Bharatanatyam Performance & Lecture-Demonstration by Guru usha Raghavan as part of SPICMACAY's Virast 2014

Usha Raghavan (www.usharaghavan.com) is an internationally acclaimed dancer, teacher and choreographer hailing from Madras, India. A post graduate in Indian Philosophy, Usha mastered the art of Bharatanatyam under eminent gurus Sri Adyar K. Lakshman & Smt. Kalanidhi Narayanan.
Over the last forty years, Usha has performed extensively across the globe. Some of her distinguished shows include international festivals sponsored by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations and one sponsored by the UNESCO in Paris. Some of her performances have been in front of very distinguished guests such as the French prime minister and Indian and other ambassadors in several countries. Her performance for Raymond Barre and the Aga Khan, the Golden Jubilee celebrations of Indian Independence in the Caribbean, festivals in far-east Asian countries, the International Festival ‘Humanitas’, Mexico and ‘ukgharana’ British South Asian dance & music festival in London are some examples. Her recent production ‘Kamba Ramayanam’ for the Festival “Passeport pour l’Inde” in France that was also subsequently staged in London received rave reviews from connoisseurs. Her lecture–demonstration in London on Sri Annamacharya’s life and kritis was hailed by even Telugu scholars as inimitable.

Usha has also performed for the Doordarshan (Indian TV), RAI UNO (Italian), Deepam TV (UK) and performed & presented a documentary film on Bharatanatyam for RTSI (Switzerland TV).
Over the last few decades, Usha has trained hundreds of students from across the globe. Her perfect sense of pedagogy and wide knowledge of Indian dance and traditions have gained her the reputation as a choreographer, dancer and teacher of exemplary talent.

As the Financial Express once wrote in a classic appreciation of her dance and choreography, “Usha takes the audience to a refined level of perception where one understands without effort almost the instant truth that when communication is at work through the highest forms of art, language is but lame and halt.”

A creative artiste that she is, Usha gives workshops, lecture demonstrations and performances in addition to master classes in London, UK where she currently lives.