Sandhya Udupa is a very talented Bharatanatyam Artist of grace and beauty who has been nurtured in a rich culture of art and tradition. Disciple of renowned artist Acharya Indira Kadambi, Sandya Udupa is a new-gen artiste who is committed to taking the finer aspects of our culture to wider audiences. A qualified Interior designer, she has also been additionally trained in Kuchipudi, Yakshagana and Carnatic Music. Sandhya Udupa is the trustee of Udupa Foundation, a registered charitable trust, which aims in promoting performing art, envisions continuing the rich tradition of Indian dances through performances and training the new generation of dance enthusiasts in this excellent art. She is the curator of the dance festival ‘Nrityakatha’, featuring eminent artists of the country.
Sandhya, initially trained under Karnataka Kalashree Vidwan Chandrasekhar Navada for Bharatanatyam, has been awarded the Vidwath grade by the Karnataka Secondary Education Board. Upon successfully completing her Rangapravesha (Debut Solo Performance) in 2004, Sandhya Udupa has given solo performances and conducted workshops in India and abroad incuding USA, South Africa, France, Poland, Sweden, Tanzania, Uganda and Mauritius. She has served as an examiner for Bharatanatyam Senior and Vidwath grade conducted by the Karnataka Secondary Education Board. A graded artist of Doordarshan, she performs through Udupa Foundation at centres like Old Age Homes, Orphanages, Cancer Society, Rehabilitation Centre, Government Schools as part of their project. She also choreographed and performed for the TEDx Bengaluru event in 2019.
Sandhya has learnt Kuchipudi under the tutelage of Guru Vidushi Vyjayanthi Kashi for the several years. In addition, Sandhya has attended Abhinaya workshop “Navarasa Sadhana” conducted by G Venu of Natana Kairali and “Fitness for dancers” under Movement Inc., Chennai. She has been awarded with ‘Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan Award for the year 2022. She has been awarded with ‘Best Performer’ at the ‘Bharat Nritya Utsav 2023’ from Sri Parthasarathy Swami Sabha, Chennai.
A NOTE FROM HER ACHARYA
“Sandhya is very dynamic, hard working and has great perseverance. She is a sparkling dancer and is a joy to watch her perform. With continual learning and good encouragement from organisers and Art promoters, she will definitely be one of beautiful dancers of her generation. Married to a well-known artist Sri Ghatam Giridhar Udupa, Sandhya is a mother of young Samarth Udupa. It is amazing to see how these young dancers such as Sandhya beautifully manage their profession and family. Wishing the best in her career always!”.
A Note From
“Dance is eternal to me. Even though I had a break for few years from dancing, there was no time where my thoughts were away from it. Dance has been my guiding force to lead my life itself! Discipline, physical stability, intellectual poise, empathy, sensitivity and morale are some of them that I earned along with dancing physically. It has been the most powerful tool that can convince and console me like no other. I feel the BEST when I dance, totally liberating. I always feel blessed to have learnt this beautiful thing called ‘Dance’ I am very grateful to all my teachers. Yes! Dance is demanding. It demands most of our time, energy and dedication. At times it is even frustrating not to have been able to meet the expectations. But, recently I realized one thing that, ART gives you double the joy of the time you indulge in it!! I am, for sure, living the best times of my life dedicating most of my time in learning, teaching and practicing Dance”.