Specialising in the Indian-classical dance style of Bharatanatyam, Aruna Gandhi is a performing artiste, choreographer and educator, based in Sydney, NSW. Internationally recognised for her outstanding merit and contribution in the field of arts, she is a recipient of the 'Distinguished Talent Visa' in Australia (2013).

Founder-Director of 'Silambam-Sydney', an institution for fine arts, Aruna offers training in Bharatanatyam in South-West Sydney.
For more info on her current artistic work, including performances, collaborative works, 'Creative Movement' workshops, her dance school Silambam-Sydney and more, please click here.... 

Background & Training

Aruna trained in Bharatanatyam under the renowned and legendary artiste Prof. Sudharani Raghupathy, from a young age, since 1984 at Shree Bharatalaya in Chennai, India. She was a recipient of the Scholarship for dance from the Centre for Cultural Resources & Training (CCRT), Govt. of India (1990-1997). She has also trained in Carnatic music (Indian-classical), theory of Bharatanatyam, and has attended master-classes in Modern Dance, Yoga, Kalaripayattu and Folk dances of Tamil Nadu.

Academically, she has a Master’s degree in Communication from Women's Christian College, University of Madras; and graduated in Science from Stella Maris College, Chennai. She also holds a Certificate IV in Arts Administration (CACD: Community Arts and Cultural Development) from TAFE, NSW.

Aruna actively participates in dance workshops and labs to develop her artistic skills in the Australian context. She has attended workshops at Critical Path, Sydney Opera House, Form Dance Projects, and Blacktown Arts Centre. She was a 'Creative Hub Resident' at Information & Cultural Exchange (ICE Hub), Parramatta (2012-2014), where she had access to mentoring sessions, networking opportunities, and business training workshops to build her creative enterprise.

Artistic experience in India

Prior to migrating to Australia, Aruna has performed all over India, including the festival for young dancers hosted by Sangeet Natak Akademi, the apex body for arts in India (2005); accompanied her Guru as part of SPICMACAY tours to educational institutions; conducted workshops in Switzerland (between 1999-2008); and worked extensively with international students visiting India for training in Bharatanatyam. She was one of the core-teachers at Shree Bharatalaya, for the India-Study Group from Colgate University, New York, that visited India, between 1997-2005.

Aruna has presented lecture-demonstrations, co-ordinated dance-seminars, assisted in the editing of hand-books on Bharatanatyam, provided artistic supervision for editing of dance videos and documentaries, worked as an arts journalist for six years, and featured as a soloist in several Bharatanatyam DVDs, which are popular around the world. She has won several awards including 'Yuva Kala Bharathi' and 'Bharata Kala Bhushana'. 

Ahead, Aruna aims to represent the multicultural face of Australia around the world.