Our Story

Nethra Academy of Performing Arts (NAPA) was founded in January 2018 as a cultural organisation to promote Indian classical performing arts – Bharatanatyam Dance, Carnatic Vocal and Instrument Mridangam in Gloucestershire. The main ethos of the academy is to raise the profile of Indian classical performing arts and to help individuals connect with the Indian culture which has a rich history and tradition in dance and music. NAPA’s founders are Dr Gayathiri and Thrinethra Gowri Shankar. Their interest and passion in the art form that inspired them to start this academy which is dedicated to providing a quality education and training to local community. Its main objectives are to mentor and coach the current and future generations in matters of education, career and personal goals in the performing arts, bring communities together for the betterment of all, and involve communities and individuals of all background, colour, and race. 

NAPA is a relatively young academy that started its journey in January 2018 with just a handful of students and now we have more students learning dance and music by following a structured syllabus from a reputed board – OFAAL registered to the UK OFQUAL standard. We are delivering classes both online and Face-2-Face which enables us to reach across the counties in the UK and other parts of the world. The students of NAPA range from ages as young as four to fifty, all of whom come from different religious groups and backgrounds. NAPA’s committed gurus helped the academy to survive the pandemic and reached out to other parts of the globe through virtual classes enabling students to sit their grading exams since 2018 and achieved outstanding results.  

NAPA Gurus and students have performed in prestigious venues both in the UK and India.

In 2018, NAPA was short-listed for 'Rising Star - Dance Teaching' Award by One Dance UK. 

Classes

NAPA classes are held at Stroud, Gloucestershire Academy of Music in Gloucester and virtual platform. 

Arts Award

NAPA delivers Arts Award; this is the only organisation in Gloucestershire to do so for Indian performing arts. Thrinethra is the first Bharatanatyam performer in the UK to receive her Gold Arts Award in 2016. She talks about the importance of Arts Award in this following video 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-MhhdJKttFA . 

NAPA’s Guru, Dr Gayathiri G Shankar is a trained Arts Award Adviser for Discover, Explore, Bronze and Silver. During the pandemic, Shashish (age 11) worked on his Bronze Arts Award for Mridangam and received his certificate in July 2021. He started on his Silver Arts Award journey in October 2021.

NAPA's current students are working towards various levels in Arts Award.

Arts event organiser

NAPA has organised several events in Gloucester/Cheltenham to create a platform for their students and other local artists to show their talent to the wider communities and to build up their confidence to learn the art forms between 2018 and early 2020. NAPA’s gurus performed in various venues in Gloucestershire and London to raise funds for local community/charity organisations, schools and churches. In total, they have raised over £20,000 between 2018 and 2021.