Discover

Who are we

Nupur Arts is a dynamic dance organisation based in the heart of Leicester since 1990. Specialising in Bharatanatyam, Bollywood and Folk, Nupur Arts offers dance classes to all demographics. Alongside their outreach work of engaging with artists, practitioners & other arts organisations to develop, promote and support South Asian arts in Leicestershire & beyond.

The organisation plays a key role in enriching local communities and engaging with people of all ages, abilities and backgrounds, through a range of arts and cultural activities reflecting the diversity of contemporary England.

Our history

Established in 1990 by Artistic Director Smita Vadnerkar, Nupur Arts has gone from strength to strength. Enriching the local community through dance activities in schools and centres, Smita’s classes grew from Bharatanatyam to more contemporary styles. Through outreach workshops and performances, now over 200 students learn at the classes and over 30 years a new generation of young leaders has emerged who are involved in production, script-writing, teaching, media documentation, composing and administration of the classes and productions. Through Nupur Arts, hundreds of young people have becoming culturally aware, confident, creative and energetic adults making a positive contribution to Leicestershire and beyond.

Smita Vadnerkar

Artistic Director

Smita Vadnerkar is the Artistic Director and Producer of Nupur Arts Dance Academy. She is a professional artist in Bharatanatyam (South Indian Classical), Creative and Folk dance styles. She has been teaching for the last 30 years in numerous community centres, schools, and colleges. She anecdotes through Bharatanatyam classical dance, demonstrations and performances on a regional and national level such as Leeds, Swindon, Wakefield, London etc. She has taken Nupur Arts all over the UK and has repeatedly conducted sell out shows at Curve Theatre, De Montfort Hall, Watersmeet Theatre in Rickmansworth, Theatre Royal Nottingham, Birmingham Hippodrome, Berlin, Germany ITB & Royal Spa Centre Lemington Spa.

Smita has also been a professional judge at many high profile events, twice on Sony TV’s Boogie Woogie. Her passion for dance has inspired all who have crossed paths with her. Smita was awarded The Special Vishva Lanka Award for her outstanding contribution to dance in the community 2010.

Smita has established a wide range of contacts in her field and is well known and well respected amongst the arts and education organisers around the East Midlands. She has frequently worked with special schools within Leicestershire.

Her commitment to providing high quality training to people of all age ranges and abilities has seen former students successfully conduct classes in their own rights.

Additionally she has established NAYA which encourages youths to develop their skills in project management, project planning and teamwork.

Meet the team

Shreya Vadnerkar

Associate Director

Shreya Vadnerkar

Diya Gondalia

Company Administrator

Diya Gondalia

Amar Mistry

Bollywood tutor

Amar Mistry

Reema Mistry

Bollywood tutor

Reema Mistry

Alisha Vaghela

Bharatanatyam tutor

Alisha Vaghela

Nidhi Joshi

Bollywood & Bharatanatyam tutor

Nidhi Joshi

Vaidehi Acharya

Bollywood & Bharatanatyam tutor

Vaidehi Acharya

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Join the Team

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Our Supporters

Latest News

Marvel Studio's Eternals:

Thrilled to announce that 4 of our dancers & alumni member; Nidhi Joshi (dance tutor), Sneya Rajani (dance tutor) & Shreya Vadnerkar (Associate Director) and Sanjay Dattani (Alumni dancer) are featured as Bollywood dancers in the Eternals! Here’s a glimpse of the dancers bringing some Bollywood to the Marvel Cinematic Universe:

Bollywood official clip| Marvel Studio’s Eternals

One dance UK: Lifetime Achievement Award:

Artistic Director, Smita Vadnerkar is this year's recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award from One Dance UK. Recognising her 30+ years of hard work, dedication and contribution to South Asian arts in the UK.

Asian Media Awards:

We are delighted to announce that Nupur Arts have been selected as Finalists for the 2021 Asian Media Awards for Best Stage Production for our 2020 Nartan Online Series!

https://nupurarts.org.uk/discover/#latestnews
Click here to watch the series:

Part 1 Indian Folk dance & Music

Part 2 Indian Classical dance & Music