GURU
Bindu Pratap, Artistic Director
About Bindu Pratap
Bindu Pratap,
disciple of Guru Meera Nambiar who mastered from the renowned Padma Bhushan 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 Mohiniyattam.
Her unique blend of Kalamandalam and Kalakshetra styles, emphasizing Natya, expressions, and grace, captivates audiences and delivers a rich classical experience. Bindu has showcased her talent nationally on several prestigious multicultural platforms, and the students of Nritanjali have received numerous prizes and awards both locally and nationally, including the National YoungArts Foundation, World Arts West Festival in San Francisco, and the prestigious Cleveland Thyagaraja Festival.
Beyond staging classical performances, Bindu and her team have had the privilege of being part of theatrical productions such as One in Eleven, Sense Beyond, Karna, Vayu Putra, and Sanga Tamil—dance musicals by Guru Madurai R. Muralidharan. Some of her recent productions, Dakshina and Nakshatra, were widely acclaimed in the Bay Area as part of Nritanjali’s 10th and 18th anniversary celebrations.
Nritanjali has also played an active role in philanthropy, organizing major dance fundraisers such as Nartana Malika for Kerala flood relief in 2018 and Samanya for Voice of a Child in 2016, along with supporting various other charitable causes, including Chennai Flood Relief, Sahanarthana, Odisha, OSAAT, and the Berkeley Asha Foundation.
Since 2017, Nritanjali has been affiliated with Potti Sreeramulu University, India, through the University of Silicon Andhra, offering academic programs in Bharatanatyam.