Aparna Nagesh is a dance-on-film artiste, a dancer, and choreographer, actor, entrepreneur, and activist. She is the founder of High Kicks, the first all-women dance ensemble in Chennai, and Madras Dance Arts.

Early life

Aparna was born on 19 December, to Hindu parents. She attended Vidya Mandir Senior Secondary School,

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

. She then studied visual communication at M.O.P. Vaishnav College for Women in Chennai. Aparna pursued higher studies in dance and vocal technique at

Broadway Dance Center Broadway Dance Center is a dance school located at 322 West 45th Street west of Times Square in New York City. It was founded in 1984 as one of the first "drop-in" dance training schools in the world, offering classes in jazz, tap, ballet, conte ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

and graduated with a Certificate of Excellence.

Performing arts

Aparna is an interdisciplinary performance creative working at the intersection of dance, theatre, film, and writing. She also works with contemporary dance theatre which she pursues under the titled "Global Dance Fusion". Aparna was one out of four people from South India who were selected to participate in a Culture Connect Programme on a full scholarship at the

Kennedy Center for Performing Arts The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (formally known as the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, and commonly referred to as the Kennedy Center) is the United States National Cultural Center, located on the Potom ...

Washington DC ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

. Alongside her team at High Kicks, Aparna performed at the prestigious

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has been synonymous with "republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the ...

Youth Dance Fest which was held in the run up to the

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

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in 2014. She was among the 20 choreographers who were shortlisted for the Prakriti Excellence in Contemporary Dance Awards in 2016. She formerly taught movement therapy at the Lotus Foundation School for Autistic Children. Aparna has served as Arts Consultant for the Impulse – season of UK Contemporary Dance by The British Council India in 2012-13. As an organising member, she helped curate the outreach programmes and itineraries of visiting companies from the UK such as Akram Khan Company, Hofesh Schecter Company, Protein Dance Theatre and Scottish Dance Theatre all over India. Aparna was a finalist in the distinguished Prakriti’s Excellence in Contemporary Dance Awards in 2016 with the much acclaimed piece, “White Noise”.

Awards and recognition

Aparna received the TEDx Chennai Star Award, BREW Award for excellence in Dance, and the Ba’hai Rose of Ridvan Award. Aparna spoke at TEDx Hindustan in 2013, at TEDx IIT in 201

and TEDx Chennai in 201

She was a speaker at the Global Youth Voice event held by AIESEC in 2015. She spoke at the Vital Voices Mentoring Walk held in Chennai in March 2016 and at the Indian Youth Conclave 2016. Aparna won the Orange Flower Award 2020 from Women's Web for Best Feminist Video. In 2020, Aparna was awarded by TIAW World of a Difference Award, by The International Alliance for Women. In 2022, she was chosen as a participant in the Changemakers' Lab operated by

World Pulse World Pulse is a “Social-Media-for-Social-Revolution” initiative, founded and run by Jensine Larsen, in 2003, based out of Portland, Oregon. World Pulse is a social network for women. History World Pulse was founded by Jensine Larsen. In 20 ...

. She is the recipient of numerous awards such as the Jeevotsav – Sambhita Award for Conscious StoryTelling from

Kanimozhi Karunanidhi Kanimozhi Karunanidhi (born 5 January 1968) is an Indian politician, poet and journalist. She is a Member of Parliament, representing Thoothukkudi Lok Sabha constituency, Thoothukkudi constituency in the Lok Sabha (the lower house of Parliamen ...

and the Cultural Ambassador of the Year from SAM Womanation Magazine. She is also the recipient of a prestigious TEDx Chennai Star Award, BREW Award for excellence in Dance and Ba’hai Rose of Ridvan Award.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nagesh, Aparna 21st-century Indian dancers Dancers from Tamil Nadu Artists from Tamil Nadu People from Chennai Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Feminist artists