Awaaz Arts was established to ensure the youth of today have a platform that will support them in achieving their dreams, fuel their passions, and encourage them to fulfill any goals. So, as of 2024, Awaaz Arts is establishing a Youth Achievement Award that will honor any youth who is making a mark in the world. It doesn’t matter which field as long as the individual is doing it with dedication and a pure heart. Awaaz Arts is proud to announce that the first recipient of the Awaaz Arts Youth Achievement Award is Samiksha Diwakar, a young 7 year old Indian classical dancer from the UK.
Samiksha Diwakar, is just 7 years old and is a dancer trained in the bharatanatyam style of Indian dance. She is the niece and disciple of Smt. Chithra Muralidaran. At this young age, Samiksha has already begun to make waves in the world of bharatanatyam. She has won awards for her dances and has performed at venues in the UK, France, and India. Most significantly, she achieved a World Record for performing a 23 minute varnam (award granted by International Book of Records 2024) at the young age of 7! Performing a varnam was not enough for this gifted young girl. Instead, she worked hard to master several pieces to the point where, at this age, she could confidently present a full bharatanatyam margam. Margam literally means “path” or “course” that is followed. In bharatanatyam, a margam is a traditional sequence of dances that is presented. Typically, a margam has 6 to 7 pieces. Just a few weeks back, Samiksha made her margarzhi debut in Chennai and presented a full 6 piece margam – including a 25 minute varnam – showcasing choreographies of Smt. Chithra Muralidaran to Guru Madurai R. Muralidaran’s popular compositions. You can read our review of her margam here.
Having seen this young talent debut such a strong margam, it only made sense that Samiksha Diwakar should be the first recipient of the Awaaz Arts Youth Achievement Award. Congratulations Samiksha! Wish you the best of luck in your dance career!
To submit talents for next year’s 2025 Youth Achievement Award, please submit your profiles to awaazarts@gmail.com
