Sunanda Nair


Dr Sunanda Nair is the first student in India to have a master's degree in Mohiniattam from Nalanda Nritya Kala Mahavidyalaya affiliated to the University of Mumbai. She has cleared the necessary net exams demanded by the University. She has completed her PhD from University of Mumbai for her thesis "Intrinsic Lyrical Feminism in Mohiniattam". She was born in Mumbai, India.

Early life and Education

Nair took her initial training in Bharatanatyam at age six. She studied in Kathakali under Kalamandalam Krishnankutty Warrier.
Nair is a disciple of noted Mohiniattam exponent Padmabhushan Dr. Kanak Rele, credited for the revival and popularization of this classical Kerala dance style.
Nair was the first student to earn a master's degree in Mohiniattam. She was a student of Nalanda Nritya Kala Mahavidyalay at the University of Mumbai where she completed her Master's. She completed a seven-year course in five years. The institution is the closest to the guru Kula Sampradaya.
She has a bachelors in Commerce from University of Mumbai,  Bachelors & Masters in Performing Arts, from University of Mumbai.   She also holds a PhD in dance from University of Mumbai - Research thesis in Mohiniattam titled "The Intrinsic Lyrical Feminism in Mohiniattam"

Career

After graduating, she joined the staff at Nalanda and was a lecturer at her alma mater for nine years until 1999. She passed her Net exam, a UGC requirement to continue teaching at Nalanda.
She has given many performances.
She studied from masters like Kalaimamani Kadirvelu, Kalaimamani Mahalingam Pillai, Guru T.V.Sounderajan, Shri Dipak Majumdar, and Smt.Tejiswini Rao in Kattumanar Muthukumar Pillai's bani.
In 1980, while in high school, she started the Srutilaya Institute of Fine Arts which trains students in both Mohiniattam and Bharatanatyam.
SPARC is now in its 10th year of operation in the US. At SPARC, the rich tradition of Indian Classical Dance is passed to new dancers.

Performances