In the field of Bharatanatyam, the name Manjula Lusti Narasimhan comes first in mind when someone thinks of a graceful and gifted dancer. She is a classicist in all sense. In spite of the fact that since the age of five she has lived in Switzerland, she has developed a deep interest in the Bharatanatyam Dance. Her talent and allegiance to this art are so intense in quality that it has earned her a place amongst the most established dancers of her generation. Her striking accomplishments in this field are considered to be a coordination of firm and dependable devotion, natural grace and beauty. This combination also enriched with her quality of being faithful to the demands of tradition, firm discipline and enquiry.
Manjula`s training in Bharatanatyam started since the tender age of four. She was privileged to have training under the eminent gurus like (late) Smt. Swarna Saraswati and (late) Sri Kuttalam Ganesam Pillai. In September in the year 1976, Manjula`s Arangetram took place in Chennai (formerly Madras). The process was held at the Bharitya Vidya Bhavan. Since 1981, she came under the tutelage of Padmasri Prof. Sudharani Raghupathy and a senior dancer at Sree Bharathalaya. In the year 1992, Manjula opened her own dance school in Geneva, Switzerland and named it as Silambam. Silambam is a confederation of Sree Bharathalaya.
An impressive career of Manjula Lusti Narasimhan that spans almost twenty-two years also comprises more than four hundred unique recitals, lecture demonstrations and workshops.
She has carried her performance widely both in India and Switzerland, and also in many countries such as Bahrain, the U.K, France, Germany, Austria, former Republic of Czechoslovakia, former Republic of Yugoslavia, and the United States. She has been a regular participant at the Music and Dance Festival in Chennai, which have an illustrious reputation. She has also danced in a graceful and rhythmic way for almost all the Sabhas there. In the year 1991, she bagged the honour of playacting at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. Manjula Lusti Narasimhan has also been invited to be the representative of India at many international gatherings such as the International Year of the Child in ex-Yugoslavia (1979), India Year in ex-Czechoslovakia (1986), the International Dance Alliance in India (1989) and the 50th anniversary of the United Nations in Switzerland (1995).
Manjula during her twenty two years career span, also became the recipient of numerous awards including the "Bharata Kala Bhushana" conferred by Sree Bharathalaya in July 1995, the "Yuva Kala Bharathi" organized by Bharat Kalachar in December 1997, the "Nadana Mamani" by Kartik Fine Arts in January 1999 and the honored "Kalaimamani" by the Tamil Nadu State award in August 1999. She is a unique and unusual feature holder as she offered all the benefits that she earns from her dance career to the charity. Many non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are being helped by her charity and other. To note few among her many contributions are the structuring of hot water facilities for the mentally handicapped children, an irrigation project at the state of Bihar. She also established a day care center for children of Bengal. .
Manjula Lusti Narasimhan has also obtained training in the Martha Graham style of modern dance, Carnatic vocal music, comparative religion and Indian philosophy. From Bryn Mawr College, U.S.A, she holds a B.Sc. in Physics and Ph.D in Chemistry from the University of York, U.K. Apart from being a renowned dancer Manjula Lusti Narasimhan is also the scientific director in a biotechnology company in Geneva. Now she is married and settled with two children in Geneva.
