Who is Remona Evette Pereira? The ‘Golden Girl’ performed 'Bharatanatyam' non-stop for 7 days

In a remarkable feat that has left the world in astonishment, 20-year-old Indian student Remona Evette Pereira made a headline after her remarkable 170-hour performance of Bharatanatyam, a classical Indian dance. She registered her spot in the ‘Golden Book of World Records.’

A video of her classical Indian dance surfaced on social media, which has taken the platform by storm, as netizens across the nation praised Pereira’s dedication to the arts. With this achievement, she has become the first person in the world to perform the classical Indian dance for such a duration.

Who is Remona Evette Pereira?

Pereira, also nicknamed the ‘golden girl,’ started her formal training in Bharatanatyam under renowned guru Shrividya Muralidhar at the age of three. Her several years of rigorous practice and devotion culminated in her Rangapravesha, which helped her to perform her formal solo debut on stage in 2019, The Times of India reports.

Currently, Pereira is a third-year student at St. Aloysius College in the Mangalore district of Karnataka, where she is pursuing a BA. She began her landmark Bharatanatyam performance on July 21 and concluded a week later on July 28. The event was held at the college’s Robert Sequeira Hall in the state.

After her nonstop performance, Pereira was granted a ‘Certificate of Excellence’ by Manish Vishnoei, the head of the Golden Book of World Records. Along with awarding the certificate, Vishnoei also praised her for the groundbreaking achievement.

“Bharatanatyam is a dance form that’s difficult, yet Remona took up the challenge and danced for 10,200 minutes with curtailed breaks and rest, which is almost impossible to achieve by many,” Deccan Herald quoted him as saying. As per the reports, Pereira reportedly only took 15-minute breaks every three hours amid her performance.

Pereira breaks record of Sudhir Jagtap

Earlier, the longest Bharatanatyam performance was performed by Sudhir Jagtap for 127 hours. But this record was surpassed by Pereira for more than 40 additional hours, which sets the bar even higher.

Surprisingly, Pereira received the Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar, the highest civil honour award for children in India, from Prime Minister Modi himself in 2023. During the conversation, PM Modi asked Perieria, “At the age of 3, you started practising dance. How did you continuously motive yourself? Did family members insist or did you have the determination?” he questioned, according to news agency ANI News. In response, Pereira stated that her mother has been an inspiration.