Aparna Sharma is the founder and director of this institute. Before finding Aparna’s Dance Academy in 2001, Aparna was professor of Dance at prestigious colleges and universities in India. She has been teaching and performing dance in India and many countries for over 15 years.

Aparna started learning Kathak at the age of seven from guru Shrimati Shashi Mohan Goyal. Later she learnt Kathak from Guru Shri Rajender Gangani in Delhi Kathak Kendra. Aparna found Kathak and Rajasthani folk dances school ‘Pushpanjali Nritya Niketan’ at Jaipur in 1987. She achieved several milestones at an early age including Rajasthan University’s Smt. Maya Israni Gold Medal Award in year 1989-90; Rajasthan’s Best Dancer Award from 1987 to 1989; and first Position in Inter College Youth festival in year 1988.

After completing her master’s degree in Kathak from Bhathkhande University, Aparna joined Banasthali Vidhyapeeth as the dance professor in 1993. She also completed her Master’s degree in Food and Nutrition in the same year from Rajasthan University. Her students won interstate and then national dance competition, held at Amaravati, Maharashtra, in 1994 for the first time in the college’s history.

Aparna took an opportunity to visit Japan in 1994 on the invitation on Government of Japan for an international cultural festival. Her performance at 40 different locations including Nagoya, Wakayama, Osaka, Nishinomiya, Toyama, Tokai city etc

In 1995, Modi Institute of Science and Technology offered Aparna a position with dual responsibilities of head of the department of Dance and head of the department of Food and Nutrition. Since Aparna love unique challenged, she took this offer to start the department.

In order to pursue her PhD in Foods and Nutrition, Aparna took the position of professor at the University in 1997. She continued to give dance instructions at the University and her own dance school- Pushpanjali Nritya Niketan.

In the year 1999, Aparna moved to Atlanta USA, and found Aparna’s Kathak Academy in the year 2001. She has been very much involved with the India community in their cultural activities, where her students have performed Kathak and folk dances. She has carried out dance workshops for students in University of Georgia and numerous schools in Atlanta. She has also collaborated with a Flamingo instructor from New York to display the similarities in the two dance forms to dance students at University of Georgia.