Shantala Shivalingappa was born in India but brought up in Paris. She grew up in an environment that was filled with dance and music. Her mother Savitry Nair was also a dancer who initiated Shantala Shivalingappa to dance at a tender age.
Shantala Shivalingappa has been deeply moved and inspired by Master Vempati Chinna Satyam`s puritan and elegant style. Shantala Shivalingappa consecrated herself to the art form of Kuchipudi. She has under gone a vivid and stringent training from her master Vempati Chinna Satyam. Shantala Shivalingappa has a strong desire to bring Kuchipudi to the western audience. Her dance performances have earned extolment and high regard from all.
Today the established artists and art connoisseurs in India and Europe have praised her as a rare dancer. Through her dance performances, Shantala Shivalingappa reflects the combination of a perfect technique with aerodynamic grace and a very fine sensitivity. From the very tender age of 13 years, she has also bagged the privilege of working with some of the greatest artists, to name a few: Maurice Bejart, Peter Brook, Bartabas, Pina Bausch.
International Tours of Shantala Shivalingappa
Since the year 1993, she has been performing the Kuchipudi. Under the guidance of Guru Vempati Chinna Satyam, at the Kalakshetra Auditorium, Chennai, she has performed her first ritual public performance as a soloist, i.e. Kuchipudi Rangapravesham in the year 1993. In the year 1994, she was included in the troop under her master`s guidance and toured Europe. Thus she gave performances in the cities like Paris, Grenoble, Montpellier (France), Lausanne (Switzerland), Venice (Italy), Wuppertal (Germany). Along with Vempati Ravi Shankar, Shantala Shivalingappa performed at the Avignon Festival held at France under the guidance of Guru Vempati Chinna Satyam. She has performed at the World Theater-Music Festival in a tour of the Netherlands in the year 1996. Shantala Shivalingappa performed at the Theatre de la Ville, Paris; in Toulouse (France), Madrid and Valladolid (Spain).
In the year 2003, she made her solo performances at the Kalakshetra Auditorium, Chennai; at the Taralabalu Kendra, R.T.Nagar Bengaluru; at Castel del Monte, Italy; at De Singel Theater, Belgium; in the year 2004, at the Theatre de la Ville, France; at the Bozar, Brussels; at Scene Nationale de Guadeloupe (French West Indies). With the program "Shiva Ganga", she conducted Kuchipudi autumn tour and performed at Troppeninstitut, Amsterdam, at Th‚A›tre Municipal de Roanne, at Th‚A›tre Le Cadran, BrianAon, at Le D“me Th‚atre, Albertville, at La Rampe, Echirolles, at Maison des Arts, Thonon, at Le Tobboggan, D‚cines, at Th‚A›tre de Villefranche sur SA›one, at Th‚A›tre de St Quentin en Yvelines, at Casa de Musica, Porto, Portugal, at Gulbenkian Audirorium, Lisbon. Recently Shantala Shivalingappa performed a New Kuchipudi solo "Gamaka", vibrations of sound and movement at the Th‚A›tre de la Ville-Abbesses, Paris, France.
Philanthropic Initiative by Shantala Shivalingappa
Shantala Shivalingappather performances done by her are: To raise funds for the humanitarian association "Partage dans le Monde" to benefit their projects in India she performed Kuchipudi performance at the UNESCO Auditorium, Paris; Kuchipudi tour: performed at the Tibor-Varga Festival in Sion, Switzerland, at the Turin Festival, Italy, at the Festival d` Art Metis, Reunion Island, and also at Grenoble and Brest in France in the year 1998. In the year 2001, performed at the World Dance Festival in Mannheim, Germany - Performed for Pina Bausch`s International Festival in Wuppertal, Germany - Performed at the Festival d` Art Metis, Reunion Island.
Throughout her professional career Shantala Shivalingappa has fetched many rave reviews. She has toured all parts of India as a guest dancer in "New Piece 2007" with the Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch. Presently, Shantala shares her time between touring, expanding her choreographic work in the Kuchipudi style, and collaborating with various artists in the exploration of dance, music and theatre.
