Payal Ramchandani

Payal’s journey as a Kuchipudi dancer commenced almost two decades ago when she was barely four years old. Since the time she embarked on her journey she has never looked back, striving towards perfection and excellence with consistent dedication and the unstinted support and guidance of her renowned Padmashri Guru Jayarama Rao and Vanashree Rao. Her initial training was with Gurus Raja and Radha Reddy. She was the youngest Kuchipudi dancer to have performed her Rangapravesham at the age of nine. 

In an environment where classical dance is a fast yielding space to a culture that is far more westernized, Payal’s dance performances come in as a whiff of fresh air. Endowed with an elfin beauty, lissome figure and a photogenic face, Payal manifests herself in poses and movements harmoniously, investing the presentation with a special charm. Her emotive ability with subtle facial expressions and foot movement, sensitive rhythmic response and dexterity has endeared her to the dance lovers who eagerly look forward to her performances. 

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She has been giving performances for over a decade now. Her performances have ranged from dancing at eminent dance festivals to Academies to International 

conferences. Her repertoire also includes performances for raising funds for social causes. Some of the corporate houses/Institutions which have sponsored her performances include Airtel, Heritage, Air Hostess Academy, and International doctors’ conference, Tamana, Unity nternational Foundation, Legends of India and Iqbal Barik Mission, T.V Today, Mewar Institute,KMG.

She has participated in several festivals in India and abroad. To mention a few, She has performed for the Kuchipudi Natya Mahotsav, Kuchipudi Natya Vaibhavam Festival, and Shringar festival She has also participated in the Bhaskar Rao All India Nritya and Sangeet Sammellan and at Dubai and Sharjah at the Jewels of India series to commemorate fifty years of India's independence. She has also been dancing at the lotus feet of Lord Ayyappa at the Ayyappa temple in New Delhi during the Mandalam Festival; has also participated In Mumbai Festival, 2007, which is a national festival to nurture and showcase the talent of young performers of all Indian classical dance styles. In addition to this She has also given a recital organized by an NGO Unity International Foundation 

engaged in promoting international relations, in Delhi. The 'Legends of India' organized her solo dance performance in Delhi called 'Jagdeeswaraya namah Sivaya'. She also performed at Indian Immunology Society Conference & Asian Pacific Congress of Clinical Biochemistry at AIIMS and Lawyers’ conference 2010. Apart from this She has had the opportunity to perform in the Youth Festival 2010 as part of the 19th Commonwealth games 2010, Festival of India 2010, organized by the Delhi government and Delhi Tourism as part of the celebrations of the Games, She has also participated in the Nritya Rupa-Desh Parva series organized by the Sangeet Natak Academy to mark the celebrations of the above. Besides these, She has also performed in the ‘Bhakti Pravaha’ series of Chinmaya mission in recital titled ‘Vande Vasudevam’. She has recently performed at the Mahabalipuram festival 2011 and a large audience at the prestigious Taj Mahotsav 2011. She also walked the ramp in fashion show organized by Marie Claire and Sanjana Jon to support the cause of ‘Saving the girl child’. Her most recent performances included 'Unbounded beats of India-Utsav' on the occasion of the World Dance Day and participation in a lecture demonstration at Modern School, organized by Spic Macay to celebrate the same. She has also performed along with her Gurus at the SAARC conference for parliamentarians hosted by Meera Kumar. She recently performed at the opening and closing of India’s Single largest Dance Holding – the Mohan Khokhar Dance Collection at the visual arts gallery India Habitat Centre, inaugurated by Dr. Karan Singh. She recently represented India on behalf of ICCR for the “Year of India” in Canada 

in Saskatoon, Regina, Swift Current City, Calgary, Victoria, Edmonton and Ottawa amongst other cities in Canada.She has also performed at the India International Trade Fair 2011 organised by ITPO. Under the auspices of ICCR, she also gave performances in Mauritius at the World Telugu Conference in the first week of December, 2011 and conducted Workshops for students at Quatre Bornes. She performed at the 4th BRICS Summit at the Rashtrapati Bhavan,New Delhi in the presence of all the five Heads of States and the Hon’ble Prime Minister of India, Dr.Manmohan Singh and at the FTP11 Conference held at the Indian Institute of Technology,New Delhi. In addition to this she performed at one Occasion of World Dance Day organized by Shri Ashish Khokar at Alliance Francais,Bangalore.She gave a solo recital organized in Mysore by Smt. Vasundhara Dorasamy and at the Sai Nrityotasava organized by Sai International Centre at Bangalore. Payal has been awarded the INDIRA GANDHI PRIYADARSHINI AWARD.She has also acted in the popular DD Series ‘Parampara’ depicting the Nava Rasas and has also been conferred the title of ‘Nritya Shree” by Pracheen Kala Kendra. She is an empanelled artist with ICCR and Doordarshan-Delhi.

Payal has been conferred the prestigious Indira Gandhi Priyadarshini Award.

Payal's performance have been attended and appreciated by the distinguished doyens of art like Dr. Karan Singh, Dr. Bhishm Narain Singh, Smt Uma Bharati. Shri Suresh Goel, Ashish Khokhar, Yamini Krishnamurthy amongst others.  It is a matter of distinction for the dancer to have been conferred the title of Nritya Shree by the Pracheen Kala Kendra a premier organization dedicated to classical music and dance for more than 50 years. 

She has been compared to dancing sensation Shirley Temple by the media. She has also been ranked as one of the top ten dancers of next generation by the renowned International dance journal 'Attendance'.