ACADEMY

Anandavalli migrated to Sydney, Australia in 1984 with the pre-conceived notion that she would never dance professionally again. Mentally having prepared herself for being a full-time house-wife she was requested by the community to present a solo performance as part of a fund raiser for the first Hindu temple being built in Sydney - the Venkateswara Temple in Helensburg. This performance resulted in many members of the community requesting her to teach their children which she initially declined, as she felt, having been a professional dancer for most of her life, she didn’t posses the technical skills to teach.

Having been persuaded that her years of dancing experience overcame any lack of technical teaching skills, Anandavalli started teaching a handful of students instilling in them the same discipline instilled in her by her mother Linga and her Gurus. As word got around of the strict, disciplined nature of her teaching, her student numbers grew and in 1987 Lingalayam, named after her mother Linga, was established as a dance school. As the years rolled on, her students imbibed from their Guru the same passionate love for this ancient art form of Bharatha Natyam that she had, and in turn their dedication for their dance grew and they started performing as the Lingalayam Dancers.

In 1994 Anandavalli presented her first Bharatha Natyam Arangetram. An Arangetram is a dance debut, similar to a graduation where the student reaches a stage of being proficient in the classical Indian arts - be it dance or music - and is able to present a complete repertoire in a solo presentation. This stage is reached after years of attending basic classes and months of intensified training; and only once an understanding is reached between teacher, student and parents, that the student is capable of undertaking the arduous task. Anandavalli, under the auspice of the Lingalayam Dance Academy, has presented 20 Arangetrams.

To date, the Academy has a large enrolment of students, many of whom begin at the tender age of six ,and are still dancing two decades later.

In 1996, after a decade of teaching, Anandavalli founded the Lingalayam Dance Company as a permanent base for the graduates of the Academy who had become proficient and professional in this ancient art-form.

GURU Anandavalli & Kunthavai