NEW DELHI: It was a tribute to the Bharatnatyam Guru N.V. Venkataraman from his daughter-disciple Rani Shinghal, herself an accomplished exponent of the oldest classical dance form. 
She conceived and performed Sankeertana, a dance-based interactive session to commemorate the 86th birth anniversary of her Guru and father Late N.V. Venkataraman at Mind Space, Sanskriti Kendra in the Capital’s Anandgram recently. The performance and dialogue were based upon appreciation of the connections within and between different cultural practices-Bharatnatyam, bhajan, keertana all about Tirupati.
It was a collaborative presentation by Rani Shinghal and Jaya Iyer, an eminent theatre artist. 
Rani Shinghal who now heads Natya Sudha and trains disciples in finer nuances and techniques of Bharatnatyam has maintained the traditional style of Guru-Shishya parampara. She has been able to compose new choreography while teaching her students. She has performed with her troupe not only across India but also in many foreign countries. 
Her mother Guru Ma Padma Venkatraman had worked tirelessly to establish Natya Sudha in Delhi way back in 1959 to promote performing arts to upcoming artists.Both Guru N.V.Venkatraman and Guru Ma Padma trained hundreds of students in the classical dance form. 
Natya Sudha continues till date to impart quality training in Bharatnatyam and Carnatic sangeet with focus on customized learning program without diluting the intensity of the dance form create a culture of innovation and it was also the reason for the institute’s efforts to introduce the classical arts to economically underprivileged segments of the society. The effort continues even today at a number of centres being run by Rani Shinghal in many parts of the Capital.