Acharya Devo Bhava

    गुरुर्ब्रह्मा ग्रुरुर्विष्णुः गुरुर्देवो महेश्वरः । 

गुरुः साक्षात् परं ब्रह्म तस्मै श्री गुरवे नमः ॥

SHEKAR has created a niche in Dance field that manifest our Traditional, Spiritual, Cultural and Classical aspect of Indian Heritage. He is an ardent Bharathanatyam dancer trained for over 3 decades under the guidance of       eminent Gurus Dr. Suparna Venkatesh and Dr.Sanjay Shantaram and has been acclaimed as a Versatile Soulful Artist. He has enthralled a wide spectrum of audience’s with his Innovative, Graceful, Picturesque poses and Excellent acting skills and known popularly in the dance fraternity as an inspiring masculine dancer who has vigor, grace and agile equally. He is very popular and sought after for his Vivid Costumes, Exceptional Make-up, Lighting design and Stage design be it in the Characters he plays in Dance ballets or in Pure Dance. Shekar is pursuing his knowledge for dance under Guru Dr.SanjayShantaram, both in Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi for last 20 years now. An urge to learn different dance form, aspired him to complete his basics in the western classical ballet, from the Foundation of Classical Ballet in U.K. Besides his intense training in Bharatanatyam & Kuchipudi he has learnt the other art forms like Contemporary-Kathak, Folk dances of India and Modern Dance.

His abhinaya and spectacular performances in all esteemed dance productions conducted by legendary directors has spell bounded the art lovers and connoisseurs across the globe. His noted characters which has carved in the hearts forever are Viroopa – An Ugly Beast (an Indian adaption of Beauty & the Beast ), Krurasimha- An evil Uncle from Rajasimha (an Indian adaption of Lion King ) , Genie – Alladdin, Dushkara – Sea Witch (an Indian adaption of Little Mermaid ) and other mythological characters like Hiranyakashyapu, Ravana ,Mahishasura, Krishna, Ilvala , Rama in Hanuman, and many more . He has also spread his creativity in designing costumes, make up, conceptualizing and presenting the traditional compositions in a creative and visual treat to the audience.

Many Newspapers carried his reviews & coverage

Sunday Herald “ Shekar had a neat presentation with vigor and grace”

Star of Mysore  “Both Guru and Shishya were very energetic and shined on the stage, while they were complimenting eachother”

VijayaKarnataka – “His abhinaya in potraying the characters of Rama, Sita and Hanuman was outstanding”

Deccan Herald - “Anti Hero of the great Broadway “Lion King” Stole the hearts of the crowd”

Today, Shekar has recognized himself as an ace dancer, choreographer, actor, art promoter of Bangalore & India. He has performed in numerous Corporate events, Charitable shows, Government Events & Prestigious Dance Festivals in India & abroad for ICCR, other prestigious organizations with his versatility and unique dance presentations. He has toured extensively across Australia, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Bahrain, Bangkok, Canada, Dubai, Europe, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Thailand, UAE, UK and USA. He had the honor to perform in the presence of The King of Ipoh – Malaysia and the Wodeyar’s of Mysore. Shekar has been a humble recipient of the titles, awards “KALA KUSUMA”, “NRITYA KUVARA”, “NATYA KALAMANI” “ARYABATHA YOUTH AWARD”, “ABHINAYA CHATURA”, and “NATYA SAMRTA” from the Telugu Association of Columbus Ohio (TACO). He is been recently honored with awards in USA -  “NATANA TILAKA” from Live for the Moment, New Jersey and “KALA ARATHI RATNA AWARD” from Phoenix, USA in recognition of Proficiency in Bharatanatyam and Ballet Character Portrayals and “Award of Excellence & Friend of the Museum Ambassador of India’s cultural Dance Heritage” from Texas State Museum of Asian Culture. To his credit he has received “Guinness World Record” – For participating in longest variety show of 100Hrs, from The World record of Guinness Book. A Diploma Holder in Dance from Chandigarh University and has successfully completed his Arangetram, Dance examinations conducted by KSEB. Besides being a passionate dancer Shekar is post graduate in Human Resource Management and working as a professional in MNC.

Shekar has joined his Guru Dr. Sanjay Shantaram promoting the GuruShishya Parampara and have bloomed into Male Duet performers, presenting both Bharathanatyam & Kuchipudi classical dance forms of India. This duo have been performing in various dance festivals across India & abroad, spreading our Indian culture and heritage not only to the art lover’s connoisseurs, even to the common man by exhibiting their unique concepts. Their presentations are a perfect example of innovation in tradition. Both Dr. Sanjay Shantaram and Shekar Rajendran intend to present their unique work with specialized choreography, focused techniques, subtle nuances, and grace and précised execution. The duo complement each other in vibrant presentation of both Nritta – Pure dance & soulful Abhinaya- expression

Shekar to promote and show his creativity, has established a new team to the dance world named “MAYA Dance Ensemble” which has been performing extensively in India winning critical acclaims and appreciation for their unique choreography, vibrant costumes and world class neo presentations. Alongside, has a dance institute “Shekar Dance Academy” in Bengaluru to spread and inculcate this divine art form to the aspiring students and who would like to take forward the Indian heritage and culture across the globe. This institute also supports the underprivileged students with free dance education and programs. As part of the contribution to the art field, he is been conducting dance festivals (Puttani Hejje- A festival for budding dancers), Nrityaarpanam, Prayaana etc), recognizing talents and rewarding them with rewards and also celebrates the joy of dance with the promotion of art and artists from remote places. Recognizing the talents in the field of Technical support such as Make Up artist, Dance Photography, Light Designers, Costume Designers, Stage Designers has been key initiative and is pioneer in awarding these artists.

Looking at his excellent acting skills in the dance ballets and his passion for acting, the Silver Screen has invited him with open arms for acting in Movies and Tele Serials. His work includes Bhunatakamandali - Art movie, Title Songs in Shiva Leelamrutham, Shiva Charitamrutham, Played as Lead in Akkamahadevi ( Kannada Theatre/Drama ) etc.

Shekar coming from a background where there was no scope for music and dance or any art form , he was initiated into the field of dance by his mother Smt. Pushpa Rajendran at the tender age of 6. Looking at his artistic behavior at home, she persuaded him to the classes of Bharatanatyam. Though the journey for him was very stringent and tough during his course of learning due Male stereotype jobs, hobbies, education. Shekar was very confident, believed in himself broke all the barriers and has outshined in both Academics and Art.

He says “I have always been very passionate anything related to art, be it painting, cooking, designing, sketching, dancing etc, all that I wanted to show was ‘we can excel in Art and Academics if one is determined and Passionate”. Art has no gender!!

He proved the society one can be dual professional if and only you have a drive and belief in you. He intends to learn many more art forms to reach the zenith in the dance field spreading joy, not only to himself but to the world.