Siri Rama

Dr. Mrs. Siri Rama a trained Bharatnatyam and kuchipudi dancer, teacher, choreographer and co-founder of Kanaka Sabha Performing Arts center is based in Singapore/Mumbai. Siri is the founder-editor of www.kanakasabha.com, a website devoted to introduce the Indian classical dance forms to the world at large.
Early life
Siri was born to Mr. N.S. Srinath, who was part of pioneering theatre moment had performed with Adya Rangacharya's theatre group in the late 1950s, in Bengaluru and mother Sangeeta Vidushi Saroja Srinath, a trained Carnatic music singer. She went to St.Anthony Girls high school Mumbai. She was introduced to the world of music and dance at a very young age.
Training
She was first mentored by her parents. Her father would guide her on fine aspects of dance. She said in her interview to the The Hindu "As a choreographer I began following his advice even in my early projects, the ‘Ramayana’ and ‘Narayaneeyam’."
Her veteran Gurus were (Late) Komalavalli , K. Vijayalakshmi Krishnaswami, Ramaswami Bhagavathar, T V Sounderarajan, T. Kadirvelu in the Bharata Natyam style and under the late maestro C R Acharyulu, in the Kuchipudi style. She learned Oddisi dance from ( Guru Rabindra Atibuddhi - Mumbai). To understand the soul of dance i.e. music she learnt mridangam basics from Guru Jayalakshmi (Mumbai) and Carnatic music (practical and theory) from her mother Sangeeta Vidushi Saroja Srinath.
Over the years Siri has also trained in various international dance styles like Cambodian dance for a year (Chamroeun-yin- Philadelphia, USA) , Meredith Monk ( in Hong Kong ), Chinese Opera ( Joanna Wong ,Singapore), Balinese dance (Sutarini- Ubud,Bali) and contemporary dance/theatre workshops for several days in Jogjakarta- Indonesia.
Work
Siri has given dance performances on various themes in different cities of India and across the world which includes USA, Germany, UAE, Hong Kong, Malaysia Thailand and Singapore.
She has been adjunct faculty member, teaching topics, "Dance: East and West" at the Singapore Management University and " Introduction to Indian Dance" International Institute of Information Technology, Hyderabad. She has trained several young dancers. She says "We follow the guru-sishya parampara to the extent possible. So to me they are not just students, they are family. Her students have performed and won competitions at national levels in India. She is founder-editor of the worldwide website "Kanaksabha.com".
Siri has performed to critical acclaim, presented group performances, and lectured, in many different cities of India and in many parts of the world including the USA, Singapore, Germany, UAE, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Thailand. Siri has been the recipient of the Singar Mani award at the Sur Singar Samsad, an award for teaching by the Archana Nrityalaya, Mumbai and the Nritya Shivali title by Shivali Cultural Society, Mumbai. She has recently been recognized for her contribution to Dance Education in Singapore by the Ministry of Education.
Her recent production in 2015 ‘Silk Roots’ depiction of Pan-Asian stories related to this ancient fabric narrated in contemporary Indian dance form.
Achievements
Siri was awarded a PhD in the Fine Arts by the University of Hong Kong, Ph. D (Advisor scholar Dr Rajeshwari Ghose).
The recipient of the Singar Mani award at the Sur Singar Samsad, an award for teaching by the Archana Nrityalaya, Mumbai
Nritya Shivali title by Shivali Cultural Society, Mumbai.
Has been bestowed upon the title of Nrithya Rathna (Jewel of Dance) in the Cuttack International Dance Festival 2012.
Her contribution to Dance education in Singapore has been recognized by Ministry of Education
Lifetime achievement award Singara Ajiva Puraskara (2015) by the Kannada Sangha .

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