Dr. Aruna Bhikshu, faculty in the Department of Dance, S N School of Arts & Communication, University of Hyderabad (UoH) has been selected to present a paper Performactive intercessions beyond Religion- a glimpse into Telugu Dance traditions in the “International Federation for Theatre Research (IFTR) 2016” to be held at Stockholm University, Sweden from 13 to 17 June 2016. The theme of the conference is Presenting the Theatrical Past – Interplays of Artefacts, Discourses and Practices.
Her paper is among the few being presented reflecting on the Indian Dances. It is featuring in the panel Asian Rituals and Mythologies. An Associate Professor in the Dance department Dr. Aruna has done her Ph.D. in Kuchipudi Abhinaya from University of Hyderabad. Also known as a Kuchipudi exponent, she has been instrumental in grooming more than 25 Tollywood stars like Junior NTR, Ram, Ileana, Nitin, Nikhil, Poonam Kaur, Parvati Melton to name a few. Dr. Aruna is among the first batch of Kuchipudi dancers that have graduated from UoH.
The International Federation for Theatre Research (IFTR) exists to facilitate communication and exchange between scholars of theatre and performance research throughout the world through its conference events and publishing activities. Founded in 1957, the Federation currently has members from 44 countries from all continents. It holds annual international conferences, regional conferences, and research working group symposia. It owns a leading international journal (Theatre Research International) and publishes two major book series in collaboration with Palgrave Macmillan and Rodopi.