Sneha bagavandoss

Sneha Bagavandoss, a middle school graduate from Morgan Selvidge Middle School in Ballwin, started learning dance at the age of five.  She has been under the able guidance of Guru Prasanna Kasthuri since then, learning Indian dance classical art form, Bharatanatyam.  She has performed and participated in several major productions of Guru Prasanna Kasthuri.  Some of these can be listed as: Avataara, Cherishnu, Om Ganesha, Anubhava Mantapa, Thoughts, and Rainbow II.  Some of the highlights of her performances were at the Asian Festival in Columbus, Ohio, Annual Fund Raising for Kannada Association in Chicago, International Institute in St. Louis and many others.

Over the years, Sneha has been enthusiastically involved in performing other folk styles of Indian dances as well.  She has performed for various associations in St.Louis such as Tamil Sangam of Missouri, Cultural Association for South India (CASI), and India Association. She has also helped in composing dance items for children during Indian cultural festivals.

In her fifth grade year, Sneha was the editor-in-chief of her school newspaper, and has been participating in the talented and gifted program (TAG) of Rockwood school district.  In middle school, she became a member of the National Junior Honor Society, an organization made up of students excelling in academics participating in social service.  She was also elected as the treasurer for the National Junior Honor Society at her school.  Recently her name appeared in the St.Louis Post-Dispatch newspaper for being one of the finalists in the region for the Scripps Howard Spelling Bee.

Sneha volunteers in local community organizations like the St.Louis County library, Hindu Temple of St.Louis, Rockwood District Elementary schools, etc. In her spare time, she loves to read, watch movies, play tennis and spend time with her younger brother.

Arangetram Focus:

According to Guru Prasanna Kasthuri, Sneha's arangetram is focused on Tamil literature, which  happens to be her mother tongue. This language driven approach helps children to understand their mother tongue better and also it will expose them to their rich literature and traditions. Sneha will be performing couple of songs from tiruvAcakkam as a part of her arangetram.