Swati Shah 4420 Giovanni Drive Plano, TX 75024		972-208-2718
Dance Director – Swati Shah
PROFILE:	· Director – Noopur Dance Academy, a school devoted to train students in Bharata Natayam and Folk Dances of India. · 10 years of experience in teaching Bharata Natayam Dance. · Trained many students in last 11 years. At present teaching about 20 students. · Under my guidance, one of my students, graduated in Bharata Natayam and performed her Arangetram – Debut Solo Performance, on August 4, 2002. I was involved in training her for the Arangetram everyday for 2 hours, for 2 months. Involved in coordinating with photo shoot, brochure design, musicians who were invited from India, booking of a performance hall, stage decoration, lights, sound and costumes. Also choreographed all 9 dances for the performance. · Every year my students and I perform at various events in Dallas Fort worth. For ex. Dance for Planet, Indian Nite, Dallas International Festival, Asia Festival and Dallas Museum of arts. · Every year I organize a Dance Recital for Noopur Dance Academy. This is the event all the students are waiting for; where they perform the dances they learned through out the year. We have had as many as 350 guests for this event. All ages and level of students perform Bharata Natayam and Folk Dances.
EXPERIENCE/CAREER HIGH LIGHTS	Noopur Dance Academy, Plano, TX 1991-present Dance Director: Founder of noopur Dance academy, established in 1991, in Plano, TX. Trained many students in Indian Classical Dance – Bharata Natayam. Dance Chorecographer: Two of my dance dramas, “Chandanbala” and “Illachikumar”, based on Jain religion, have been performed at the Kimbell Art Museum and been appreciated by the Indian Community. Our Bharata Natayam dance performance at the Majestic Theater, in Jan, 2002, was greatly appreciated by Dallas International Community. Every year I choreograph two to three new dances in Bharat Natayam and Folk Dances. This years dance – “Elements – Fire, Wind, Earth and Water”, choreographed in Bharata Natayam Dance style.
Bharata Natayam	Introduction of Bharata Natayam Dance The heritage of Indian Classical Dance embraces several styles, the most popular being Odyssey, Kuchipudi, Manipuri, Kathakali and Bharata Natayam. They can all trace their origins to the “Natya Shastra “a treatise on dance, written by Sage Bharata over 2000 years ago. Bharata Natayam is perhaps the oldest among classical dance. Bharata was a legendary sage whom Brahma, the god of creation, himself is supposed to have instructed in the art of dance for the purpose of propagating the art to all mankind. The three syllables, Bha-Ra-Ta, illustrates the three quintessential components of the dance, namely, Bhava (expressions), Raga (melody) and Tala (rhythm). Bharata Natayam was nurtured in the temples of South India, and even today has very close ties to religion. It is an exquisite blend of abstract dance (Nritta), dance with expressions (Nritya) and and graceful expression (Natya). Proficiency in the art is attained only after several years of intensive training, at which point a student is ready to “ascend to the stage” and present a concert-length Debut Solo Performance (Arangetram) to the public
EDUCATION:	Arangratram – Dance Graduation 1990 Received Dance Graduation degree on July, 7^th 1990, performing a 3 hours of Bharata Natayam Dance performance (solo recital) with live musicians in front of 500 people. Certificate in Applied Graphics Design and Multimedia 1995 Collin County Community College, Plano, TX, USA Masters in Organic Chemistry 1987 South Gujarat University, Gujarat, India.
ACHIEVEMENTS:	· Solo Debut performance with live orchestra, in front of 500 people. · Dance Performance at India Nite, every year since 1991. · Special invitation to perform at DMA - Best of the show for Dallas International Festival