Smitha Rajan - A Profile

Smitha Rajan is a renowned, leading Mohiniyattam dancer who has to her distinction, among others, of having completed over a thousand stage performances before she turned thirty.

Smitha Rajan's grandparents are the legendary  couple - the great Kathakali dancer Kalamandalam Krishnan Nair and the acclaimed Mohiniattam guru Kalamandalam Kalyanikuttiamma.

 Having been born in such a family, it is not surprising that the young Smitha took to dance even before she started going to school! Her first stage performance (arangetram)was at the age of 5 and there has been no looking back since. She has been teaching dance since the age of 14. When she was 16 she was inducted into a panel of performing artists for Doordarshan and she has been performing regularly on the Doordarshan National Network in India - and she won the "Best dancer of the year" award for her Doordarshan performance in 1992. Smitha has traveled all over India for SPIC MACAY programs, the festivals of the Kendra Sangeeth Natak Academy, and numerous other dance festivals. (More about this is listed under "Performances") She has also traveled to the mid-east, far east, Europe and the USA. She has students from Japan, France, the UK and the USA, visiting her for classes.