Deepika Agrawal came to love dance at the age of six. Over many years, she learned the beauty, grace and spirituality of the art form and found a way to connect with her heritage. Deepika successfully completed her Bharatanatya Arangetram last year, on July 24th 2011, and aims to continue dancing. Currently a freshman at Rutgers University, she is pursuing the pre-medical path in the hopes of becoming a physician.

Richa Ranade is currently a junior at Rutgers University majoring in Biological Sciences and minoring in Spanish and Psychology. In the future she plans on attending either medical school or physical therapy school; she hopes to specialize in either pediatrics or sports. At Rutgers University, Richa is a member of Douglass Residential College, and is very involved with the Rutgers University Campus Coalition Against Trafficking. Richa has been attending Tala Shruti School of Dance since 2000, and in August 2009 completed her Arangetram. In addition to continuing her Bharatanatyam education at Tala Shruti School of Dance, Richa teaches beginner and intermediate classes on weekends at Tala Shruti School of Dance.

Aparna Nanduri started training under Guru Renuka Srinivasan at the age ofeight. Since then, she has developed a tremendous passion for the classical artform of Bharatanatyam and has continued grow as a dancer. After training fornine years, in 2010, Aparna accomplished her Arangetram. Throughout her yearsat Tala Shruti she has also performed in multiple shows, including the recent Danceof Destiny program in 2011. Aparna is also enrolled at the Ernest Mario Schoolof Pharmacy at Rutgers University and is excited to major in the pharmaceuticalsciences. She is very involved in the Rutgers community and volunteers as amentor for freshman pharmacy students.

Though she has moved around quite a bit, the one constant in Deepti’s life since the young age of 3 years has been dance class. She had the opportunity to try out different dance styles and schools within Bharatnatyam, so it was easy to realize right away that Tala Shruti was the right school for her once she moved to the US from India and met Renuka Srinivasan. Deepti performed her Arangetram in 2005 after 4 years in training with Tala Shruti and has credited Renuka Aunty’s efforts in helping her win a 2007 National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts youngARTS Honorable Mention award for World Dance. Since then, she has focused on expanding her dance repertoire and began teaching beginner classes at Tala. The most fulfilling thing about her new role is the amazement that comes from how much she continues to learn about dance from her curious and enthusiastic young students.