Aparna B Marar

Aparna B Marar
Aparna B Marar giving a talk at the Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi- Regional Theatre, Thrissur,Kerala
Born	Aparna Balram Guruvayoor, Kerala, India
Occupation	Dancer; Educator; Organiser; Singer
Dances	Mohiniyattom KuchipudiBharathanatyam

Aparna B Marar is a young Indian classical danseuse from Kerala. She has attained accomplishment as a dancer, organiser, art educator, choreographer and a singer.^[1] She is an engineer with a degree in wireless communication engineering from PSG College of Technology and runs a software company in India. She has received numerous honours including the Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Academy- Yuva Prathibha Award, Calicut University- Kalathilakam Awards, National scholarship by Ministry of Culture.^[2]

As a regular performer and educator she travels extensively around the world for her performances and lectures. She is an empanelled artist of Indian Council for Cultural Relations - ICCR, as well as a member of American Dance Therapy association. She is also the director of the Kalabharathi Foundation for Indian Culture and Heritage,^[3] which is a non-profitable cultural organization, regularly organising festivals, workshops and welfare programmes.^[4][5] Aparna is actively involved in art movements for the benefit of society. She is a resource person and a researcher with National Institute on Developmental Delays, USA training the children with developmental delays in movement exploration activities using techniques of Indian classical dancing. She actively takes part in art appreciation programmes for the common people and students.^[2][6]

From the performance "Brahmin", a choreography on Rabindranath Tagore's poem at Thiruvananthapuram.

Aparna giving a kuchipudi Performance at Gurupranamam

Personal life

Aparna was born in Guruvayoor, the temple town of Kerala, to a marine chief engineer and a homoeopathic doctor. She completed her graduation in Electronics and Communication engineering from IES College of Engineering, Calicut University,^[7] and later did post graduation in wireless communication engineering from PSG College of Technology, Coimbatore and she was the topper. She has received many honours in arts as well as academics. Aparna has also presented and published many technical papers in international journals,^[8] and national conferences. She is married to KI Shebeer (a businessman) and the couple jointly manages the Kalabharathi Foundation for Indian Culture and Heritage.^[9]

Professional life and career

Aparna was initiated to dancing at an age of four. Ever since she has been receiving extensive training in different styles of Indian classical dance, Bharathanatyam, Kuchipudi and Mohiniyattom from prominent gurus of the country. She is a student of Kalamandalam Kshemavathy^[10] in Mohiniyattom and has done post graduation in Dance (MFA) from SASTRA University, Thanjavur, under the guidance of Padmabhushan Dr. Padma Subramanniam at Nrithyodaya, Chennai. She is also trained under Isaimani R Vaidyanatha Bhagavathar in Carnatic Music,^[1] and Sri. VijaySursen in Hindusthani Music.

Apart from being a performer she is actively involved in art appreciation programmes and training programmes for children with developmental delays. She actively propagates the concept of Dance Therapy through workshops and demonstrations across the globe. In the banner of Kalabharathi Foundation for Indian Culture and Heritage, Aparna regularly organises festivals for the promotion of youth in Indian classical arts.^{[4][5][11][12][13]} The organisation has also initiated support services to struggling veteran artists of the country through the scheme “Ashraya Nidhi”.

Aparna is a noted playback-gazal singer and a choreographer. Besides, she heads a software firm named bigsofttechnologies, which develops innovative tech based applications.

Awards and honours

• “Yuva Prathibha Award” by Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi in 2010 in Mohiniyattom.^[14]
• “Kalathilakam” awards by Calicut University in 2009 and 2010.^[15]
• Secured first prize in Mohiniyattom, Bharathantyam in Calicut University interzone arts festival 2009 and 2010.
• Received the "Scholarship to young artists" by Ministry of Culture, Government of India in Mohiniyattom- 2009.^[16]
• Winner in Inter-university national youth festival 2010 held at Thirupathy, in classical dance.^[17]
• Empanelled artist of Indian Council for Cultural Relations.^[18]
• Graded artist of Doordarshan, India.^[16]
• Associate member of American Dance Therapy Association, 2014.
• Member of Student Greivance Redressal Cell, University of Calicut in 2010.
• Member of International Dance Council- UNESCO, 2011.

References