O U R T E A M
A cause isn't a cause without people who believe in it.
Parvati Rajamani
Artistic Director
Parvati Rajamani is the Artistic Director of Ananda Arts, an organisation dedicated to Odissi. With over 55 years experience and active involvement with Odissi as a student, performer and teacher, dance is a joyful journey of self discovery for her. She has performed extensively in India, UK, South Africa, Canada, Indonesia in the past but now dedicates her time to teaching .
Parvati is an NHS Consultant Psychiatrist, deeply touched by the power of Odissi in helping express and manifest anyone’s complete potential. She continues to teach Odissi in twice weekly in Bedford committed to disseminating it all over UK.
Bipinchandra Shah
Secretary & Treasurer
Bipinchandra Shah has lived in Bedford since 1977 and always strives to find the time to give back to the community that welcomed him so warmly all those years ago. He is the secretary and treasurer of Ananda Arts and has been integral in successfully running our local dance classes for the last five years as well as working hard to provide various other opportunities for the local community revolving around South Asian arts. He takes great interest in being a part of the local education systems, in order to do what he can to improve, expand and cohesively work with them and is keen to bring different ethnic cultures to the public through these classes.
Sarika Shah
Marketing & Public Engagement
Sarika Shah loves being a part of the Ananda Arts team and puts her Master's degree in creative writing to good use regarding press release, marketing and promotion of our various projects. She is particularly interested in mental health and is excited at the prospect of our team bringing Odissi to patients and audiences in various healthcare environments and practices through performances and taster sessions to encourage mental and physical well being.
Yasmin Mahmood
Steering Committee Member
Yasmin Mahmood provides strategic and managerial support to Ananda Arts with her wealth of experience in the corporate and government sectors. She is also a parent representative with a strong belief in the importance of arts development of Odissi in the UK.
Sheeba Taneja
Teacher
Sheeba began her Odissi journey with Guru Ashis Kumar Das in Cuttack, Odisha. In the UK, she has been learning under the tutelage of Dr Parvati Rajamani for the past 10 years.
She has also had the opportunity to learn from Shalakha Rai and Padmasri Madhavi Mudgal in the Odissi Festival that Ananda Arts has held for over 4 years in Bedford.
She has performed in Odisha and in the UK for Ananda Arts, Kadam, MK Odia Society, Diwali Festivals Bedford as well as conducted Odissi workshops for Arts Council in Higgins Museum and Philaharmonia through their Here and Now Project.
She continues to teach and develop her practice in Odissi by creating choreographies for different performances and currently teaches beginner classes for Ananda Arts.