About Me
Meera’s Bharatanatyam training has been in the Pandanallur style under the guidance of PadmaVibhushan Guru Smt. Sonal Mansingh. As part of her dance training at her Guru’s dance institute, Meera was fortunate to study with other scholars and masters in the dance field, such as the subtleties of bhaava and rasa with the renowned dance scholar Late Shri Jiwan Pani and the intricacies of rhythm with the TalaVidwan Kalaimamani Late Shri Kadhirvelu Pillai. Last, she started studying cross-rhythmic choreography with Smt. Prakriti Bhaskar. In addition to the Natyashastra, Meera has studied yoga, Indian mythology, sanskrit, temple sculptures and paintings, and folk dances of India to gain a holistic perspective of the art form.
She has performed widely in India and abroad, both solo as well as with her Guru’s dance company. Meera also represented India as part of cultural delegations to many countries in South Asia and Europe. After her move to Seattle, she has performed locally for ISKCON, Northwest Folklife, Town Hall Seattle, People for Progress in India, Pratidhwani and conducted music, dance and yoga workshops as part of Northwest Folklife’s program for children living in community shelters.
Meera believes that music inspires emotive dance (abhinaya), and uses her intensive training in Carnatic music and abhinaya to make the interplay of music and dance very cohesive, as well as explore new territories for their collaboration. Her musical expertise also enables her to compose music for her new dance productions. Meera enjoys researching, practicing, performing and honing her twin passions. She also loves to teach and share her knowledge of these art forms with her enthusiastic and dedicated students.
Meera Krishna is an accomplished Carnatic classical singer and Bharatanatyam dancer. She was initiated into vocal music at the age of three by her mother and Guru, Smt. RadhaKrishna, who belongs to the Thyagaraja Shishya Parampara via the Alathur school. Smt. Radha trained under P.S Thirumalachariar, a student of Alathur Venkatesha Iyer, the Guru of the famous Alathur brothers. Meera’s first performance was at age 5 over All India Radio (AIR) Delhi, and from then on, she performed regularly over AIR and Doordarshan (National Television). When her Guru felt it was time, she presented Meera on the concert stage. Following her debut performance, Meera performed widely all over India while continuing her intensive training with her Guru. Over the years, she received music scholarships, won numerous prizes in music competitions at State and National levels, composed the music for a full length theater production, recorded lead vocals for three dance productions by Shakuntalam, and recorded two CDs featuring bhajans and geets with T-Series. After moving to Seattle WA in 1998, Meera has given concerts in many major cities in the US, while continuing to perform annually at the Music and Dance festival in Chennai, India.
Meera holds a doctorate degree in Mathematics from IIT, Delhi and works for Microsoft
Photo Credits: Siamak Poursabahian (http://saayeh.com)