Instructors

Bharatanatyam

Swarna Varsha Gurumoorthy

Director

Swarna Varsha Gurumoorthy, a distinguished Bharatanatyam artist with over 20 years of experience, trained under Acharya Dr. S. Divyasena at Divyanjali, Chennai, from the age of six. She was awarded the Scholarship for Young Artists in Bharatanatyam by India’s Ministry of Culture (2010–2012) and is a graded Doordarshan artiste. Swarna has performed on prestigious stages such as the Devdasi Festival (Orissa), Kalavaibhavam by Singapore Indian Fine Arts Society, and Kala Utsavam at Esplanade.
Her solo recitals span prominent sabhas in Chennai and stages in Thailand and Malaysia. Swarna began teaching at Divyanjali in 2009, later teaching in Singapore (2013–2018). She is now the Director of Swarna Kala Mandir (SKM) and has choreographed productions like Dhaara – The Divine Rainfall (2019) , Tri-Vima (Esplanade, 2023) and Shanmatham – Six Paths to Divinity (2023). Swarna is also training in Kathak under Guru Mulla Afsar Khan and holds a Master’s in Science & Technology Communication from Anna University. Since 2023, she is the Principal Tutor for the NUS Indian Dance at National University of Singapore and has been the Artistic Director for 2 productions by the team

Dhanya Desigan

Assistant Bharatanatyam Instructor

Dhanya began her Bharatanatyam journey at the age of five, training under the esteemed Natya Acharya Mani Guru V. Balakrishnan at Bharathaanjali for nearly fifteen years. She is now training under Acharya Swarna Varsha Gurumoorthy at Swarna Kala Mandir (SKM), under whose tutelage she completed her Arangetram in 2025. Over the years, Dhanya has performed in numerous temple and stage programs, particularly in Singapore. A key milestone in her journey was performing at the Chidambaram Natarajar Temple during the Natesha Arpanam for the Arudra festival in 2018. She has also participated in the Singapore Youth Festival (SYF) in 2018, 2019, and 2021. Her deep interest in Bharatanatyam led her to explore Carnatic music, in which she trained for several years. Dhanya has recently joined SKM and is currently undergoing teacher training to further her passion for both dance and teaching.

Anjali Manimaran

Assistant Bharatanatyam Instructor

Anjali, a student of Acharya Swarna Varsha Gurumoorthy, has been learning Bharatanatyam from the year 2013. She has taken part in different competitions and won top prizes namely, Papanasam Sivan competition in 2015 and 2016, “Soorya Singapore Talent Search” in 2019, Bharatham, “Let’s Dance” and Kaviyum Naatiyamum. She also been a part of the production “Krishna Guruvayoorappa” by Rhythms Aesthetic Society in 2015 at Victoria theatre apart from which she has performed at the Indian Arts Festival Singapore at Ci Yuan CC. She has been performing regularly at Navaratri festivals in various temples around Singapore and community events. Moreover, she has attended various workshops by legendary dancers like Smt. Priyadharsini Govind & Dr.S. Divyasena. Added to that, she has also performed in R K Swamy Hall, Chennai for Margazhi Natya Vizha in 2018. Anjali was also a part of the Indian Raga Labs video in 2018 in which she performed for a piece with other young Singapore dancers. She was also a part of SKM’s production “Dhaara- the divine rainfall” in the year 2019. She was assigned the as the Event director of NTU Indian Dance where she has actively taken part in dance events organised such as the Festival of Lights.

Kathak

Nahida Aktar Sarna

Kathak Instructor

Nahida Aktar Sarna has been learning Kathak under care of Guru Mulla Afsar Khan for 7 years. She is a recipient of the Best Student Award in 2020, from Singapore Indian Fine Arts Society (SIFAS). At Temple of Fine Arts, Singapore she learnt Bharatanatyam for 2 Years under Guru Sujatha Rajagopalan.

Teaching Journey:

She has been teaching Kathak since 2018 at Centre for Arts (CFA), A Fine Arts School run by Singapore Bangladesh Society. She is also the Dance Instructor at two schools run by the Bangla Language and Literary Society, BLLS. Nahida prepares her students from BLLS and CFA for their annual performances apart from choreographing for events at Community clubs and other religious events.

Performances:

She has been performing at various stages in Bangladesh and Singapore mainly:
Maitri Diwas – 2021, Celebrating Golden Jubilee of Bangladesh India Relation.
50 Years of Independence – Narayangoneg, Bangladesh.
Rabindra Nazrul Jayanti 2018, 2019 – NTU, Singapore
National Day Celebration – 2018, BDHC, Singapore.
Independence Day Celebration – 2019, BDHC, Singapore.
Language day 2019 – BLLS, Singapore.

Swathi Madhavan

Visiting Faculty- Kathak

Swathi has trained in Bharatanatyam from Acharya Dr. S Divyasena for over 12 years. She has been learning Kathak from Guru Mulla Afsar Khan for over 8 years. A mother of one and working in a Corporate, Teaching is something of passion and close to heart for Swathi.

  • Education: Completed Diploma in Kathak from Singapore Indian Fine Arts Society (SIFAS) in 2022.
    Awards: Natya Visharad (2022). Also trained in basics of percussion (Tabla) by Guru Mihir Kundu and Shri Prashanth G Krishnan
  • Teaching Journey: Educating children and adults since 2017 including Teaching/Choreography Assistance at SIFAS, Swarna Kala Mandir including choreography for annual days, festivals, school programs.
  • Performances:
    • Mahabalipuram Dance Festival, Jaya TV’s Taka Dhimi Tha and group performances with Divyanjali’s troupe.
    • Singapore: Vasantham TV Singapore, People Association Indian Arts Festival, Indian Heritage Show, Navaratri Festivals, Community Club Festivals
    • Productions: Chaturang (Kalavaibhavam 2018), Umeed – Colours of Hope, Sankalp Online Dance Festival by Kathak Exponent Smt. Vidha Lal, Prakriti-Vikriti, a SIFAS Production at Esplanade Theatres on the Bay (2021), Patang (production at Kala Utsavam).