Arundhati Banerjee: Dancing to make a difference

Arundhati Banerjee is a budding young artiste who has won prestigious dance competitions. At the young age of 16, she is an Artreprenuer and founder member of AIDA-Bharatanatyaved, a dance academy in South Australia, imparting training in Indian classical, contemporary and folk forms.

A resident of South Australia of Indian origin, this Class 11 student of Brighton Higher Secondary School has been selected to represent South Australia as a national finalist at Miss Diamond Australia 2019 in Brisbane. As part of her pageantry journey she supports the institution e.motion21, a non-profit organisation that provides Australian-first, evidence-based, innovative dance and fitness programmes for children and young adults with Down Syndrome. She identified e.motion21 as an organisation as her charity given that she is passionate about performing arts and how dance can make a difference, bring joy and happiness irrespective of age, gender and levels of abilities. She believes that “Dance is for everybody — integration of mind, body and soul.”

Arundhati will soon be coming up with a production titled the Dancing Sutra this Fringe Season 2019 at the Marion Cultural Centre in Adelaide. Dancing Sutra will be a dance ballet depicting the Story of Eve around the theme “From Darkness to Light” integrating Indian classical, folk and western forms. The proceeds from the show will go to the organization e.motion21.

Arundhati has trained in Bharatanatyam under renowned Guru Padmashree Shobana Chandra Kumar, a national award winner, actress, dancer, and choreographer. She is currently receiving training in western forms of dance like ballet, hip-hop, jazz, tap, etc., in addition to getting specialised training in the areas of art of emotions, the ancient text in dramaturgy and learning to play the instrument nattuvangam.

She has been awarded membership in the prestigious International Dance Council partnered with UNESCO for a second consecutive year. Just recently, she won the Miss Glamourgenic-Talent Supreme Title at Brisbane and was selected as the National Finalist-Face of Capezio. She is presently with the Australian Girls’ Choir and performed at the Adelaide Oval for the test match between Australia and England.

Arundhati’s mantra is “Dance is for the soul and for the betterment of the society.”