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December 2009
On December 20, 2009 on the inaugural day of Nepathya's Koodiyattam Festival at Aluva, Kerala, the D.APPUKUUTAN NAIR AWARD was conferred on Kalamandalam Rajeev, mizhavu artiste, as the first recipient of this award instituted in honor of the founder of Margi, also the architect of the koothambalam of Kerala Kalamandalam. The award appreciates and recognises the outstanding contributions of young artistes in the field of Koodiyattam and Kathakali.

Thidambu nritham exponent Puthumana Govindan Namboothiri was honoured by Dept of Tourism, Govt of Kerala on December 19, 2009 at a state level function Uthsav-09 held at Town square, Kannur, Kerala. He is a distinguished thidambu nritham expert and outstanding performer for past 40 years. Eminent personalities from various fields of art and culture in Kerala were present during the function that featured a two-hour long thidambu nritham performance.
Critic and journalist, Dr. M Surya Prasad has been selected for this year's prestigious SANGEETHYA ASTHANA AWARD. The Award carries a purse of Rs.11,000/-, a silver plaque and memento and was presented to him on December 13, 2009 at Seva Sadana Hall, Bangalore.
Bharatanatyam dancer Narthaki Nataraj, a direct disciple of Guru Kittappa Pillai, received the NRITYA CHOODAMANI award on December 12, 2009 at Sri Krishna Gana Sabha, Chennai. Manipuri dancer Darshana Jhaveri of Jhaveri Sisters received the ACHARYA CHOODAMANI.
Bharat Kalachar presented its awards for 2009 on December 11, 2009 on the inaugural day of the 23rd Margazhi Mahotsav. Sonal Mansingh (VISWA KALA BHARATHI - Odissi), KS Raghuram (NATYA KALADHAR-choreography in films), C V Chandrasekhar (ACHARYA KALA BHARATHI - Bharatanatyam), YUVA KALA BHARATHI for Nagai Sriram (mridangam for Bharatanatyam), Aishwarya Dhanush, Yatin Agarwal, Gopu Kiran, Mridula Anand and Lakshmi Parthasarathi Athreya (Bharatanatyam), Kapila Venu (Koodiyattam), Smitha Madhav (all rounder in Bharatanatyam and Carnatic music).
Sri Thyaga Brahma Gana Sabha conferred VANI KALA SUDHAKARA on Bharatanatyam dancer Rajeswari Sainath on December 9, 2009 on the inaugural day of the 30th Isai Iyal Nataka Vizha at Chennai.
TAPAS Academy's annual title of SHRI VIDHYA TAPASVI for the year 2009 was awarded to eminent musician Trichur V Ramachandran and senior Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi exponent Sailaja for their contribution towards "Bhakthi oriented traditional music and dance" on 8th December 2009 at Rani Seethai Hall, Chennai. Justice T N Vallinayagam, Former Judge and Narayana Vishwanath, Chief Editor, SaRiGaMaPaDaNi, presented the awards.
Kartik Fine Arts conferred NADANAMAMANI on Mythili Prakash and NATYA CHUDAR on Vaishnavi Sainath on December 1, 2009 at Narada Gana Sabha at their 35th art festival in Chennai.
November 2009
ABHAI (Association of Bharata Natyam Artistes of India), founded in 1987 by late Guru KN Pakkirisamy Pillai, has since 2006 been honouring each year two renowned Gurus/artistes in the field of Bharatanatyam. This year, they have chosen Bharatanatyam Guru Jayalakshmi Alva and Melattur S Natarajan (in recognition of his long service to Bhagavata Mela, a ritualistic art form and his proficiency in the field of dance and theatre) for their prestigious award NATYA KALA NIDHI. The award that carries a citation, gold medallion and a purse of Rs.25,000 was presented during ABHAI's Annual Day celebration, on 27th Nov. 2009 at Narada Gana Sabha, Chennai.

Soorya International Singapore chapter honored The Dhananjayans with Lifetime Achievement Award and plaque of honour on November 8, 2009 at Singapore Conference Hall on the occasion of commemorating the 60th Anniversary of Singapore Indian Fine arts Society.
October 2009
Ojaswini, a monthly magazine, dedicated to promote the cause of women - has instituted awards for recognition of women, who have made contributions to our society and economy, through outstanding performance, in numerous fields. The awards were instituted in 1997, golden jubilee year of India's Independence. The 12th award ceremony Ojaswini Alankaran Samaroh 2009 was held on October 11, 2009 at Bittan Market Ground, Bhopal at 7pm where Kathak duo Nalini-Kamalini received OJASWINI ALANKARAN 2009 for their achievements and contribution in the field of Indian classical dance.
September 2009
The Lifetime Achievement BHARAT SHIROMANI AWARD for 2008-2009 was presented to Bharatanatyam dancer Komala Varadhan on September 30, 2009 at New Delhi.

Badari Divya Bhushan (Director, Bhushans' Academy of performing Arts & Visual Presentation, Mysore) was presented this year's NRUTHYA - SHIROMANI Award by India Theatre Olympiad, Cuttack, at Kala Vikas Kendra Auditorium, Cuttack on September 18, 2009.
Sangeet Natak Akademi, the National Academy of Music, Dance and Drama and apex institution of performing arts in the country, has selected 33 young artists who have made a mark in their respective fields of performing arts for USTAD BISMILLAH KHAN YUVA PURASKAR 2008. It is given to artistes below the age of 35 years, and was introduced in 2006 with the objective of identifying and encouraging outstanding young talents in diverse fields of performing arts and giving them national recognition early in their life, so they may work with greater commitment and dedication in their chosen fields.
The 8 awards in the field of dance go to: Rahul Acharya (Odissi), Gauri Diwakar (Kathak), Gayatri Balagurunathan (Bharatanatyam), N Vijaykumar (Kathakali), Bimbavati Devi (Manipuri), Arunima Kumar (Kuchipudi), Meernanda Barthakur (Sattriya), and Purvadhanshree (Other major traditions of dance - Vilasani Natyam).
The Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar carries a purse money of Rs. 25,000. The awards were presented at a special ceremony in Delhi, presided over by Ram Niwas Mirdha, the Chairman, Sangeet Natak Akademi, on September 10, 2009
On September 5, 2009 at the 5th Sangam Festival, the Oriya version of Ileana Citaristi's book on Guruji ('The making of a Guru; Kelucharan Mohapatra, his life and times') titled 'Guru Kelucharan: Jeebana o Kruti' was released. It has been translated by Dr. Ghaneswar Misra, former President, Orissa Sahitya Akademi and Dr. Jivan Pani, former Chief Secretary, Orissa Government.
August 2009

At the 13th annual Bharatanatyam festival Bharatham Mahabhaaratham presented by Natyarangam, the dance wing of Narada Gana Sabha, gurus VP Dhananjayan and Shanta were honoured on August 27, 2009 at Narada Gana Sabha, Chennai. OBUL REDDY AWARD went to Bharatanatyam duo Shridhar and Anuradha Shridhar, SUDHARANI RAGHUPATHY AWARD to vocalist CR Radha Badri, VASANTHALAKSHMI NARASIMHACHARI AWARD to Kirti Ramgopal (talent promotion).
July 2009
KARNATAKA KALASHREE annual awards of the Karnataka Sangeeta Nritya Academy were given away on July 15, 2009 to dancers K Haridas (Gadag) and Sundari Santhanam (Bangalore).
June 2009
On June 26, 2009 the YAGNARAMAN LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD 2009 was presented to Vyjayanthimala Bali and YAGNARAMAN AWARD OF EXCELLENCE to Kuchipudi dancer Deepika Reddy and Carnatic vocalist Abhishek Raghuram, by Sri Krishna Gana Sabha, Chennai.
Bharatanatyam gurus VP Dhananjayan and Shantha Dhananjayan were conferred with the GURU SRESHTA AWARD, in recognition of their contribution to Indian classical dance, by the Salangai Academy of Indian Classical Arts in Trichy on June 14, 2009.
Srishti's Artistic Director Nina Rajarani has been awarded an MBE (Member of the British Empire) in the Queen's 2009 Birthday Honours, in recognition of her services to South Asian Dance. The award recognises many years' work developing and raising the profile of South Asian dance. The list was announced on June 13, 2009 and the awards will be presented by the Queen at an official ceremony later this year.
May 2009

On May 31, 2009 the Dance Resource Centre of Los Angeles announced the list of Lestor Horton awardees. The 2008 Lester Horton Award for "outstanding achievement in World Dance" goes to Los Angeles based Sohini Ray for 'Gita-Govinda.' Presented by Sohini Ray's Manipuri Dance Visions Ensemble, it was performed in the World Festival of Sacred Music in September 2008.

Amrapali Ambegaokar was awarded the Silver Medal in the solo category for her performance as a Kathak dancer representing team India among 8 countries & 16 soloists such as Russia (the ballerina from Russia won the gold medal) Argentina, Australia, South Africa, USA, China, Ireland and India for the show titled SUPERSTARS OF DANCE on NBC TV in the USA in January. The same show is being televised in India on Star World network part of Star India starting Monday May 25th at 9pm for several weeks inclusive of quarter finals, semi-finals and finals.
Shyamala, disciple of S Divyasena, Chennai, was awarded the SINGAR MANI title for upcoming talented artists of different styles, by Sur Singar Samsad, at the 48th Kal Ke Kalakar Sangeeth Sammelan 2009 held in Vidyapeeth Vidyarthi Bhavan, Mumbai on 23rd May 2009.

Mohiniattam exponent Pallavi Krishnan, the Artistic Director of Lasya Akademi of Mohiniattam, has been selected for the KERALA SANGEET NATAK AKADEMI AWARD.

Geeta Chandran has been nominated Member (for 3 years, beginning May 2009) of the Academic Councils of the prestigious Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, and the popular Bhatkande Sangeet Sansthaan (deemed University), Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh.
April 2009
KNP Nambisan of Lalitha Kalalayam in Mumbai received THE BEST CITIZEN OF INDIA AWARD for 2009 from International Book House, Delhi. With 39 years of experience, he is a multi-faceted musician, plays various percussion instruments, is a music composer and is Professor of Music at Nalanda Nritya Kala Mahavidyalaya in Mumbai.

In the Lok Sabha elections, dancer Mallika Sarabhai contested as an Independent against LK Advani, the Bharatiya Janata Party prime ministerial candidate, in Gujarat's capital city constituency of Gandhinagar. She has been a critic of the Narendra Modi government since the Godhra riots in 2002. Her fight is against "criminalization of politics."
On the occasion of the third anniversary of Vijayawada Cultural Academy, Kumara Suryanarayana, a composer and vocalist for Kuchipudi, Bharatanatyam and folk, was awarded LATE POLAVARAPU KOTESWARA RAO MEMORIAL AWARD at Gokaraju Laila Gangaraju Kala Vedika in the premises of the Government College of Music.
The French Bharatanatyam dancer Devayani was conferred the Padma Shri Award by the President of India during the official ceremony of investiture on April 14, 2009 at Rashtrapati Bhawan. Devayani is the first French artist to be accorded this honor from the Government of India.
India's highest civil award BHARAT RATNA goes to 86 year old Pt Bhimsen Joshi (Hindustani vocal).
PADMA BHUSHAN for V P Dhananjayan and Shanta Dhananjayan (Bharatanatyam), Vaidyanathan Ganapathi Sthapati (sculpture).
PADMA SHRI for Kalamandalam Gopi (Kathakali), Mattannur Sankarankutty Marar (percussion), Leela Omcheri (Mohiniattam), Devayani Chaymotty (Bharatanatyam), vocalist Aruna Sairam.
The awards were given away by President Prathiba Patil at special functions at Rashtrapathi Bhavan in Delhi, on March 31 and April 14, 2009..
Cleveland Thyagaraja Aradhana Committee honor senior artistes with their annual Rathnaakara awards. On April 11, 2009, The Dhananjayans received NRITYA RATHNAKARA, Parasala Ponnamma got ACHARYA RATHNAKARA, BM Sundaram got SEVA RATHNA, Vasantha Krishnan of Montreal got NRITHYA SEVA MANI award.
The Dhananajayans were presented with the traditional Veera Sringhala by Cleveland Sundaram and Toronto Venkatraman.
March 2009
Instituted by the Tamilnadu Iyal Isai Nataka Mandram, about 70 artistes, who have made a significant contribution to their respective fields in 2008, are to receive the KALAIMAMANI AWARD. Bharatanatyam dancers Sailaja, Zakir Hussain, Aishwarya Rajnikanth, Sangeetha Kapilan and Kayalvizhi Kapilan, Vasantha Vaikunth and Sweta Rajagopalan, playwright Na Muthuswamy of Koothu-P-Pattarai are some of the awardees.

On March 31, 2009 at a special function in the Durbar Hall at Rashtrapathi Bhavan in Delhi, Bharatanatyam gurus VP Dhananjayan and Shanta Dhananjayan received the PADMA BHUSHAN award from President Pratibha Patil, for development, preservation and propagation of the best of Kalakshetra tradition of Bharatanatyam through their dance academy Bharatakalanjali.
On March 31, 2009, at a glittering ceremony in New Delhi's Ashok Convention Hall dancer Geeta Chandran was honoured with a Lifetime Achievement Award for promoting gender issues in her dance by the International Congress of Women. The award recognized Geeta's sustained use of Bharatanatyam to spread valuable awareness on various women's issues: female feticide, dowry death, violence against women, women and war and equity and equality in all spheres of women's personal and professional lives. Kiran Walia, Minister for Women and Health, Government of Delhi, gave Geeta the award.

The 15th MAHARI AWARD was presented by Gajapathi Maharaja Sri Dibyasingh Deb to Odissi dancer Puspita Mishra on March 19, 2009 at Rabindra Mandap, Bhubaneswar, on the concluding day of The Guru Pankaj Utsav 2009.
Ileana Citaristi received OSSI award (Order of Star of Italian Solidariety) conferred by the President of Italy (through Italian Ambassador in New Delhi) on March 18, 2009 at New Delhi.
IWCF (India World Cultural Forum) and The Rotary Club of Hyderabad presented THE PANDIT JASRAJ - ROTARY CLUB OF HYDERABAD AWARD 2009 for cross cultural understanding to Odissi dancer Ileana Citaristi on 17th March, 2009 at The Rotary Club of Hyderabad. The Award was given away by Pt. Jasraj himself, the living legend and doyen of North Indian classical music.
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. 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.
On March 8, 2009 Bharatanatyam dancer Anjana Bhushan (Bhushans Academy of Performing Arts & Visual Presentation, Mysore) receives VISISTA VANITHA PURASKARAM 2009 from Nataraj Music & Dance Academy, at Yuva Kala Bharathi Auditorium, Vishakapatnam.

She is a speech Pathologist, who has been working with special children with speech disorders. She has been teaching dance to these children and helping them to cope up with life.

On March 6, 2009 Kalamandalam Ramankutty Nair was honored with the CHINTA VENKATRAMAYYA PURASKAR at the Siddhendra Yogi Mahotsav 2009 at Kuchipudi village (Andhra Pradesh), for his lifetime contribution and promotion of Kathakali tradition.
The META (Mahindra Excellence in Theatre Awards) Festival took place in New Delhi. Thresh's production 'The Absent Lover' was nominated for 6 awards. Out of 209 plays, 10 were selected as finalists and nominated under different categories. All 10 plays were performed live in front of an audience and jury over 6 days, witnessed by a number of theatre supporters and enthusiasts. The plays varied showing influences from folk art forms to very contemporary, new and emerging languages. March 6, 2009 was the awards night in the outdoor gardens of the Taj Mahal Hotel. There were 20 foot puppets roaming amongst the audience alongside respected actors and key people from the world of India's theatre and dance world.
'The Absent Lover' won 3 major awards, for Best Lighting (Les Dickert), Best Set Design (Delphine Ciavaldini) and Best Choreography (Preeti Vasudevan).
Kalamandalam Kshemavathy received the NRITHYA-NATYA PURASKARAM of the Government of Kerala for 2008 on March 1, 2009 at the campus of Kalamandalam Deemed University, Cheruthuruthy. The award is of special significance to the dancer as she completes 50 years as a dancer this year. She founded her own institution Kerala Kalamandiram in 1965.
February 2009
On February 28, 2009 at the 33rd National Level Dance drama Festival in memory of Rukmini Devi, organised by Sri Lalithakala Academy Foundation, Mysore, jointly co-sponsored by Swami Vivekananda Yoga Anusandhana Samsthana University (SVYASA University, Bangalore), gurus Shanta and VP Dhananjayan were honored with LALITHA KALA RATNA AWARD. Justice Manjula Chellur (Karnataka High court) gave away the award and Dr. HR Nagendra (Vice-chancellor SVYASA University) felicitated The Dhananjayans. KS Raghunathan, known as HMV Raghu, a highly versatile musician, composer and recording engineer, was also honoured on this occasion.
On February 22, 2009 a road in Chembur, Mumbai, was named Chakyar Rajan Marg after late Chakyar Rajan (the father of Bharatanatyam dancer Padmaja Suresh).
At the 5th annual ceremony, GURU MADAN LAL KOSER – GURU SHOBHA KOSER AWARD was conferred upon Pt.Shankar Ghosh (Tabla) and Guru Sunayana Hazarilal (Kathak) by Pracheen Kala Kendra at Punjab Kala Bhawan, Chandigarh on February 20, 2009.
On February 8, 2009 Sri Sumukhi Rajasekharan Memorial Foundation celebrated their sixth year anniversary and commemoration of the third year of 'Kala Poshakam' monthly concerts at Narada Gana Sabha (Mini Hall), Chennai. The Mylapore Trio (S Amarnath, S Surendranath, S Aparna - Kalakshetra alumnae) and members of the Foundation offered their salutations to the doyens of dance and music, by conferring titles and awards.
Leela Sekhar, multifaceted octogenarian (Chairperson – International Dance Alliance, Chennai) was conferred AACHAARYA DEVO BHAVA (Lifetime Achievement Award) for her yeoman service in the field of music, dance, drama, guides, art, craft, education, health service, social service, child welfare etc; GAANA CHINTHAMANI on Swamimalai Kalidas Suresh for his commendable talents in Carnatic music and Tamizh Isai; NRITHYA CHINTHAMANI to Gayatri Balagurunathan for Bharatanatyam and Folk dance. The speciality of the trophies were: Gold coated copper temple kalasam for 'Aachaarya Devo Bhava' and silver coated copper temple kalasams for 'Nrithya / Gaana Chinthamanai' with a citation.

On February 1, 2009 Kuchipudi / Bharatanatyam dancer Mallika Sarabhai received the World Economic Forum's CRYSTAL AWARD 2009 at a glittering ceremony at Davos (Switzerland), for outstanding excellence in the field of culture and having used art to reach out to other cultures. The Crystal Award pays tribute to the decisive role of arts and culture in creation of global understanding and peace.
January 2009
Sitara Devi, Khaled Choudhury, R C Mehta and Bhupen Hazarika were honored with Sangeet Natak Akademi Ratna (Akademi Fellows) and 34 people of eminence from music, dance and theatre fields have been chosen for the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for 2008. Among them are Pung guru Ningombam Ibobi Singh of Natya Sankirtana and Heramot Meiti Thang-ta of Manipuri martial arts. In the field of dance, Saroja Vaidyanathan, (Bharatanatyam), Vasantalakshmi & Narasimhachari (Joint award for Kuchipudi), Shashi Shankhla (Kathak), Kalamandalam Kuttan (Kathakali), Ramani Ranjan Jena (Odissi), Kalamandalam Leelamma (Mohiniattam), Yog Sunder Desai (Creative & Experimental Dance) and Ramhari Das (Odissi music for dance) have been selected. Prof. S Ramanujam of Tamilnadu, who has worked with Anita Ratnam for the revival of ritual dance theatre Kaisiki Natakam, is recognized for his contribution to theatre and R Satyanarayana of Karnataka for his contribution to Scholarship in Performing Arts. The Akademi Ratna carries purse money of Rupees one lakh and Akademi Puraskar, Rupees fifty thousand.

Dancer/choreographer Lata Pada, Founder and Artistic Director of Sampradaya Dance Creations, has been appointed as a new member of the Order of Canada. She has the distinction of being the first South Asian artist to receive this award.

The Governor General of Australia honoured Tara Rajkumar, with the MEDAL OF THE ORDER OF AUSTRALIA (OAM), for her "service to the performing arts as a teacher, choreographer and performer of classical Indian dance" on January 26, 2009 known as Australia Day. Tara Rajkumar has been teaching Mohiniattom and Kathakali for almost 24 years in Melbourne.
Amrapali Ambegaokar was one of the three finalists in the solo category of the Superstars of Dance show on NBC. In the final that took place on January 26, 2009 on NBC, she won the silver medal. The gold went to Russia and bronze to the USA.
Malathi Iyengar, choreographer and artistic director of Rangoli Foundation received the prestigious HIND RATTAN AWARD (Jewel of India), for her outstanding services, achievements and contributions in art and culture. The award is given annually to about 30 members of the worldwide Indian diaspora (non-resident Indian and person of Indian origin) by the NRI Welfare Society of India.
Iyengar received the award at a gala ceremony on January 25, 2009 (eve of India's Republic Day) in connection with the 28th International Congress of Non Resident Indians. Malathi Iyengar & Rangoli Dance Company has performed extensively in USA, Canada and India. Malathi Iyengar is the artistic director of the Rangoli Foundation for Art & Culture, a non-profit organization, which was founded in 1985.

Bharatanatyam guru Saroja Vaidyanathan received the VAYO SRESHTA SAMMAN AWARD in New Delhi on 12th January 2009 from Meera Kumar, the Hon'ble Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment.
N Muthuswamy, director of Koothu-P-Pattarai in Chennai, was honored with this year's KALAIGNAR M.KARUNANIDHI PORKIZHI TRUST AWARD for his contribution to the field of Tamil theatre. The award was presented on 8 January 2009 by Former President of India, A P J Abdul Kalam, at the inaugural function of the 32nd Annual Book Fair organized by The Booksellers and Publishers Association of South India.
On January 4, 2009, at the valedictory function of the 76th South Indian Music Conference and Festival, Bharatanatyam dancer Manjula Lusti Narasimhan (disciple of Sudharani Raghupathy), was honored with the title NATYA KALASIKHAMANI at Balamandir, German Hall, Chennai.
The Music Academy conferred the title, SANGITA KALA ACHARYA on Bharatanatyam guru Sarada Hoffman on the final day Sadas on January 1, 2009 of the 82nd annual conference of the Music Academy.
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