Murugashankari Leo is an accomplished

Bharatanatyam Bharatanatyam () is a major form of Indian classical dance that originated in Tamil Nadu. It is one of the eight widely recognized Indian classical dance forms, and expresses South Indian religious themes and spiritual ideas, particularly of S ...

artiste, teacher of Bharatantyam, theatre actor and research scholar. Bharatantyam is an ancient Indian classical dance form which is known for its beauty, grace and uniqueness. Murugashankari performs this art form Bharatanatyam, and has given many recitals across India and other countries. She runs an institutio
Kalai Koodam – Academy of Performing Arts
in Chennai and Madurai, where training in Bharatanatyam is imparted. She is also trained in

Carnatic music Carnatic music, known as or in the Dravidian languages, South Indian languages, is a system of music commonly associated with South India, including the modern Indian states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, an ...

and Nattuvangam. Shankari is also a trained Yoga Teacher of the Sivananda Tradition at the Meenakshi Ashram, Madurai.

Early life

Murugashankari hails from a family of artistes. Her father

Leo Prabu Leo Prabhu is a dramatist, playwright and novelist from the state of Tamil Nadu. He started his career as an actor at the Boys Company and has worked in the Tamil theater for many years. After founding his own troupe, called Stage Image, he sho ...

is a veteran dramatist, Television Personality and a yesteryear actor in Tamil movies who has played pivotal roles in a number of Tamil films like Rendum Rendum Anju, Naan Mahaan Alla, Annae Annae, Paer Sollum Pillai etc. He is the recipient of ‘

Kalaimamani The Kalaimamani is the highest civilian award in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. These awards are given by the ''Tamil Nadu Iyal Isai Nataka Mandram'' (literature, music and theatre), a unit of the Directorate of Art and Culture, Government of ...

’, the highest state award by the government of Tamil Nadu for Tamil Theater. His achievements as an actor is well known in Tamil Nadu, India.

Education

Murugashankari is an alumnus of Adarsh Vidyalaya Matriculation Higher Secondary School in Chennai and is a university rank holder in chemical engineering from

Sri Venkateswara College of Engineering Sri Venkateswara College of Engineering (SVCE) is an institute in Tamil Nadu, at Pennalur, Sriperumbudur near Chennai. SVCE was founded in 1985. The college was established by the Southern Petrochemical Industries Corporation (SPIC) group. S ...

. She completed her Master of Fine Arts from Kalai Kaviri College of Fine Arts, Trichy. She has been awarded the junior research fellowship from UGC, India to pursue her PhD. She also holds a postgraduate diploma in business administration from Symbiosis, Pune.

Dance career

According to the Guru-Shishya Parampara, Murugashankari started learning Bharatanatyam at the age of 5 from the legendary dance teacher ‘Kalaimamani’ K.J.Sarasa. Later, she completed her Arangetram (debut performance) under the guidance of the illustrious teacher ‘Kalaimamani’ Parvathi Ravi Ghantasala. A chemical engineer by education, Murugashankari made the conscious decision of pursuing her passion and following her dreams of becoming a full-time artiste. She completed her Masters in Bharatanatyam from the

Bharathidasan University Bharathidasan University (BDU) is a university in the city of Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu, India. It is located on Tiruchirappalli-Pudukkottai National Highway 336. It has affiliated colleges in the districts of Ariyalur district, Karur, Nag ...

and is now a Research scholar.

Concert tours

Murugashankari has performed in all major sabhas and prestigious dance festivals all over India and has presented her concerts in

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

and

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

. A list of selected concerts: At Naada Neerajanam, Tirumala Tirupathi

*Chidambaram Natyanjali *Mamallapuram dance festival by Tamil Nadu Tourism Department, *Natarani Festival in Ahmedabad by Darpana and WZCC, *Uday Shankar Festival in Kolkata, *Thrice at Naada Neerajanam at Tirumala Tirupathi Devasthanam which was live telecasted across 30 countries in TTDC channel, *Charity concerts in Kapar, Shah Alam and Penang, Malaysia *Twice at SIFAS Music and Dance Festival at Singapore Indian Fine Arts Society, Singapore *Nalanda Nrithyotsava, Mumbai *Nrithyabharathi Dance Festival, India International Centre, New Delhi *Ninad Concert Series, Mumbai *Vasundharotsava, Mysore * Cuttack International Dance festival, Cuttack, Orissa * Kinkini Festival, Mumbai * Natya Vizha by Dept. Of Art and Culture, Pondicherry * SPRING FESTIVAL at India International Center, New Delhi * Performed Solo and along with her students for Thirumarai Kalamandram, Jaffna, Sri Lanka * PERUR NATYANJALI FESTIVAL, Coimbatore * Navaratri Festival at the Madurai Meenakshi Amman Temple, Madurai * National Music and Dance Festival at Panachikkad Sri Dakshina Mookambika Temple, Kottayam, Kerala

Awards and credentials

*Graded artiste of Chennai

Doordarshan Doordarshan (abbreviated as DD; Hindi: , ) is an Indian public service broadcaster founded by the Government of India, owned by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and one of Prasar Bharati's two divisions. One of India's largest bro ...

*NATYA KALA VIPANCHEE conferred by VIPANCHEE trust received from Dr. Balamuralikrishna for outstanding contribution to Indian classical dances. *NRITYA SHIROMANI by UTKAL YUVA SANSKRUTIK SANGH, Cuttack. *"WORLD DANCE DAY PURASKAR" by Natraj Music and Dance academy, Member of International dance council UNESCO, Visakhapatnam. *Parichay's NATIONAL EXCELLENCY AWARD 2012, from the

Member of parliament, Lok Sabha A Member of Parliament in the Lok Sabha (abbreviated: MP) is the representative of a legislative constituency in the Lok Sabha; the lower house of the Parliament of India. Members of parliament of Lok Sabha are chosen by direct Elections in I ...

, Odisha and the Hon'ble Minister of Culture and Tourism, Odisha *Was honoured with the title 'Naattiya Thilagam' in Selangor, Malaysia. *Was Conferred the title NARTHANA SHIRONMANI by SALANGAI OLI TRUST, Chennai in 2012. *Was Selected to be promoted by TAMIL NADU IYAL ISAI NATAKA MANDRAM as one of the young talented dancers for the year 2006. *Best Performer Award from Parthasarathi Swami Sabha in 2012, during their 112th Year *Was selected as one of the best dancers in the SOUTH ZONE MUSIC AND DANCE CONFERENCE conducted by THE INDIAN FINE ARTS SOCIETY.

Motivational speaker

Murugashankari is also a motivational speaker. She has addressed gatherings of students in various Engineering and Law colleges, mainly motivating youngsters to follow their passion. She has also presented many lecture demonstrations to school and college students focussing on the beauty and glory of the ancient dance form Bharatanatyam. A few notable institutes where she was invited to speak are Delhi Public School, Guwahati, Tezpur Law College, TEDx SSN Engineering College, Raja College of Engineering and Technology at Madurai and Pandian Saraswathi Yadav Engineering College.

Theater actor

Murugashankari played the lead in Stage Image's latest Tamil Drama Neruppu Kolangal. This play was very well received in Chennai, with articles in the press commending the play and Murugashankari's acting in it. This play incorporates in it, the classical dance and a song both rendered by Murugashankari which is its unique attraction. VIV 0202

References

#http://www.kalaikoodam.org/ Official website #http://www.thehindu.com/features/friday-review/review-of-l-murugashankaris-dance-recital/article7180882.ece. Friday Review, The Hindu, Bangalore, 8 May 2015 #http://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/chennai/A-Visually-Scintillating-Performance/2014/01/13/article1996996.ece. City Express, Supplement of

The New Indian Express ''The New Indian Express'' is an Indian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper published by the Chennai-based Express Publications. It was founded in 1932 as ''The Indian Express'', under the ownership of Chennai-based P. Varadarajulu Naid ...

, Chennai, 13 Jan 2014 #http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/chennai/chen-arts/chen-dance/rhythmic-tribute-to-swati-tirunal/article4054156.ece. Friday Review, The Hindu, Chennai #http://www.thehindu.com/features/friday-review/music/kaleidoscope-of-art-forms/article2795707.ece. Friday Review, The Hindu, Tiruchirapalli #https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yY79gWhO1sE. Performance Glimpse #https://web.archive.org/web/20140201220709/https://afternoondc.in/culture/a-sparkling-dance-festival/article_97497
Afternoon D&C, Mumbai #http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-fridayreview/celebration-of-dance/article5531273.ece. Friday Review, The Hindu, Andhra Pradesh, 3 Jan 2014 #https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PzDiSdGLlFs. TedX Talk Video of Murugashankari #https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TtreP4M_3UM. Interview of Murugashankari in Kalaignar Television #https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBrgV0d8yZ0. Murugashankari featured in the News segment in Vasantham Television, Singapore #https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZsR3YT04CDE. Murugashankari featured in the show 'Talam-Indian Beat' in Vasantham Television, Singapore #https://web.archive.org/web/20160915160354/http://carnaticdarbar.com/review/2011/review_99.asp. Review/Report of one of Murugashankari's recitals. #http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-fridayreview/visually-pleasing/article6246365.ece. Murugashankari's performance review in Friday Review of THE HINDU, 25 July 2014. #http://www.thehindu.com/features/friday-review/review-of-l-murugashankaris-dance-recital/article7180882.ece. Murugashankari's performance review in Friday Review of THE HINDU, 7 May 2015. #http://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/chennai/The-Kuravanci-Key-to-Mass-Appeal/2015/05/12/article2809233.ece. A Report about Tamizharasi Kuravanci by Murugashankari and her disciple (students of Kalai Koodam) in the Indian Express on 12 May 2015. #http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-fridayreview/vasant-utsav-dance-festival/article7206987.ece. A Report about Tamizharasi Kuravanci by Murugashankari and her disciple (students of Kalai Koodam) in the FRIDAY REVIEW, THE HINDU, on 15 May 2015. #http://epaper.tamilmirror.lk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=899:20150814&catid=35:epaper. Interview on Page 16. #https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZ0gYUSikIE&hd=1. Interview on Woman's Day for Dinamalar.com, a leading Web TV of the popular daily newspaper of Tamil Nadu Dinamalar. #http://www.thehindu.com/entertainment/dance/dance-is-lmurugasankaris-first-love-she-tells-her-story-about-how-her-father-leo-prabhu-the-renowned-dramatist-kept-her-motivated-against-all-odds/article19270933.ece. An article about L.Murugashankari's artitistic journey. #http://www.thehansindia.com/posts/index/Telangana/2017-08-08/Mesmerising-classical-dances/317480. An article about L.Murugashankari and team's performance at Shilparamam, Hyderabad. #http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/hyderabad/an-ode-to-classical-dance-forms/articleshow/59955611.cms. An article about L.Murugashankari and team's performance at Shilparamam, Hyderabad, 8 Aug 2017.

External links

* https://web.archive.org/web/20140203094144/http://sriparthasarathyswamisabha.com/ Website for Parthasarathy Swami Sabha * http://www.parvathiravighantasala.com/ Website for 'Kalaimamani' Parvathi Ravi Ghantasala * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NfEYiN_AAxk. Interview of Murugashankari for Makkal Television {{DEFAULTSORT:Leo, Murugashankari Bharatanatyam exponents Performers of Indian classical dance Indian dance teachers Living people 1983 births Indian female classical dancers Dancers from Tamil Nadu Artists from Chennai Women artists from Tamil Nadu 21st-century Indian dancers 21st-century Indian women artists