Vidya Govind wins prestigious youngARTS Award 

March 12, 2009 
 
Vidya Govind, disciple of Hema Rajagopalan, is the proud recipient of a youngARTS Award from the National Foundation for the Advancement in the Arts. This is one of the most prestigious awards a young artist can receive, and is testament both to Vidya's talent and to the rigor of Hema Rajagopalan's teaching.

Says Hema, "I am very happy and very proud that Vidya got this opportunity. She is a dancer of great promise and gives me hope for the future of our art form."

"I'm really grateful that I was given the opportunity to participate in youngARTS," says Vidya, winner of Level I, $3,000 Award. "So many people don't know anything about Bharatanatyam. This gave me an opportunity to put this art form out there. It was a really great experience to be surrounded by people who are so passionate about what they do." 

Vidya, who was chosen from nearly 8,000 applicants in nine disciplines, now has the opportunity to become a Presidential Scholar in the Arts.
 
youngARTS celebrates and rewards exceptional student artists from across the US in nine artistic fields: cinematic arts, dance, music, jazz, photography, theater, visual arts, voice and writing. The young artists are given the chance to perform in front of renowned artists and arts educators.
 
Four other Natya disciples were honored with NFAA awards in past years; one of these became a Presidential Scholar in the Arts. Natya Program Coordinator Bill Jordan was himself a Presidential Scholar in Writing.