Fresh from impressing dance aficionados in Chennai in December, Nina Rajarani MBE returns to her alma mater The Bhavan in West Kensington for a rare solo Bharatanatyam dance performance on 29 February. Nina was invited to present her work at the Natya Kala conference, part of the Chennai Music Season that lights up the city each year in December and January. Several dancers and musicians travelled to India with Nina to perform a selection of her ensemble works, and whilst there Nina also presented a solo show at the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan in Chennai.
Nina trained at The Bhavan under the tutelage of Prakash Yadagudde. She undertook additional training in London from Chitra Visweswaran of Chennai, and in Chennai with Shanta and VP Dhananjayan. She has gone on to achieve great things in her own right: she has been running her own dance school at Harrow Arts Centre since 1991, won the Place Prize, Europe's largest choreographic competition, and has done significant work for the dance examination board ISTD. She was recognised in the Queen’s birthday honours list in 2009 with an MBE for services to South Asian dance.
She has recently made a comeback to the stage after a break of three years. Nina said “I took time off performing in order to concentrate on other aspects of my work. I am really excited to return to perform at The Bhavan and I’m looking forward to meeting up with friends old and new.”
