Dr. Swati Raut

🪔 About

Dr. Swati Raut is an established Bharatanatyam dance artist, choreographer, teacher, and educator based in the Northwest region of England, where she has been active for over two decades. Her foundational training in Bharatanatyam, specifically the Pandanallur Style, took place at 'Nrityashree' in Mumbai, India, under the tutelage of Guru Krishnan Kutty. Guru Krishnan Kutty, a renowned Kathakali dancer and Bharatanatyam teacher, was himself trained by the late Lakshmi Kantham of Tanjore from the Pichhaiya Pillai school. Dr. Raut completed her Arangetram, her dance graduation, in 1979. She further expanded her classical Indian dance repertoire by learning Mohiniattam from Smt. Ammu Kutty. Throughout the 1980s, Dr. Raut performed extensively across India, both as a solo artist and as part of Dance Drama productions by Nrityashree. In 1987, she moved to the United Kingdom to pursue a Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. However, her passion for dance led her to begin teaching community dance groups in the Northwest region, where she settled. In 2005, she co-founded the Northwest Dance Alliance with other regional Indian classical dance teachers, a group that now operates informally. Dr. Swati Raut is the Founder and Artistic Director of Swati Dance Company (SDC), which was initiated in the summer of 2010 with the aim of propagating Bharatanatyam through excellence in practice and making the art form more accessible to wider audiences. She is a Principal Teacher at Milapfest Arts School and teaches Bharatanatyam to over 150 young children weekly across Wigan, Bolton, Preston, and Liverpool. She is dedicated to developing and mentoring students for professional performance, preparing them for ISTD examinations, and guiding them through their Arangetrams. Dr. Raut also leads Swati Youth Dance, an intensive training program for talented students aged 14 to 21, fostering the next generation of dance professionals. As a performing artist, Dr. Raut has featured in successful dance productions such as “Devi Diva” and “Shivoham.” She is a regular performer at prestigious venues including the Nehru Centre in London, The Lowry in Salford Quays, Unity Theatre in Liverpool, and Heron Theatre in Cumbria. Beyond her artistic and teaching roles, Dr. Raut is a Faculty Committee Member and an Examiner for Bharatanatyam at Fellowship level for the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing (ISTD), and she serves on the board of Dance Manchester.