To Rema Shrikant, Dance is a passion.  Running the Ellora Centre of Performing Arts (ECPA) since 1975, Bharatanatyam and Mohiniyattam exponent, she has dedicated her life to promoting dance. 

Born to Malayale couple in Mumbai, Guru Krishna Panicker and Smt. Gowri Panicker, Rema was initiated into dancing at the age of three at their Nritya Prabha Dance Institute in Mumbai. Ms. Rema continued learning and perfecting Bharatanatyam from various masters.  She first went to learn from Guru Kittappa Pillai who practised the Pandanallor style, came down to exponents, Kalyanikutty Amma for Mohiniyattam and refined her style with Kalamandalam Kshemavathy, learned Kuchipudi from Shri Acharyalu of Darpana, and also learned Kathakali form her father. Her marriage to Mr. Srikant Nair, a great lover of arts and son of Padma Shree Vazhendada Kunchu Nair, the legendary Kathakali exponent brought her to Vadodara. Till then a dancer and performing artist, Rema joined the Faculty of Performing Arts of the M. S. University for her graduate and post graduate studies in Bharatanatyam under the guidance of Prof. C. V. Chandrasekhar former Dean and Head, Faculty of Performing Arts, M.S. University - Vadodara, with whom she continued her training for 17 long years in the Kalakshetra style.

A Gujarat State Sangeet Natak Academy awardee for classical dances, Rema has creditably completed her graduate and masters in Bharatanatyam, securing distinction, first rank and M.S. University Gold Medal. She is currently registered as a research scholar in Choreography with the Kerala Kalamandalam deemed university of arts and culture.

A dancer matures when she comes on her own in the field of choreography. Choreography gives Rema the freedom to explore, experiment and create though always within the parameters of the classical form in question. Rema’s choreography has the unique blend of different classical styles like Bharatanatyam, Mohiniyattam and Kathakali. The dance dramas choreographed and presented by her, show very creative ideas and spectacular group alignments. Training in various classical styles definitely gives her an added advantage in her choreographies. All these, when added with her own vision, innovative approach makes her efforts of choreography a panorama of visual delight and successful effort in communication. Her credibility as a teacher and performer went up when she came out with a dance-drama called Vamana Avatara in 1976.

Her confidence as a choreographer went up and this resulted in many more such experiments in dance. Mooladharam, Maya, Shree Ganesha, Andal, Nritya Nivedanam, Skanda, Geeta Govindam, Rasa Ranjini etc are all memorable choreography works in her career beside other contemporary works for Gujarat government like Jai Jai Garvi Gujart, Sharadostav – Kutch festival, Vibrant Gujart International Kite festivals, ‘Samudra Gatha’ – Amreli. She has also recently choreographed ‘Keraleeyam’ showcasing Kerala and its concise form was presented in Mumbai, Delhi and Ahmedabad for Kerala tourism department.

She believes that experiments are good for dance, but at the same time maintaining the purity of the basic traditional styles.  A balance has to be struck between traditional and contemporary ideas, she feels.