Hema Rajagopal
Bharatanatyam Performer • Teacher • Nattuvanar • Guru • Choreographer • Researcher
50+
Years of Experience
100+
Performances
1+
Students Taught
50+
Awards
1
Followers
❖ Guru Parampara ❖
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Hema Rajagopalan is a globally renowned Bharatanatyam dancer, teacher, and choreographer, originally from New Delhi, India, and born in Chennai in 1951. Her extensive training began at the age of six in 1956 under the devadasi guru Swarna Saraswathy, leading to her first arangetram after just six months and earning her recognition as a child prodigy. She…
Journey Timeline
Began Bharatanatyam training — At age six under Guru Swarna Saraswathy
First Arangetram — After six months of training
Second Arangetram — At age nine
Began national tours — By age ten
Immigrated to Chicago, Illinois, USA
Founded Natya Dance Theatre — In Chicago, Illinois
Deepened Abhinaya studies — In the early 1980s with Kalanidhi Narayanan
Curated 'In the Diaspora: Spiritual, Classical, Contemporary' — First Bharatanatyam dance conference in the United States
Selected by Chicago Dancemakers Forum — First choreographer in an Indian tradition to be selected
Curated 'Dance India' — Second U.S. Bharatanatyam dance conference
Received Lifetime Achievement Award — From Soorya Dance Festival
Natya Dance Theatre awarded grant — $50,000 grant from the McArthur Foundation
Parampara festival — Returned to the world of Bharatanatyam solos
Received Dance Legacy Award — From See Chicago Dance
Selected by the Women's L Project — Honored influential women by renaming Chicago L stations
Natya Dance Theatre celebrated 47th anniversary
Photo Gallery
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Video Library
Signature Performances
Signature repertoire pieces will be showcased here.
Performance Map
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Awards & Honors
- Emmy Award
- National Endowment for the Arts Choreography Award — National Endowment for the Arts
- Vishwa Kala Bharathy Award
- Dance Legacy Award — See Chicago Dance
- Women's L Project Honoree — Women's L Project
- Nritya Seva Mani — Bhairavi Fine Arts Society and Cleveland Tyagaraja Aradhana
- Lifetime Achievement Award — Soorya Dance Festival
- Asian American Heritage Council Award — Asian American Heritage Council
- City of Chicago Award — City of Chicago
- Chicago Dancemakers Forum Selection — Chicago Dancemakers Forum
Media Coverage
- Hema Rajagopalan: A dancer unfurling Indian culture in Chicago (Video)
Medill Reports Chicago
Students
Testimonials
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Upcoming Workshops
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