Smt. Bindu Pratap, disciple of Meera Nambiar who mastered from the renowned Padmabhushan Dhananjayans, and Kalamandalam Kalyani kutti Amma, is an accomplished dancer, choreographer, teacher, and founder and artistic director of Nritanjali Dance Academy, one of the leading dance schools in the Bay Area cultivating artists in two of the South Indian divine dance forms Bhartanatyam and Mohinyattam. Her pure blend of Kalamandalam and Kalakshetra style, emphasizing Natya, expressions, and grace, captivates the audience and renders a rich classical experience. Bindu has outshined her talent nationally on several prestigious multi-cultural platforms, and the students of Nritanjali have been the recipient of innumerable prizes and awards in locally and nationally, including the famous National Young Arts Foundation, World Arts West festival in San Francisco in addition to the prestigious Cleveland Thyagaraja Festival. Apart from staging many classical performances including SIFA, Bindu and her team were fortunate to be a part of the theatrical productions One In Eleven, Sahanarthana, and Sense Beyond - a musical extravaganza by Guru Madurai R. Muralidharan. One of her recent productions, “Dakshina”, has been widely acclaimed in the Bay Area as a part of celebrating Nritanjali’s 10 years of success. Nritanjali has been extending relentless support in promoting many charitable fundraising events including Chennai Flood Relief, Odisha, “Samanya” for Voice of a Child, OSAAT and Berkely Asha Foundation.
Bindu founded Nritanjali in 2006 to enrich and cultivate young talents through systematic training to advance, respect and admire the rich culture and beauty of these two outstanding classical dance forms. She works relentlessly with her students to bring out their innate talents and trains them to visualize the rich cultural backgrounds to make them express naturally. Her mission is to instill an understanding and appreciation for the art and culture of South India and showcase these wonderful art forms to the community.