Patch Whiz Kid of the Week—Shruti Sridhar

Shruti Sridhar, Age 11

School: sixth-grader at Challenger School in Sunnyvale.

Accomplishments:

• Straight-A student
• Winner of academic scholarships for the past two years
• Passionate about Bharatanatyam. She has been learning this ancient classical art form for the past six years from Guru Vishal Ramani, founder and artistic director of Shri Krupa Dance Company.
• She completed her Arangetram, the solo dance debut, at the age of 9, in August 2012.

Key to Awesomeness:

When Shruti met “Nilima Aunty” and heard her talk about the work Home of Hope has been doing to transform disadvantaged and under-privileged children’s lives in various towns and villages in India, she was inspired and motivated to use her knowledge of classical dance to do something to benefit this cause, said her proud parent Sridhar Lakshmanamurthy.

Shruti came up with the idea of a recital as a fundraiser for Home of Hope. With her Guru's blesssing and her commitment,  “The Dance Divine - My Soulful Journey,” was born, Lakshmanamurthy said in an email interview with Patch.

Shruti will be performing at 3:30 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 10 at the McAfee Performing Arts Center, 20300 Herriman Ave., in Saratoga.

Shruti's family cordially invites the community to attend the recital and cheer her on as she dances for this benevolent cause.

Tickets can be purchased online (www.konnectme.org/the-dance-divine), or by contacting Sridhar, 408-569-4648, or Kanchana, 408-569-4650, or by email at shrutisridhardance@gmail.com. Tickets are $50 for preferred seating, $25 for general seating.