About
Dr. Sandhya Purecha, exemplified as India's foremost Performing-Academician, incredible dancer, ingenious choreographer, erudite author, scholar and researcher, her passion for excellence and artistic talents shine through her commitment to Indian classical dance coupled with her unparalleled vision. She is the senior-most disciple of Late Guru Acharya Parvatikumar and has learnt under his tutelage in the traditional Guru-Shishya Parampara. A rare intensity and authority of her essentially modern style, convincingly disciplined by the immaculate classical technique, resulted in her innovative approach towards shastra (theory)and sampradaya (practice) which has been described as a pioneering effort. Evolved into an artist of matchless individuality, she continued with her ardent involvement in dance and earned her doctorate in Natyashastra in Theory and Practice of Angika Abhinaya in Bharatanatyam.
With over 35 years of authoritative teaching at her institution Kala Paricchaya, Mumbai, she has endowed the benefit of her knowledge to over 5000 students till date. Her vision scaled more prestigious heights with the establishment of her brain-child, Bharata College of Fine Arts & Culture affiliated to Kavikulaguru Kalidas Sanskrit University, Nagpur, the only dance college that is actively immersed in classical dance performance and pedagogy based on Ancient Sanskrit Treatises and ancillary studies, providing academic sanction to students who wish to pursue dance as a full-time career. She is also the Founder-Principal and Managing Trustee of the college which is under the management of her NGO Sarfojiraje Bhosale Centre, Mumbai that works to preserve, promote and propagate Indian art and culture.
Her magnum opus was in 1986 when she presented in an audio-visual form all the 324 shlokas of Abhinaya Darpanam, an ancient Sanskrit text on dance written by Nandikeswara, which has been recorded by the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, New Delhi for archival purposes. She has been exemplified as the sole artiste in the world performing this masterwork and delivering this legacy of the AbhinayaDarpanam, bestowed to her by her Guruji.
An authority on classical dance and Sanskrit, she is affiliated to several universities offering her expertise as an Expert Advisor on the Academic Council and Board of Studies. She has been invited as a scholar to universities and for international seminars, conferences like International Conference on Natyashastra, IGNCA-Varanasi; WDA, Taiwan; Century of Indian Dance, Toronto to name a few and has delivered illustrative talks on dance to a diversified audience.
Her innovative presentation of Shastra and Sampradaya, an application of Sanskrit verses in practice, has been praised as a pioneering effort. Verses from Sanskrit texts like the Abhinaya Darpanam, Natyashastra, Nritya Ratna Kosa, Sangita Ratnakara and Sangita Darpanam have been transmitted into the vocabulary of dance to enhance the learning process.
As an intelligent dancer with contemporary sensitivity,with her grace, radiance and technical proficiency, she draws the viewer into the inner spaces that she paints, leaving the audience deeply touched in each of her performances and choreographies. She is a regular performer at major festivals in India and abroad. Richly honoured and widely travelled, some of Dr. Sandhya Pureccha’s performances have been at top national festivals like Narmada Seva Yatra, Vibrant Navratri - Vibrant Gujarat, Siddhi Festival, Simhastha Kumbha Kala Utsav, Khajurao Festival, Konark Festival, Natyanjali Chidambaram, Modhera Festival, Ellora Festival, Taj Festival, Mammallapuram Festival, Hampi Festival, Jhansi National Festival to name a few in India and internationally in Netherlands, Dubai, London, Edinburgh, South Africa, Moscow, Toronto, New York, Taiwan. Her emphasis on purity of tradition and classical technique in her solo Bharatanatyam recitals has been received with acclaim. In addition to this, her deep understanding and infinite ability to communicate through the dance idiom has been enhanced with her indisputable expertise in shastra and stands out for its technical perfection and artistic sensibility.
A dancer, an innovator- choreographer, a scholar – researcher, an author, educationist and a great teacher, she humbly acknowledges the blessings of her guru and mentor Acharya Parvatikumar as one of the major contributors to her multifaceted personality, successes and achievements.
