Sharad Pandya

Born on February 21st 1959, in Baroda, The Cultural Capital of Gujarat, Sharad Pandya had a deep love for the Indian performing arts since his childhood. A performer of high caliber, a celebrated choreographer and a devoted guru of today, he, began his long journey very early.

He holds a Diploma & Bachelor of Performing Arts in Bharatanatyam from the Faculty of Performing Arts, M.S. University of Baroda, Gujarat. Later he took up an intensive training in Bharatanatyam.

A performer of high caliber, Guru Sharad Pandya has performed & represented India in many festivals of National as well as International repute.

Major performances abroad:
• Festival of India in USSR
• International dance festival – Bangkok
• THAILAND
• South Sea port festival – NEW YORK , U.S.A.
• Performances at Bali, Java, Sumatra & Denpessar – Indonesia.
• Performances at Laos, Kampuchia, Vietnam, Phillipines & Malaysia.
• Other performances at University of Boston, University of Amherst,    Triton College – Chicago, University of Philadelphia, New York,    Washington DC, Maryland, Ohio, Dayton, & Los Angelis.
• Presentations in Mauritius
• Recent presentations at an International arts festival – Pakistan.

Performances in India:
• ICCR Sangeet Nritya Mahotsav, New Delhi
• December Dance Festival, Chennai
• Nitya Nritya Festival, Bangalore
• Kalidas Samaroh, Ujjain
• Swarna Sankhya Dance Festival, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Mysore
• Uttarardh Utsav of Classical Dance Festival, Modhera
• Choreography Festival, Calcutta
• The Oriental conference – Jaipur
• The Andhra Maha Sabha – Mumbai.
• International Classical Dance Festival, New Delhi.
• Krishna Ghan Sabha – Chennai.
• Gujarat Sangeet Natak Academy Festival Bhavnagar
• Centanary celebration of GRG foundation, Coimbatore.
• Chinmaya Mission, New Delhi
• He has also performed in various other Indian cities such as; Banaras, Vrindavan, Kanpur, Surat, Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Bidar, Sangaredy etc.
He is the writer of the book “NRITYA SHASTRA” which states the theory and history of Indian Classical Dances. He is the paneled artist of Doordarshan. He has also recorded performance for Mauritius college of Air, Mauritius Broadcasting Corporation, Pakistan T.V., V.N.M. TV, Etv oriya, Etv Gujarati, Etv Telugu etc. His lecture was also broadcasted by Cuttack radio & Lahore city FM.

Honours & awards:
• He has been felicitated by the Chief Minister of Gujarat Shri Narendra Modi.
• He has been conferred with the Out Standing Young Person award by the Banyan    city junior chambers.
• Sanskar award – Sanskar Pariwar.
• O.Y.P. national award.
• Felicitated by the Baroda Municipal corporation for his out standing contribution in   the field of classical dance.
• Felicitated by the Konark dance festival committee.
• Honored by the Leo – Club, Gujarat.

For promoting the Folk Arts of Gujarat, Guru Sharad Pandya has choreographed several compositions on traditional music. Some very famous among these are; Garbo , Dandia Raas, Goff Gumfan Raas, Deepak dance, Peacock dance, Radha, Adivisi dance etc, which have been performed widely & critically acclaimed.

He has also been invited by many institutes, organizations & schools to give lecture-demonstrations and conduct workshops. He choreographed several dances & dance dramas such as ‘Prakruti Varnan’ [ Theme;Origin of Earth from Sun & life on Earth ] Nal Damyanti [Based on Indian mythological story – choreographed with over 100 dancers] , Krishna Leela [Theme; Episodes from Lord Krishna’s life] and many more. These choreographies have been highly critically acclaimed.

Guru Sharad Pandya was also the event choreographer of a dance composition in Sanskrit “Mahishasura Mardini Stotram” which was staged at the International Garba Festival, hosted by the Govt. Of Gujarat, in Oct. 2004.

He is the Founder and Director of “Purva School of Bharatanatyam” Baroda - Gujarat, established in 1983. Over 2500 students till now have graduated in Dance from ‘Purva’ & each year many foreign students come to ‘Purva’ [where the gurukul parampara is followed] for intensive training in dance & find a home away from home.

It is affiliated with Nalanda Dance Research Centre – a college recognized by Bombay University & is also a member of International dance council – UNESCO France & World MIFA- Italy.