jeyanthi ghatraju
Jeyanthi Ghatraju is a Bharatanatyam dancer, choreographer and teacher from Westford, MA. Her school, Natyanjali, has a mission to promote the art among young children and to take the art to the underprivileged who may not have the opportunity to enjoy the art, such as the homes for the elderly, since 1995.
Jeyanthi had her initial trainings under guru Madurai Gopinath and later under gurus Suryakala and Vimala Chandrashekar at the Shivanjali Temple of Fine Arts, Coimbatore. She celebrated 30 years of teaching in 2024 and awarded celebratory citations from the MA House of Representatives and the Senate. Jeyanthi has given special performances in India, Canada and the USA.
Jeyanthi has been recognized with several MA cultural council grants, and in 2025, with a Creative Individual grant for her project, “The Journey”.
Jeyanthi has completed 25 student arangetrams (debut) and more than 30 students have graduated with the Certificate in Performing Arts, that she offers through her affiliation with the Alagappa Performing Arts Academy (Alagappa University, Karaikudi, India).
As the Founding artistic director of the annual fund raiser for the non-profit, Vision-Aid, Jeyanthi has been bringing together over 50 dancers from the New England community to stage Broadway style musicals, under the guidance of gurus from India, for the past 17 years. She is also the Co-Chair of the Council of Ambassadors for Vision-Aid, a non-profit organization educating and empowering the visually challenged.
Jeyanthi was recognized with the US Presidential Service Gold Award with a commendation from President Obama and President Trump in 2013 and 2017 respectively. Jeyanthi is a Plant Geneticist by training and a Senior Manager in the Defense industry by profession.
abstract
Dance in the Boston Ethos
Panel Discussion