Pallavi Krishnan is one of the leading exponents of the famous dance form Mohiniyattam. A rare combination of abhinaya, movements and gestures has offered her performance a distinct dimension. She is always striving to elevate and preserve this style of Indian classical dance as a living tradition. She is a scholarly person and has done her graduation in Bio Science from Burdwan University of West Bengal.
At the beginning, Pallavi Krishnan was trained in Kathakali and Mohiniyattam under the able tutelage of Guru Kalamandalam Sanakaranarayanan at Santiniketan. But later on her passion for Mohiniyattam, she eventually headed towards the Kerala Kalamandalam for the advancement in the dance form in order to excel. After completing her training from the Kerala Kalamandalam, under the guidance of Guru Bharati Shivaji, Pallavi Krishnan continued her training. This noted Mohiniyattam dancer Pallavi Krishnan, has enriched the entire range of skills, which are prevalent in Mohiniyattam. She has choreographed many items, both in traditional and thematic style. Few of her compositions are: Kavalam, Narayana, Panikkar.. With the collaboration of Natyashastra scholar C P Unnikrishnan, Pallavi Krishnan has also produced a dance drama.
She has performed in countries like Canada, Australia, USA etc. Her performance in India includes the national dance festivals of the Central Sangeet Natak Akademi at various parts of the country, Konark Festival (Orissa), Mahabalipuram Festival (Chennai), New Choreographic Festival of Impresario India (Delhi), Doverlane Festival of Music & Dance (Kolkata), Soorya Festival, Nishagandhi Festival and Malabar Mahotsav (Kerala).
Pallavi Krishnan as a performer has formulated a style, which is marked by creative thinking and gracefulness. In demonstrating both adavu and abhinaya, Pallavi Krishnan puts equal alleviation. Today, she is regarded as one of the most sought after Mohiniyattam performers. Pallavi Krishnan has also been esteemed as a trendsetter for many young dancers. She always tries to motivate them to take up this art form seriously. Since the year 1994, she acts as the Artistic Director of Lasya Akademi of Mohiniyattam. Lasya Akademi is a centre dedicated for the advancement and professional training in Mohiniyattam, at Thrissur (Trichur, Kerala) with a branch in Kolkata (West Bengal). She has groomed a good number of talented young dancers through her institution in the art of Mohiniyattam. For professional training in the art of Mohiniyattam, people came from abroad to Lasya Akademi. According to Pallavi Krishnan, to produce high quality dancers, there should be a combination of traditional schooling (guru-shishya parampara) and an open attitude. This all together gives the students a disciplined training,
Pallavi Krishnan has also choreographed group dancing namely Rituranga. The music of Rituranga was taken from Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore`s compositions and the verses, which were adapted from Kalidas` Ritusamhar are tuned by Sri Kavalam Narayana Panikkar. Rituranga is, `Rituranga (the seasons) is a dance choreography in Mohiniyattam style which describes the six seasons and its effect in the human mind`. She was conferred the grant of the Govt. of India, Dept. of Culture, for choreographing Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore`s Rituranga as dance drama in Mohiniyattam style. To choreograph Mohiniyattam items set to Sopana Sangeetam (Kerala Music) and to popularize it, she has been conferred the fellowship from of the Govt. of India Ministry of Human Resource Development. For her emblematic talent in dance, she was selected for the Anupama Puraskar in the year 1992. The Puraskar is usually instituted by Vichar-Manch, Calcutta. She is settled in Kerala since the year 1994.
