style. She performed her arangetram in 2005. She further pursued her studies under Dr. Sujatha Mohan, a senior disciple of Dr. Padma Subramaniam, and completed her Master of Fine Arts (M.F.A) under Dr. Padma Subramaniam at Sastra University in 2014. Throughout her career, Rajagopalan has performed numerous margams in Chennai and participated in various group presentations. She is also one of the core dancers at Padmashree Nrithyalaya. She began learning Nattuvangam and assisted her guru in teaching children. In 2017, Prahelika Rajagopalan relocated to San Jose, California, where she continues to practice dance by choreographing pieces and collaborating with independent dancers in the Bay Area. She currently takes classes under Guru Smt. Vidhya Subramaniam and continues Skype classes with Dr. Sujatha Mohan, focusing on unique pieces and learning the 108 Karanas formulated by Dr. Padma Subramaniam. She has also taken on students, with one documented student, Pranavi Yalamanchili, beginning her training in 2018 and completing her Salangai Pooja under Rajagopalan in 2021. Awards & Honours: Silver Medal.