Vishal Ramani

🪔 About

Vishal Ramani is a highly esteemed Bharatanatyam dancer, teacher, and choreographer, recognized as a cultural icon for her pioneering efforts in promoting Indian classical dance in the San Francisco Bay Area. An exponent of the Tanjore style of Bharatanatyam, she began her rigorous training at the age of three at the Shri Raja Rajeshwari Bharata Natya Kala Mandir in Mumbai, India. Her gurus included Mahalingam Pillai, Srimati Karunamambal, Guru Govindaraj Pillai, and Guru Kuppiah Pillai, who descended from the lineage of Thanjavur Nattuvanars. Ramani performed her arangetram (solo dance debut) at the remarkably young age of seven in Mumbai. In 1977, Vishal Ramani established the first Bharatanatyam dance school in the San Francisco Bay Area, initially known as Raag Tarang, which later re-emerged as the Shri Krupa Dance Foundation (also known as Shri Krupa Dance Company) in 1992. She is credited with choreographing the first dance ballets, "Sculptor's Dream" and "Shakuntalam," performed at Stanford University and Chabot College in 1977. In 1982, she was instrumental in arranging the first live orchestra to accompany a dance recital in Northern California for the ballet "Shubhagaman," and introduced the concept of a live orchestra for dance in the Bay Area in 1981. Throughout her career, Guru Ramani has trained over 1,500 students and overseen more than 250 arangetrams, graduating over 120 students. Her teaching emphasizes the Guru-Shishya parampara, and her students have performed globally. She has also served as a Master Artist in the Alliance for California Traditional Arts' Apprenticeship Program. Beyond teaching, Ramani has educated audiences through television, including a profile on KQED's "Legacies," and published the magazine "Ved Vani". She is the Founder and Artistic Director of Shri Krupa Dance Company in Cupertino, California, a non-profit organization dedicated to Bharatanatyam. Awards & Honours: Nrithya Seva Mani Award, Excellence in Arts & Humanities, Worldwide Lifetime Achievement (2015), Lifetime Membership (2015).