Members

Sapna Gopal
Captain/President

Sapna is a junior at UMD majoring in Physiology and Neurobiology. She began learning Bharatanatyam at the age of seven in India and continues to learn in Maryland under the guidance of Mrs. Shobha Subramanian. Sapna also does hip hop and bollywood fusion dance. She aspires to become a doctor. In her free time, Sapna enjoys sketching and painting, watching movies, and hanging out with her friends.

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Aparna Ramarathnam
Competition Chair

Aparna is a senior at UMD majoring in Neurobiology & Physiology and Japanese. She has been learning Bharatanatyam since the age of 6 from Mrs. Janaki Sivaraman, and completed her arangetram in 2005. Aparna also enjoys other forms of Indian dance, and is currently serving as the Executive Vice President for UMD's Indian Students Association. In the future, Aparna aspires to be involved in the medical field and in her free time she enjoys watching Animal Planet, the Food Network, and the History Channel.

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Esha Murty
Captain/President

Esha is a junior at UMD majoring in Materials Science Engineering. She started Bharatanatyam at five years old and did her arangetram in 2008. Esha loves performing and choreographing and is trained in Modern and Hip Hop dance as well. She is also a proud member of UMD's South Asian a cappella group, Anokha. In her free time, she loves watching movies, talking, eating, and doing anything related to Harry Potter. :)

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Lakshmi Mellacheruvu
Treasurer

Lakshmi has been learning Kuchipudi under the guidance of Anuradha Nehru for the past 7 years. She is currently a sophomore double majoring in International Business and Finance and hopes to attend either law or business school in the future. In addition to Moksha, Lakshmi is a member of the Community of Aspiring Shareholders (CASH) and UMD's Model UN team.  She's also a Harry Potter fanatic and loves to travel.

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Shruti Ramachandra
Outreach Chair

Shruti has been learning Bharatanatyam for the past 12 years from Mrs. Indhra Rajashekar and also from Mrs. Thejeswini Raj.  She performed a benefit program in July 2011 to help raise money for the HELP Foundation. She is a sophomore pre-med and Psychology major with a Spanish minor, and hopes to attend medical school in the future.  In her free time, she likes to bake, watch movies, hang out with her friends and read.

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Nandita Ravishankar
Secretary

Nandita is a sophomore at UMD majoring in Government and Politics.  She has been learning Bharatanatyam since the age of 5 under the guidance of Mrs. Meena Telikicherla and recently had her arangetram in July 2011.  In addition to dance, Nandita is involved with UMD’s SEED and MaryPirg and hopes to further her studies in international development.  She is also a Harry Potter aficionado and loves to cook and travel.

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Jaya Chinnaya

Jaya is a freshman at UMD majoring in Hearing and Speech Sciences. She began learning Bharatanatyam at the age of 6 and had her arangetram in 2010 under the instruction of Mrs. Divya Nayar. In the future, she hopes to become a speech pathologist and work with deaf children and their families. In her free time, Jaya enjoys playing the guitar, cooking, trying new foods, and watching re runs of Friends and Gilmore Girls. 

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Aishwarya Subramanian

Aishwarya Subramanian hails from the artistic family of the Jayamangala School of Music and Dance. She has been learning Bharatanatyam from a very young age from her mother-guru Shobha Subramanian. She completed her Bharatanatyam Arangetram in June 2010 and has performed at various festivals and venues, including Diwali Mela, Cherry Blossom Festival, and the Kennedy Center. She graduated from the American International School of Lusaka, Zambia (Africa), and is currently a freshman studying bioengineering at the University of Maryland, College Park.

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Meet Our Alumni