Renowned danseuse Smt Shashikala Ravi is the founder director of Amritanjali School of Bharatanatyam in Pune. Shashikala Ravi is the senior disciple of the legendary dancer Natya Kalanidhi late Smt Swarna Saraswathy of Bharatanatya Academy, Delhi under whom she trained for several years. Her Guru was from the Tanjavore Devadasi Parampara. Shashikala is also a student of Padmabhushan Smt Kalanidhi Narayan and has had the rare opportunity to study aspects of Abhinaya under her.

Shashikala Ravi holds a post graduate degree in Bharatanatyam. She is pursuing her PhD in Bharatanatyam under Dr Malati Agniswaran, Head of Bharatanatyam Dept, Nalanda Institute, Mumbai. She is also trained in Carnatic vocal music by her mother Smt Thanga Varadarajan. Shashikala Ravi is a recipient of Natya Ratna and Akhil Bharatiya Marathi Natya Prishad awards. She is an empanelled artiste with the Indian Council of Cultural Relations, New Delhi and IRCEN - India International Rural Cultural Centre. She is also a member of the International Dance Council – CID, UNESCO and World Dance Alliance – Asia Pacific . She is a graded artiste with the Doordarshan. She has been featured in magazines like Citadel, Pune  and Business India. She and her dance school have also been featured in the Japanese magazine ‘World Okeiko Report’, a magazine for the youth of Japan.

Shashikala Ravi is the owner of the Amritanjali Dance Studio which is a fully air conditioned sound proof studio which has been established to promote culture in Pune. It has a wooden stage, motorized curtains, light,audio and slide projector facilities.

She has recently released a DVD titled The Dance of Shiva . The entire concept and choreography is hers, exploring some of the cosmic dances of Lord Shiva. The DVD is launched and marketed as a part of Sanskriti Series by Swathi Soft Solutions, Chennai. A link to a glimpse of the DVD on YouTube is
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDidNcTEjtA

The DVD is available in several outlets all over India and can also be ordered on the net at www.kalakendra.com.

Mrs Ravi has performed widely  in India and abroad in countries like Germany, Greece, Sri Lanka, UK.

Besides achievements in the field of dance Shashikala Ravi also holds postgraduate degrees in Zoology and Education.

A Highly Creative Performing Artiste from Pune