Arunima Kumar


Arunima Kumar, Sangeet Natak Akademi Yuva Puraskar awardee for the year of 2008 for Kuchipudi. As a young girl of 9, Arunima acted in the ballet Amrapali. The formally launched her in 1995 where she performed her Arangetram at the Triveni Kala Sangam, New Delhi.

About

Arunima is a Kuchipudi dancer and a recipient of Sangeet Natak Akademi's prestigious Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskaar for 2008. Currently she lives in London and is working as a HR Consultant at Aricent Group.

Start of career

Arunima started learning Kuchipudi at the age of 7 and had her initial training under Padma Bhushan Smt Swapna Sundari. She is a senior disciple of Padmashree Guru and has been performing for over 15 years. As a young girl of 9, Arunima acted in the ballet Amrapali. The Kuchipudi Dance Academy formally launched her in 1995 where she performed her Rangapravesham at the Triveni Kala Sangam, New Delhi.
From then on Arunima pursued her art and has given several national and international performances at prestigious cultural festivals and venues.

Notable performances

Her notable performances include the Rashtrapati Bhawan, Sydney Opera House, Canberra Festival, Expo 2000 in Hannover and Lisbon, , Tagore Center in Berlin, Asian Arts Festival in Manila, Kuchipudi Convention in USA in 2008, Hyderabad Arts Festival, Kuchipudi Festival etc.
She has also performed in several ballets like the, Chitrangada Ballet, where she played the role of Chitrangada; Nala Damayanti, where she played the role of Damayanti
Arunima has also been recognized with the Sahitya Kala Parishad Scholarship for Dance in 1998 and the Shringarmani title by Sur Shringar Samsad in 2001. She is empanelled as an Established artiste with the I.C.C.R. Indian Council for Cultural Relations, Ministry of External Affairs and is an A grade artiste of the All India Radio and Doordarshan.

Education

Besides dance, Arunima has also done good in academics. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from India's prestigious St. Stephen's College and then studied M.Sc. in Finance and Accounting from the London School of Economics.
She is also a keen pistol shooter and has won several medals in State and National Championships and is also the recipient of the Government of India Sports Talent Search Scholarship...

Film, television and radio broadcasts and appearances

She is keenly interested in dramatics and has acted in a number radio and television programs Yog Yatra on , music videos Euphoria, advertisements and short films Documentary on New Delhi, International film, Microsoft, Globus. She has recently done a cameo in a feature film directed by Prakash Jha – Rajneeti.

Key achievements and work

Kumar was awarded the British Empire Medal in 2025 for services to Indian classical dance and community.

Notable international performances

Upcoming performances in UK-