Sri Rama Jayam
Sri Rama Jayam
Sri Rama Jayam
Sri Rama Jayam
Deepa Mani
Deepa Mani has been learning Bharatanatyam under the guidance of her mother, Natyakalavathi Smt. Jaya Mani, since the age of 4. At the age of 12, she had her Arangetram at Sri Venkateswara Temple. She has been assisting her mother, Guru Smt. Jaya Mani, with dance classes at Sri Venkateswara Temple for more than 17 years now.
At a young age, she had training under Shri K. Mohanan and Shri J. Suryanarayana Murthy, in the Kalakshetra Bani of Bharatanatyam. Deepa has had the opportunity for solo performances in India, Africa (Kenya), South America (Brazil) and numerous places in the United States. She also had key roles in such group productions as Meenakshi Kalyanam and Aayarkula Thilakam. Within Western Pennsylvania, she has given lecture demonstrations at Byham Theater and choreographed dance items at Slippery Rock University.
Under the guidance of Smt. Revathi Ramachandran, Deepa has also participated in dance performances in Chennai, India. She has also had the privilege to attend dance workshops under Smt. Ravathi Ramachandran, Kumari Manasvini Ramachandran and Smt. Chitra Dasarathy.
​
My Guru
Natyakalavathi Smt. Jaya Mani
Guru Natyakalavathi Smt. Jaya Mani is an accomplished artist in both Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi styles, and for the last 40 years has been keeping alive the rich dance tradition of Kancheepuram Elappa Pillai through her teaching in the Greater Pittsburgh Area.
She began her dance training under Master M.D. Venkatesh at the age of 8 and performed her Arangetram at the age of 11 in Chennai, India. She started to teach dance when she was a senior in high school. It was perhaps fate as one would like to recall. When she was in school her dance teacher had to travel out of the city and hence she was left with no instructor. Her father suggested teaching two of her neighbors, which quickly spread to teaching numerous girls. There was no looking back. She has continued teaching dance ever since.
Thirty-five years ago, when Smt. Jaya Mani moved to the United States she started teaching dance with just 6 students. From teaching dance steps, to choosing the right songs, to conceptualizing, choreographing and presenting the dance items she has spread the rich culture and traditions of Tanjore all the way to Pittsburgh. For her continued spread of the art form, she was awarded the title of “Natyakalavathi.” Smt. Jaya Mani has since choreographed and been apart of several dance dramas and individual programs including Ayarkula Thilakam, Meenakshi Kalyanam, Valli Thirumanam, Lakshmi Vaibhavam, Om Nama Shivaya, Jaya Jaya Shambo and Swagatham Krishna. She has travelled extensively and given several performances to diverse audiences throughout the United States, India and several other countries, even performing for the Indian Army during the China-Indian war. She was also a member of Padmini and Ragini's dance troop which had showcased the dance drama Ramayana over 100 times through out India.
In recognition of her contribution to teaching and spreading the rich cultural heritage of India through dance, she was honored with the title ‘Pride of India’ in 1994 by Pittsburgh Mayor Tom Murphy and by the Srinivasa Prasad International Foundation for Performing Arts. Smt. Jaya Mani has been an Adjunct Faculty member at Slippery Rock University since 2002 and has been instrumental in creating the Dance in India Initiative Program for the Department of Dance.
​
