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 Kuchipudi Dance Academy formally launched her in 1995 where she performed her Arangetram at the Triveni Kala Sangam, New Delhi.
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 Kuchipudi Dance Academy 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 ( India's national academy set-up by the Republic of India) 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 JayaRama Rao and Vanasree Rao 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 (President House, Delhi), Sydney Opera House, Canberra Festival, Expo 2000 in Hannover and Lisbon, Nehru Center in London, 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 (1991–1992)...

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 Star News, 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.
Kuchipudi continues to be her abiding passion, which she pursues with relentless devotion. 
Endowed with "a pair of large eyes, a mobile visage and attractive stage presence". Arunima is a devoted dancer with a promising career ahead.

Key achievements and work
Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar conferred by Sangeet Natak Akademi, 2009
Sahitya Kala Parishad Scholarship for Dance in 1998.
Shringarmani title by Sur Shringar Sansa, 2004.
She was invited to perform for the Hon'ble President of India at Rashtrapati Bhawan in June, 2006.
Established Category Artist by the ICCR
A grade artiste' of the All India Radio and Doordarshan
Performed with over 400 dancers to break the Guinness book of World Records in Cupertino, California, 2008
New Choreography – with Fusion band ADVAITA
Outstanding  reviews and dynamic profile have been featured in all leading television and radio channels (Doordarshan, Sony, Aaj Tak, Star News etc.) and newspapers including Hindustan Times, Times of India, Indian Express, Business Standard, India Today etc.,
She features in the London School of Economics Newsletter for her outstanding performance at the Nehru Centre at London
In an endeavor to share the joy of being closely involved with India's rich cultural heritage, she also worked for SPICMACAY, a voluntary cultural organisation as its Planning and Finance coordinator.
She is also an active sponsor and member of GATI, a young dancers' forum.
She is building her own arts foundation to promote arts amongst youth, conceptualize and implement  projects in the field of outreach  – ARTS EXTEND - to promote peace and harmony across small towns and villages.
She was also a speaker at Bridge India's webinar "Cultural diffusion across closed borders: India's Cultural Diplomacy in a lockdown" on Wednesday 1 July.

Notable international performances
Indian Cultural Center, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, February 2010 
KL Convention Center, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, February 2010

Recent performances in Europe
Nehru Centre, London, July 2009
Royal Opera House, London, July 2009  part of Akademi's Frame by Frame Seminar
Dance India at Lowry, Salford, August 2009
India Centre, Cardiff, August 2009
Purcell Room, Southbank Center, 'Daredevas', November 2009Upcoming performances in UK-

Arena Theatre, Wolverhampton, UK, March 2010
University of Manchester, March 2010
Expo 1998, Lisbon, Portugal
India's 50th year of Independence held in Bonn, Germany
Expo 2000, Hannover, Germany
ICCR tour in 2003, Ministry of External Affairs of India, in prestigious venues in Australia, including Canberra Festival, Sydney Opera House, Melbourne, Brisbane.
ICCR tour Fiji, 2003
Arts Festival Thailand, ICCR tour 2003
Arts Festival Malaysia, ICCR tour 2003
International Festival, Indonesia, 2004
Asian Arts Festival, Manila, Philippines, 2007
India Week Celebrations at Nuremberg and Frankfurt, 2005
Tagore International Centre in Berlin in 2005
Nehru Centre in London, 2001, 2005
International Kuchipudi Dance Convention in Cupertino, California in 2008.
Diwali Celebrations in London, Trafalgar Square from TAL dance group Southern Spice 2016
Bloomsbury Festival, London 2016

Notable performances in India
Amrapali ballet, 1987
Rangapravesham at the Triveni Kala Sangam, New Delhi, 1998
Hyderabad Arts Festival
India Habitat Centre, 1998, 1999, 2003
India International Trade Fair 1999, 2002, 2003, 2006
SOPAN festival by Sahitya Kala Parishad
Delhi Tourism Festival at Santushti 2003
Bharat Yatra Festival in lucknow 2001
Shringaramani Festival in Mumbai 2001
Kuchipudi dance festival in Kuchipudi Village
National Choreography Festival at Habitat Centre 2003
Qutab Festival in 2003
Young Dancers Festival at Kolkata sponsored by Sangeet Natak Academy in 2004
Legends of India Festival at Kamani Auditorium, Delhi, 2004
Kalidasa Festival at Nagpur in 2004
India International Center, 2004
Habitat World in September 2005
Virasat Festival at Dehradun in 2005
The Mardol Classical Dance Festival at Goa, 2006
Goa International Centre in 2006
Biotech Conference in Hyderabad in 2006
Nehru Centre in Mumbai in 2006
Pratishtitha Festival where she played the role of Chitrangada in 'Chitrangada' Ballet, Habitat Center, 2006
Ugaadi (AP Bhawan) Celebrations in 2006
Jhansi Mahostav in 2006
Chamba festival in 2006
Mammalapuram festival in Chennai in 2007
Jugalbandi with Kathak, choreographed by Pdt. Birju Maharaj at Holi Ke Rang Mahotsav (sponsored by Kalashram) at Habitat Centre in March, 2007
Budh Mahotsav in Patna, May 2007 (where she performed the dance ballet Vasavadatta on Rabindra Sangeet Choreographed by her gurus)
Jaya Samiti in Mumbai in June 2007 organised by Hema Malini
Radha Asthami in Barsana, September 2007
Indo-European Conference organized by ICCR, September 2007
Fusion concert with Rock Band Advaita, September 2007
Sahitya Kala Parishad young dancer's Festival, September 2007
Neemrana Fort Palace in Oct 2007
SAARC Band festival November 2007
JNU Delhi November 2007, 2008
Delhi International Arts Festival December 2007
HCL concert series, December 2007
Haridas Sammelan, Mumbai, December 2007
Legends of India Festival at Nehru Center, Mumbai, 2007
Brahma Gana Sabha in Chennai January 2008
Nungambakkam Cultural Academy in Chennai, January 2008
Bhavbhuti Festival - Gwalior, February 2008
Ustad Allauddin Khan Samaoroh – Mahiyar, Gwalior, February 2008
Nal Damyanti Ballet at Akhil Bhartiya Mahakavi Shri Harsh Samaroh, Varanasi, March 2008
India International Trade Fair (Shakuntalam Theatre) on 20 November 2008
State Day Celebrations at Andhra Bhawan, November, 2008
Pune Air Force Station, Officer's Mess, Lohegaon, Pune on 14 January 2009
World Dance Day Celebrations, Habitat Center, May, 2009
World Dance Day celebrations, India International Center, sponsored by Natya Vriksha, May 2009
Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskaar Samaroh, Sangeet Natak Academy, Delhi, September 2009
Durga Puja Celebrations, Delhi, September 2009
Khajuraho Dance Festival February 2010

References
External links
"Information - Highlights 2009". Narthaki.com. Retrieved 18 April 2012.
Start: 19:00 End: 19:00 (13 December 2007). "Dance: Arunima Kumar - Kuchipudi recital - South Delhi". Delhi Live. Archived from the original on 26 February 2012. Retrieved 18 April 2012.{{cite web}}:  CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
"Arunima Kumar - Latest news reviews and interviews". Archived from the original on 15 June 2011. Retrieved 7 February 2010.
"Information - Highlights 2001". Narthaki.com. Retrieved 18 April 2012.
"Arunima Kumar | Arunima Kumar Profile". SiliconIndia. 11 May 2011. Retrieved 18 April 2012.
[1] Archived 19 December 2009 at the Wayback Machine