Sheela Chandrashekar moved from Bangalore, India in 1979 to Ottawa, in the middle of winter. Her brother and family lived in Ottawa at the time and quickly the few Kannada families that were here became hers as well. Although the snow and the cold was of shock, she had settled here well, but like being home sick, Sheela was very dance sick.
Sheela was a classically trained Bharatha Natyam dancer. If you asked her, she would tell you “Bharatha Natyam is who I am, I can’t remember when I first danced, just like I can’t remember when I first took a breath, I’ve always danced”.
She had her initial foundation in the art, from the late Guru Sri Muthaiah Pillai of Pandanallore and later, with the famous dancer couple from Bangalore, India, late Prof. U.S. Krishna Rao and the late Mrs. Chandra Bhaga Devi. Under their able guidance and careful grooming, Sheela attained professional standards in performing and choreography. She also trained under Asthaana Vidhushi Dr. Venkatalakshamma of Mysore in Abhinaya.
Sheela had given performances across India and was teaching Bharatha Natyam to a large number of students privately and at Bharathiya Vidya Bhavan in Bangalore.
Within a couple of months of moving to Canada, she started giving performances on stage, Television, and in a number of dance dramas, winning the acclaim of both the public and the press as a dancer of eminence in both Canada and the United States. Soon after she started teaching dance to a handful of kids that quickly became a bigger group with more students from diverse backgrounds and locals who were interested in learning the classical form. That’s when she founded Rathi School of Dance in 1980, with the vision of propagating the classical Indian dance form – Bharatha Natyam in the Pandanallur Style – to future generations in Canada. Over the last 40 years, students from Rathi School have given performances across Canada, The United States, India, Europe, and Australia. Sheela’s mandate is to nurture the authentic traditions of classical Bharatanatyam and produce performers, choreographers and teachers who will preserve and create traditional and contemporary works in this style of Indian classical dance. Rathi School of Dance follows a regular school year of September through June, 60+ students learn and deepen their skills in Bharatha Natyam to move towards their Ranga Pravesh/Arangetram. Over 40 students have completed their Ranga Pravesh through Rathi School of Dance over the last 4 decades, and she continues to groom students intensively every year.