Celebrating excellence in performance, education, research, and community — rooted in tradition, creative in presentation.
Abhinava is celebrating 32 years of Crafting Inspired Dancing in the field of Performing Arts. Based out of Bangalore, South India, Abhinava Dance Company (ADC) stands as one of the premier dance companies in the country — storytellers from the land of Bharata, where ABHINAVA means "Classical and all-time-new."
Our Mission
Four Pillars of Abhinava
Abhinava Arts Centre (Reg) is the parent body with four pillars:
ABHINAVA DANCE COMPANY — Professional performing & production arm
ABHINAVA DANCE SCHOOL — Training wing (ICCR recognized, 700+ students)
COMMUNITY — Outreach, Madanothsava, fundraisers, healing through arts
RESEARCH — Deshi Marga Adavu (DMA) & Natyashastra studies
Our Promise: Rooted in Tradition & Creative in Presentation. We have passionately built a brilliant team of people of Artistic Intelligence!
Meet the Team
Artistic Intelligence
Founders & Artistic Directors
Nirupama Rajendra & Rajendra
Dancers, teachers, choreographers, producers, creators, researchers & curators with 40+ years of Artistic Intelligence.
Company
Abhinava Dance Company
A brilliant team of people of Artistic Intelligence — on stage, backstage, and in the school.
Advisory Board
Dhiraj Wali
Advisory
Hari Ravikumar
Advisory
Shataavadhaani Dr. R Ganesh
Advisory
Production Team
Anand Behere
Program Manager
Ajay Vijendra
Tech Engineer
Santosh Narasimiah
Wardrobe Manager
Poorna Prajna Prabhath
Audio System Specialist
On Stage
Rohini Prabhath
Rehearsal Director and Faculty Head
Apoorva Rao
Rehearsal Conductor and Faculty
Maanvi Ramprasad
Rehearsal Conductor and Faculty
Dancers
Rohini
Apoorva
Maanvi
Sanchita
Saanika
Saanchi
Medha
Sphurthi
Anumathi
Collaborators
Abhinava Dance Company has collaborated with the following maestros for its productions.
Praveen D Rao
Music composer
Pravin Godkhindi
Music composer
Shatavadhani Dr. R. Ganesh
Sanskrit Scholar / Resource person
Arjun Bharadwaj
Sanskrit Scholar / Resource person
Vinod Gowda
Art Director
Mysore Manjunath
Music composer
Jayanthi Kumaresh and Kumaresh
Music composers
Bickram Ghosh
Music composer
Faiyaz Khan
Music composer
Anoor Ananthakrishna Sharma
Music composer
Our History
Four Decades of Heritage
Nirupama & Rajendra have dedicated four decades to preserving, innovating, and sharing India's classical dance heritage while creating new pathways for the future. From the very first production Parampurush (1995) to landmark research in Deshi Marga Adavu (2021) and national recognition with the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (2023), Abhinava continues to set benchmarks in excellence, community impact, and artistic innovation.
We are storytellers hailing from the land of the oldest oral storytelling tradition — Bharata (India). Our body of work is based on techniques derived from Natyashastra — a 5000-year-old classical text on dramaturgy. Over the years, our efforts to showcase the spectrum of Indian dance forms in all their grandeur has garnered admiration from over 7.5 million people across the world.
If you listen carefully, at the end you'll be someone else.
— Nirupama & Rajendra
Company
Artistic Excellence
Rooted in tradition and creative in presentation, Abhinava’s productions are known for their magical storytelling, breathtaking choreography, original music, and exquisite costumes — all created in-house.
We have collaborated with distinguished music composers, master musicians, designers, and writers who have brought their creativity and artistry into the unique works of Abhinava.
This excellence has earned the SNA Award from the Honorable President of India, Smt. Droupadi Murmu (Category: Creativity & Experimental Dance), conferred at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi.
Over the years, Abhinava has built a team comprising choreographers, producers, creators, dancers, teachers, researchers and curators.
Company Timeline
Milestones
1994 — Abhinava inaugurated
1995 — First full-length production: Parampurush; organised Abhinava Utsav
1996 — Spirit of Dance production; Abhinava Dance School established; organised Abhinava Utsav
1997 — Choreography of the Mahi River Education project for Sampad, UK. Choreography with 100 artists on the Doctor's profession and full-length Vandemataram. 50 years of Indian Independence celebrations at Zurich, Switzerland, and organised Abhinava Utsav in Bangalore
1998 — Choreography of Raghava Lahari, a full-length work in two styles
1999 — Choreography for songs of the revolutionary poets of Karnataka with 1000 singers, directed by C. Ashwath
2000 — Organised World Dance Day, bringing together hundreds of artists and 3000 art lovers
2001 — USA Tour
2002 — ICCR Tour: Reunion Islands, Zambia & Tanzania
2003 — Art & Science project on the “Story of Carbon” for Chitralekha Dance Company, UK. Tour USA
2004 — Tour Europe
2005 — Tour Europe and a 16-performance tour of the USA
2006 — Tour UK and performance in the cross-cultural work Ocean of Light with American Indian and contemporary dancers, supported by Battery Dance Company, NY
2007 — Tour Europe. Contemporary work based on the art of storytelling in the Indian and Irish traditions, with Irish dancers and theatre artists in the UK. Created the Gausamrakshana production on cow protection
2008 — Musical Rama Katha Vismaya created and premiered in Bangalore; tour of the US and Canada
2009 — Created the Kathakitathom production for a national tour of the UK
2010 — Invited by MILAPFEST to lead the Indian Forum at the Big Hope Congress, UK — 750 international students from 55 countries
2011 — Received the Karnataka Kalashree State Award
2012 — Tour USA
2013 — Tour Hong Kong
2014 — Invited by the International Arts Festival, Sebring, Florida, USA; China tour — Shanghai
2015 — Created the Padmashali production and celebrated Abhijna — 20 years of Abhinava; over 10,000 people at the Indoor Stadium
2016 — Received the prestigious Nrithya Choodamani Award from Sri Krishna Gana Sabha, Chennai
2017 — Commissioned choreography Samhati for Singapore. Australia – New Zealand performance tour; tour of Hong Kong
2018 — Madanothsava / Dhaara — flood relief & spring festival revival
2019 — Krishnaa — Fire to Frost
2020 — Parva — 25 years of Abhinava & Madanothsava at Ramanjaneya Gudda, Bangalore
2021 — Deshi Marga Adavu Research launched
2022 — Creation of the Vijayanagara Vyjayanta production
2023 — Madanothsava & US Tour
2024 — SNA Award + US Tour & curated Abhijata — 42nd Natya Kala Conference, Chennai
2025 — Collaborated with Bickram Ghosh on musical compositions for Kathak. Curated Navonmesha — 43rd Natya Kala Conference. Video documentation of a 7th-century Sanskrit satire, Bhagavadajjukam, supported by Murty Foundation. Natya Kala Shikhamani Award from the Indian Fine Arts Society, Chennai
2026 — Rasaradhanam: presented exquisite choreography works of Shataavadhaani Dr. R Ganesh. Presented Vidwat Goshti
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
For first-time visitors — common questions about Abhinava Dance Company and Abhinava Dance School:
Yes, ADC has presented successful concerts at high-profile corporate events like Godrej, Tata, Bosch, Infosys, IFQM and more. To book Abhinava’s shows for corporate events, contact info@abhinavadancecompany.com.
Can I watch performances without prior knowledge of classical dance?
Yes. Abhinava performances are designed to reach audiences with or without context to traditional dance — poetic storytelling, dynamic movement, and rich music create an immersive experience for every viewer.
What is Deshi Marga Adavu?
Abhinava's Research Department has introduced Deshi Marga Adavu (DMA) — a new vocabulary of 108 artistically crafted movements created by Smt. Nirupama Rajendra. DMA bridges the Deshi Adavus of Bharatanatyam with the Marga elements from the Natyashastra. Know more at Research (DMA).
Founding
Artistic Directors' Vision
To create a living tradition that honours the past while fearlessly embracing the future — through performance, education, research, and community celebration.
As founders of Abhinava Dance Company — one of India's most popular and cutting-edge production houses recognised worldwide — Nirupama & Rajendra have been instrumental in introducing innovation, creativity, enthusiasm and imagination to the realm of Classical Art.
They stand today as Artistic Directors with a vision of adapting traditional themes to classical media that will reach out to an audience that may or may not have context to traditional dance — with techniques from 5000-year-old scriptures to 21st century technological innovations.
Artistic Directors
Nirupama & Rajendra
Nirupama & Rajendra are one of India's foremost classical dancers, who hail from a family of educationists, artists and Harikatha Vidwans (traditional storytellers).
They are not only dancers, but also choreographers, teachers and storytellers. Their performances are based on Indian classical dance perfected over the years from learning in music, dance, literature and culture — some dating back to 5000-year-old scriptures.
Family & Artistic Background: Legacy of Harikatha vidwans from Purandara Dasa.
The audience has fuelled our passion for over 35 years and continue to inspire us to bring forth holistic and creative presentations for the world.
Abhinava Dance Company is India's premier classical dance institution with 32 years of excellence in performance, education, research, and community engagement. Winner of Sangeet Natak Akademi Award 2023 (Creativity & Experimental Dance). ICCR recognized training wing with 700+ students. Based in Basavanagudi, Bangalore.
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