Sai Sivaranjani: A Young And Promising Artiste

Text and Pics: Paul Nicodemus

Sai Sivaranjani was born into an illustrious family. Her mother Dr Sobha Naidu is a renowned Kuchipudi exponent. Right from her childhood, she grew up in an atmosphere of dance. She watched her mother perform Kuchipudi and observed the senior students who came to her mother’s academy to learn dance. Eventually, she began to sit with them in the classes. Looking at her interest, her mother initiated her into dance at the age of five. Though her mother was a popular dancer she ever forced dance upon her. She pursued dance out of her own interest.

At the age of 10, Sivaranjani gave her first performance in Chennai. In the next two years, she trained hard and performed abroad, along with the students of her mother. The scope for expression and grace in the art form of Kuchipudi piqued her interest and made her fall in love with it. Apart from dance, she is equally passionate about music. She started learning Carnatic vocal music from the age of 7. She is currently training under Dhulipala Geeta, a Carnatic music teacher. Her mother named her after the popular Carnatic raga, Sivaranjani.

She was a frequent performer at the school and says that it was a nice experience to represent classical dance. Her friends felt proud of her artistic abilities. They encouraged her by attending her shows with their parents. Balancing academics and performing arts is not an easy thing to do but she aced it to perfection. Despite, the academic pressure in her 10th class, she managed to practice dance at least twice a week.

She performed at many places across India viz. Kolkata, Mumbai, Bhopal, Chennai, Tirupati, Rajahmundry and Visakhapatnam. Her participation in the Silicon Andhra event fetched her a ‘World Guinness Record’ certificate. She received Bala Ratna Award from Abhinandana, Hyderabad, Natya Vathamsa Award from Kalpashree, Bangalore and Natya Manjari Award from Nataraj Music and Dance Academy, Visakhapatnam.

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Some of her performances include Kuchipudi recitals in New Jersey, New York, Dallas, Texas, Washington and Atlanta in the United States of America. In India, she performed at Konark festival, Puri, Kalpashree festival, Bangalore and Sathyabhama Yuva Nrithyotsav – 2018, Visakhapatnam.

Currently, she is completing Intermediate with commerce as a major and wants to pursue a career in music and dance.