Artist Information Alarmel Valli   Valli's dance is movement as pure joy and can literally embody infinite subtleties of the emotions, intricacies of design, glimpses of the divine, momentarily at least, wrenching order out of chaos. The dancer is at once the musician, the sculptor structuring space, the painter adding tints and hues to life, the poet writing poems with her movements, gestures  and expressions. Ultimately she is the seeker whose dance becomes a trandescental, transforming experience - an ecstatic prayer that celebrates the beauty, the wonder and the mystery of life.Acclaimed not only for the exquisite perfection of her dance, Alarmel Valli, the foremost exponent of the Pandanallur tradition in Bharatanatyam, is also hailed as a creative artiste who brings to everyone of her performances a depth, intensity and naturalness which makes  her not only a "paragon among dancers" but the "essence of dance itself".   Trained by renowned gurus, Shri Chokkalingam Pillai and his son Shri Subbaraya Pillai, she has extended the frontiers of her dance tradition, evolving a style uniquely her own. Her study of padams and javalis under the eminent musician Smt. T. Muktha, has helped her explore the idea of dance as visual music.  Recipient of numerous awards, she was conferred the State award of Kalaimamani in 1979 and was made the State Artiste of Tamilnadu between 1981 and 1984. In January 1991, she was the  youngest dancer to be awarded the title of ``Padmashri'' by the President of India. She founded ``Dipashika'', a center for performing arts in 1984.   Valli has performed extensively, both in in India and cultural capitals of the world - in North and South America, Europe, the former USSR, the Middle East, South East Asia, Japan and Australia.A few of the highlights of her career are performances at the Bolshoi Theatre, the Theatre De la Ville in Paris, the Vienna Festival, The New York International Festival of Arts, the India Festival in Sweden and London, the Cevantino Festival in Mexico, the Avignon Festival in France, the Harbourfront International Festival of Arts in Toronto, the Basel International Dance Festival, the birthday celebrations of Queen Beatrix of The Netherlands at the Hague Palace and the Min-on Concert  Association of Japan. We are honored to have her perform in the San Francisco Bay area.