PUJA ALLEPALLI
Bharata Natyam

puja_allepalli@yahoo.com

Puja Allepalli is one of the most passionate and prominent Indian Classical dancers and choreographers of her generation settled in Denver USA . Puja is blessed to have been trained under the legendary and renowned Guru Padmashri Sri. Adyar K. Lakshman in the Kalakshetra style characterized by traditional purity, grace and vigor. Puja’s Abhinaya guru is Smt. Bragha Bessel, a quintessential Bharata Natyam exponent. Puja’s training in Bharata Natyam started at the age of four under Guru Smt. Ratnam Janardhanan from Nagpur in the Vazhuvoor bani which adds elegance and grace to her dance. By the age of sixteen Puja took the center stage for many prominent dance festivals in Central and North India.

Academically brilliant, Puja graduated with an MBA degree with top honors and pursued a lucrative career in HR and Finance for six years before dedicating her full time to ‘Dance’ - her true passion. In 2006 she founded ‘ Shivanjali Center for Fine Arts’ that imparts this artform in its most pristine form.

Puja enriches her performances with evocative feelings of the highest emotions blended with crisp movements encompassing clean geometric lines, perfect hand gestures and brisk footwork that translates music into movement. Puja’s dance is uncompromisingly classical that seamlessly flows resulting in a perfect body-mind-soul communion which transcends cultures and languages. Puja’s performances at various visual and performing arts events in India and the United States have earned rave reviews from both the East and West highlighting the universal and eternal purity of her soulful dance.

‘Puja leaves an impression as if the figures in splendid dance postures from ancient sculptures came sequentially alive on the stage, adeptly with alacrity and acumen' - The Hindu

'Far from her native home, Puja captured the attention of hundreds... earning a resonant ovation during Boulder 's International Festival.' - The Daily Camera , US

'Puja is one of our real cultural ambassadors…her rendition of the program was overwhelming and flawless' - Dr. Rajani Rai (former Lt. Governor of Pondicherry)

For more information: www.shivanjali.org/Puja.html