Anandi Silva Knuppel
Anandi Silva Knuppel began her dance journey as an adult, learning Bharatanatyam with Smt. Bana Ramanath of San Antonio, Texas. In 2009, she began learning Odissi at Pani Dance Academy in North Carolina, a satellite school of Smt. Sujata Mohapatra. After finishing her master’s degree at Duke University focusing on the classicality, authenticity, and devotional aspects of Indian classical dance, Anandi began learning with Smt. Aparupa Chatterjee in Texas. Taking a break to finish her doctorate at Emory University in religious studies, Anandi returned to Odissi in 2020 as part of the Odissi Dance Company. Anandi has performed with Smt. Sujata Mohapatra as part of her Duke University residency, with Smt. Aparupa Chatterjee in venues such as the Kelucharan Guna Keertanam, and in various group and solo venues in North Carolina, Texas, Georgia, and Wisconsin. She has assisted in teaching Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi in K-12 and higher education and has presented her research on Indian classical dance at the American Academy of Religion conference and the University of Wisconsin-Madison Annual Conference on South Asia. Her work on dance was featured in the edited volume Scripting Dance in Contemporary India.