Anuradha Nehru is the founder and artistic director emerita of the Kalanidhi Dance School and Company. An award-winning Kuchipudi dancer, teacher, and choreographer, Anuradha has taught dance for over thirty years in the United States and many of her students have become outstanding young classical dancers in their own right and are now dancing professionally.
Anuradha has been recognized by the Governor of Maryland for her dedicated service to the arts and has been supported by the Maryland State Arts Council. She is a recipient of the Master/Apprentice grant from the Maryland State Arts Council and a “Teacher Recognition Certificate” from the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts. In 2016, Anuradha received the Montgomery County Executive’s Outstanding Artist Award for Excellence in the Arts and Humanities and in June 2020, received the Pola Nirenska award for Outstanding Achievements in Dance.
As a choreographer, Anuradha’s quest is to constantly find new ways to create fresh and relevant works that connect with contemporary audiences. She believes in staying true to the depth and beauty of the Indian classical dance style while pushing its boundaries to explore new avenues of creative expression.
Her ability to transcend artistic genres is best exemplified in her collaboration with Opera LaFayette in three different operatic works. The first, in 2013, was “Lalla Roukh”,a 19th century French opera situated in India, which was praised for bringing beauty, grace, and the flavor of India to the production. The second, ‘Les Fetes de L’Hymen et de L’Amour‘ in 2014 and the most recent, ‘The Enchanted Forest’, in 2017, were also received by critical acclaim. Her other major productions include, ‘Rasa’,‘Transcending Traditions’, the historical ballet ‘Bhagmati’, ‘Why We Dance’, ‘Poetry of Love’ and “Bhoomi”.
Anuradha is one of the founding members of the Indian Dance Educators’ Association (IDEA), a non-profit umbrella organization of Indian dance professionals established to serve classical dancers and dance lovers, and served as the organization’s Chairperson for two terms.
