Tara Rajkumar

Tara Rajkumar is an Indian classical dancer and dance teacher. She is an exponent in Indian classical dances like Kathakali and Mohiniyattam. In 2009, she was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia. She also received many other awards including Victorian Honour Roll of Women and Victorian Volunteer Award.

Biography Tara was born in Kozhikode, Kerala as the daughter of T. M. B. Nedungadi, former chairman of Kerala Kalamandalam. Tara is the great grand-niece of Appu Nedungadi, the author of Kundalata, the first novel in Malayalam. Although she started learning Kathakali in Bombay, when she was too young, her serious training was from Moleri Namboothiri in Kochi. She has also performed in famous theatres like London's South Bank, Sydney's Opera House and Melbourne's Victorian Arts Centre.

While in England, she founded Akademi (then called the Academy of Indian Dance), a classical dance center in England which runs to this day (as of 2023). It was with seed funding from the British government, she set up the National Academy of Indian Dance which later renamed as the South Asian Dance Academy, in London, in 1979.

Tara Rajkumar immigrated to Australia in 1983 and established Natya Sudha School and Natya Sudha Dance Company in Melbourne to teach Indian classical dance. Her productions have toured Australia, United Kingdom, India, New Zealand and Thailand. With support from Commission for the Future, AsiaLink and Multicultural Arts Victoria, she developed a unique cross-cultural project, Traditions in Transition, which culminated in a season of performances at CUB Malthouse.

Tara was the artistic director and principal dancer of the Indian dance component of the Australian Festival of Japan to Venice program held at the Victorian Arts Centre.

Notable performances Her work titled Temple Dreaming, based on the life of Louise Lightfoot and her passion for Kathakali, was first performed at the Alexander Theatre at Monash University, Australia and later in many venues in both India and Australia. She also received many other awards including Victorian Volunteer Award in 2006 by Victorian Government and Ethnic Arts Award.