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December 2019




After more than 30 years of exhilarating and challenging directorship, Mira Kaushik steps down as Artistic Director of Akademi, South Asian Dance, UK on 31 December 2019 to work in the wider creative sector. Subathra Subramaniam takes over as Artistic Director and Kirsten Burrows as Executive Director.




Krishna Gana Sabha conferred the NATYA KALA VISHARADA HA award on Guru Ranganayaki Jayaraman, Sri Saraswathy Gana Nilayam, on Dec 26, 2019 at Chennai.



On December 20, 2019 Kartik Fine Arts presented the following awards in Chennai - NRITHYA PEROLI on Malavika Sarukkai, NATYA CHUDAR on Varsha Sankar, MADURA KALA MANI AWARD on Gopika Varma, NATYA JYOTI AWARD OF EXCELLENCE IN BHARATANATYAM to Padmalaksshme Suresh.




Artists, gurus, art associations and art lovers of Hyderabad and Secunderabad celebrated the hundredth birthday of centenarian Guru VS Ramamurthy at Saptaparni, on Dec 19, 2019.



On December 18, 2019 Prof A Janardhanan received NATYA KALASIKHAMANI from The Indian Fine Arts Society, Chennai.




The Dhananjayans were honoured with BHARATMUNI SAMMAN by Puspita Mishra’s Kalingayana Touryatrikam at Rabindra Mandap, Bhubaneswar on December 16, 2019.



On December 14, 2019 Meenakshi Chittaranjan received NRITHYA KALA NIPUNA from Mylapore Fine Arts, Chennai.



On December 14, 2019 Bharat Kalachar honored the following artistes at YGP auditorium, Chennai: Pushkala Gopal - VISHWA KALA BHARATHI; Bragha Bessell - ACHARYA KALA BHARATHI; K Sai Shankar (vocal), B Muthukumar (flute), M Dhananjayan (mridangam) - NATYA SANGEETHA KALA BHARATHI; Kavya Muralidharan, Chitra Lakshumanan, K Sarveshan and Shweta Prachande for Bharatanatyam, Mahati Kannan for all rounder in music and dance - YUVA KALA BHARATHI.



On Dec 13, 2019 Pt Rajendra Gangani received NRITYA CHOODAMANI from Krishna Gana Sabha, Chennai.



On December 12, 2019 Chennai Cultural Academy Trust conferred NRITHYA KALA SIROMANI on the Dhananjayans and Roja Kannan, CCA Excellence Award on Kavya Muralidharan, at Rama Rao Kala Mandap, Chennai.




Tapas Cultural Foundation presented VIDHYA TAPASVI title for 2019 to Dr. Sriram Parasuram (music) and A. Lakshmanaswamy (Bharatanatyam) for their dedicated service towards bhakthi oriented classical fine arts on 8th December 2019 at Sri Krishna Gana Sabha, Chennai.




Kapila Venu received the D APPUKUTTAN NAIR AWARD for young Koodiyattam-Kathakali artiste instituted by Nepathya, on Dec 5, 2019 at Aluva, Kerala.



On Dec 3, 2019 Urmila Sathyanarayanan received NATYA PADHMAM from Brahma Gana Sabha, Chennai.



Bharatanatyam dancer Anita Sivaraman received NADANAMAMANI award from Kartik Fine Arts on December 1, 2019 in Chennai. SVS Mani, Secretary of Thyaga Brahma Gana Sabha received KARTIK RAJAGOPAL ENDOWMENT AWARD for best cultural organizer.




Odissi dancer Ileana Citaristi received the ODISHA EXCELLENCE AWARD 2019 from Odia Media on Dec 1, 2019 at Bhubaneswar.


November 2019



Ashish Mohan Khokar's AttenDance, the only yearbook on Indian dance, presented its annual  awards on 30th November 2019 at ADA Rangamandira, Bengaluru.
Dr. Seshadri Iyengar - RAM GOPAL AWARD for BEST MALE SOLOIST
G. Ulaganathan - MOHAN KHOKAR AWARD for BEST ARTS WRITER
Bharat & Sharat Prabhat - UDAY SHANKAR AWARD for CHOREOGRAPHY
TTB-Teatro Tascabile Bergamo, Italy - RUKMINI DEVI AWARD for OVERALL CONTRIBUTION
Guru Jitendra Maharaj - LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT 




SHIKHAR SAMMAAN, the highest civilian award of Madhya Pradesh state, was conferred on Bharatanatyam Guru Dr. Lata Singh Munshi on 18th November 2019 at Bharat Bhavan, Bhopal.




Shriram Bharatiya Kala Kendra presents SUMITRA CHARAT RAM AWARD FOR LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT (2019) to Dr. Sonal Mansingh by Pt Birju Maharaj on November 17, 2019 at Kamani Auditorium, New Delhi.




Chitraleka Bolar and Sujata Banerjee won the Akademi sponsored SOUTH ASIAN DANCE LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD and the DANCE EDUCATION AND PARTICIPATION LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD, at the One Dance UK Awards held at the Imperial War Museum, Manchester, on November 9, 2019




During their Indradhanush Dilli festival, Sunaina honored gurus Geetanjal Lal (Kathak), Santosh Nair (Chhau & Contemporary dance) on Nov 7, and Seetha Nagajothy (Kuchipudi) and Dr. TV Manikandan (Carnatic music) on Nov 8, 2019 with the GURU SAMMAN at the Muktadhara Auditorium, Delhi. Dr. Alpana Nayak received PARAS MANI SAMMAN for her remarkable training to disabled children in Odissi.


 

Bharatanatyam dancer Nadhi Thekkek received the MYTHILI KUMAR EMERGING ARTIST AWARD on November 8, 2019 from World Arts West, the producers of the San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival.


October 2019



Geeta Chandran received ANCIENT ARTS AWARD 2019 on October 30, 2019 for her contribution in popularising Bharatanatyam especially among youth audiences. The award was presented to her in Delhi by the Rays of Wisdom Society spearheaded by dance/yoga artist Reela Hota.



On 28th October 2019 Tridhara Bhubaneswar presented GURU DEBAPRASAD AWARD at Rabindra Mandap, Bhubaneswar on the inaugural day of the 13th Guru Debaprasad Award Festival to V.P. Dhananjayan and Shanta Dhananjayan (Bharatanatyam), Durga Charan Ranbir (Odissi),  Raghav Raj Bhatt and Mangala Bhatt (Kathak) and Dr. Nita Vidyarthi (art critic). Rathimalar Govindarajoo (Odissi & Bharatanatyam), Amrita Das, Binayak Panda and Atasi Mishra (Odissi) received GURU DEBAPRASAD NRUTYA PRATIVA AWARD.




Aswathy Nair received the KERALA SANGEETHA NATAKA AKADEMI AWARD at Kollam, Kerala, on October 16, 2019.



Utkal Dance & Research Academy presented GURU SAHADEV PADHI MEMORIAL AWARD to musician / vocalist Pt Ramhari Das, on October 15, 2019 at Rabindra Mandap, Bhubaneswar.




Bharatanatyam dancer G Narendra received the NARTAKA AWARD of Natyanjali Trust from Prof. A Janardhanan at the 13th Nartaka Festival held on October 10, 2019 at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Chennai.




Sreelatha Vinod received the EntreprenHER award by the Razzmatazz group on October 3, 2019 at Chennai


September 2019



On September 23, 2019 Dr. Sunil Kothari received the SRI SRI MADHAVADEVA AWARD for 2019 from the Govt of Assam from the CM, Sri Sarbananda Sonowal at Narayanpur, the birthplace of Madhavadeva. Senior Sattradhikar Yugananda Chandra Goswami received the award for 2016. The award carries a purse of Rs. 3 lakhs, a shawl, plaque and citation. This is the highest govt award given to a scholar.




Smaran Dance Festival honored dancers Mythili Kumar and Ganesh Vasudeva and photographer Swagato Bassumallick with the SMARAN AWARD at Macafe Performing Arts Center, Saratoga, CA on September 15, 2019.




On September 11, 2019, the final day of the 25th edition of the Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra Award Festival, the following awardees were honored at Rabindra Mandap, Bhubaneswar.
The 'NALCO GURU KELUCHARAN MOHAPATRA AWARD 2019' was presented to Guru Harmohan Khuntia, tabla maestro, for his immense contribution to the field of Music, to Guru Durga Charan Ranbir, veteran Odissi dance Guru for his invaluable work to the field of Dance, to Dr. Sunil Kothari and Leela Venkataraman, eminent dance critics and authors, for their lifetime achievements and contribution to the performing arts, and to renowned art photographer, Avinash Pasricha, for his pioneering work in the field of Photography. The award carries a purse of Rs.1,00,000 to each artiste and a citation.
The NALCO GURU KELUCHARAN MOHAPATRA YUVA PRATIVA SAMMAN 2019 was given to five exceptionally talented performing artistes under the age of 40 years in the field of classical dance and Odissi music to acknowledge their outstanding performances. This year's awardees are Swapnokalpa Dasgupta (Odissi dance), Rahul Acharya (Odissi dance), Rajashri Praharaj (Odissi dance), Anwesa Mahanta (Sattriya dance), and Satyabrata Katha (Odissi music). Each artiste gets a cash prize of Rs. 25,000 and a citation.


August 2019



Renjith Babu and Vijna, Madhulita Mohapatra, Rakesh Sai Babu, Durgesh Gangani

The General Council of the Sangeet Natak Akademi presented the USTAD BISMILLAH KHAN YUVA PURASKAR to awardees for 2018, at a special function held on August 19, 2019 at Jawaharlal Nehru Manipur Dance Academy (JNMDA) auditorium in Guwahati. The awardees are:
Renjith Babu and Vijna Vasudevan (BN), Durgesh Gangani (Kathak), Kalamandalam Vaisakh (Kathakali), Manju Elangbam (Manipuri), Madhulita Mohapatra (Odissi), Anjali Borrbora Borthakur (Sattriya), Rakesh Sai Babu (Chhau), Vikram Mohan (Contemporary dance).




Natyarangam honored the following artistes on August 15, 2019 at Narada Gana Sabha, Chennai.
Bharatanatyam guru Saroja Kameswaran, Dr. S Raghuraman (scholar & resource person) for Outstanding Contribution to Bharatanatyam, OBUL REDDY ENDOWMENT AWARD to senior Bharatanatyam dancer Lakshmi Ramaswamy,  VASANTHALAKSHMI NARASIMHACHARI ENDOWMENT AWARD for talent promotion to Pavitra Bhat, SUDHARANI RAGHUPATHY ENDOWMENT AWARD to mridangist M Dhanamjayan, BHAGAVATULU SEETARAMA SARMA ENDOWMENT AWARD to KS Balakrishnan for nattuvangam




After a gap of 8 years, on August 13, 2019 the Tamilnadu Govt gave KALAIMAMANI awards to 201 personalities, including writers, singers, dancers, musicians and actors, for their contribution to culture from 2011. Among the recipients are Bharatanatyam dancers Nandini Ramani, Roja Kannan, Lakshmi Ramaswamy, Radhika Shurajit, J Suryanarayanamurthy, Priya Murle, Binesh Mahadevan, Latha Rajendran, P. Muralidharan and Niveditha Parthasarathy.
Chennai-based Sri Krishna Gana Sabha and Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Goodwill Stage and Salem Amateur Arts received awards for institutions.
V.P. Dhananjayan and Shanta Dhananjayan received the BALASARASWATHI MEMORIAL AWARD for Bharatanatyam, along with Vyjayanthimala Bali and Prof. C.V. Chandrasekhar. The award carries a cash prize of rupees one lakh and citation.




Utsav-Ranjana's Odissi Dance Academy conferred the UTSAV SAMMAN on Bankim Sethi (Odissi vocal and music composer), Dhaneswar Swain (mardal artiste and composer), Manjari Sinha (music scholar and critic) and flautist Chetan Joshi on August 13, 2019 at India Habitat Centre, New Delhi.


July 2019


During its Annual Festival of Dance and Music held on 8 to 10 July 2019 at Srimanta Sankaradeva Kalakshetra, Guwahati, Sangeet Sattra bestowed the RASHESWAR SAIKIA BARBAYAN SATTRIYA AWARD on Bharatanatyam exponent Chitra Visweswaran, Chennai, Sattriya exponent Manik Chandra  Barbayan, Assam, and Kathak exponent Bipul Chandra Das, Assam.


June 2019


Akademi's The Troth was shortlisted for the 'Special Arts & Culture Award' at the UK-India Awards organised by India Inc. The awards took place on 28 June 2019 in London as part of UK-India week, celebrating the relationship between the two countries.




Radhika Shurajit received the GLOBAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARD for her contribution to arts internationally for over 25 years. Her award was presented by Bob Blackman, Member of Parliament, at the House of Parliament on 4 June 2019 in London. Radhika Shurajit is the first Indian to receive this award.



On June 4, 2019 Subijoya Dance Foundation created in memory of parents of choreographer Sudarshan Chakravorty, honoured dancer Priti Patel, theatre person Debesh Chattapadhyay, music composer Prabuddha Banerjee, elocutionist Pranati Tagore, actor Riddhi Sen with SUBIJOYA AWARDS (Subinoy & Bijoya Chakraborty Smriti Purashkar), at GD Birla Sabhaghar, Kolkata.


May 2019



Kalasagar celebrated the 95th birth anniversary of chenda maestro Kalamandalam Krishnankutty Poduval titled ORU PIRANALINTE ORMAKAYI on May 28, 2019 by presenting the KALASAGAR AWARDS 2019 to artistes aged between 40 to 70, at Kalikotta Palace, Palakkad.
Kathakali: Vesham/Actor - Dr. Haripriya Namboodiri, Pattu/Music- Kalamandalam Rajendran,
Chenda - Gopikrishnan Thampuran, Maddalam: Biju Aattupuram, Chutty/Makeup - Kalamandalam Raju John
Ottenthullal: Maruthuvorvattam Kannan, Chakyarkoothu: Margi Sajeev Narayanan
Koodiyattam (Mizhavu): PK Unnikrishnan Nambiar, Mohiniattam: Kalamandalam Ambika,
Bharatanatyam: Dr. D Beena, Kuchipudi: Sreelakshmi Govardhanan, Thayambaka: Kalpathi Balakrishnan
Panchavadyam: Thimila - Chottanikkara Subhas Marar, Maddalam - Chottanikkara Surendra Marar, Edakka - Kavil Unnikrishna Warrier, Thalam - Peruvanam Muraly, Kombu - Machadu Padmakumar



Bharatanatyam dancer Sudha Raghuram of Montgomery, Alabama, received the ALABAMA FOLK HERITAGE AWARD on May 22, 2019 from the Alabama State Council on the Arts. Since 2000, she has been awarded the Folk Arts Apprenticeship grant eight times by the Alabama State Council on the Arts.




Sandip Soparrkar received the DADASAHEB PHALKE FILM FOUNDATION AWARD on May 12, 2019 for setting the trend of international Latin American and ballroom dancing in India. This award is recognized by the federation of Cine Artist Association.




Parvathi Ravi Ghantasala was honored with the VOCATIONAL EXCELLENCE AWARD instituted by the Rotary Club Kilpauk, on 9th May 2019 at Chennai.




On 4th May 2019, Puthumana Govindan Namboothiri, eminent exponent of Thidambu Nritham dance received the LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD for his outstanding contribution to temple dance. The honor was received from Alampady Padmanabha Thanthri during a function 'Aadarshanidarshana' to honor the artist held at Pulloor Sree Mahavishnu Temple in Kasaragod in Kerala



April 2019


Utsav Educational & Cultural Society presented the UTSAV SAMMAN to Shashadhar Acharya (Chhau), Kamalini - Nalini (Kathak) and Saroj Mohanty (Odissi music-vocal) on April 30, 2019 at Triveni Kala Sangam during its Su-Tarang Festival.




Natya Tarangini Hyderabad presented the WORLD DANCE DAY AWARD to Annabhattula sisters Lakshmi Mangataayaar and Leela Sai for their contribution to Kuchipudi's traditional theatre form, on April 29, 2019.



On its 31st anniversary, ABHAI (Association of Bharatanatyam Artistes of India) presented NATYA KALANIDHI award to Dr. Sonal Mansingh, NRITYA PERUNJOTI to Dr. Jayashree Rajagopalan, NARTHAKA NIPUNA award to PT Narendran and GANDHARVA NIPUNA award to Girija Ramaswamy at Narada Gana Sabha on April 27, 2019, Chennai.




Photographer Deepak R was awarded YUVA KALA SADHAKA for classical dance photography by Sphurana Nritya Kala Kendra, on 26th April 2019 at Sevasadan, Bangalore.



On April 19, 2019 Dr Raja Reddy & Dr. Radha Reddy received the HANUMANT AWARD 2019 at the Hanuman Jayanti Mahotsav, Bhavnagar, Gujarat.




Preeti Vasudevan has been awarded the highly coveted 2019 VIRGINIA B. TOULMIN AWARD for Women Leaders in Dance. Joined by three other ground-breaking choreographers, Preeti has been re-invited by The Center for Ballet and the Arts, NYU this year to begin her new work, L'Oriente. It is a new multi-disciplinary choreographic work that seeks to explore the possibilities that emerge when Western ballet with Opera and classical Bharatanatyam with Carnatic Indian music are juxtaposed and intertwined.



Winners of the AMERICAN NATYA IDOL competition conducted by Soorya Performing Arts in April 2019 at St. Louis, MO.
Group 1: Shrinidhi Sairam (1st Prize), Tanujha Manikandan (2nd Prize), Shreenidhi Senthilnathan (3rd Prize)
Group 2: Sweta Balaji (1st Prize), Rithika Iyengar (2nd Prize), Sriya Pokala (3rd Prize)
Group 3: Samanvita Kasthuri (1st Prize), Shadhvika Nandhakumar (2nd Prize), Shilpa Repala (3rd Prize)


March 2019



Farooq Chaudhry, co-founder and producer of the Akram Khan Company, has been made OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) for services to dance and dance production.




Shanta Dhananjayan was honoured with a LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD by Raindrops Cultural Association, on March 23, 2019 at Rani Seethai Hall, Chennai.




The PADMA SHRI award for 2019 were given in the second week of March 2019 in New Delhi by the President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind to Narthaki Nataraj (Bharatanatyam), Milena Salvini (Kathakali) and Prabhu Deva.
Full list: https://www.thenewsminute.com




Kathak Guru Pratap Pawar received his MBE (Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire) for services to dance, culture and community cohesion on March 19, 2019 at Buckingham Palace from Prince William. Kathak dancer Sujata Banerjee, founder of Sujata Banerjee Dance Company, received the MBE from Princess Anne at Buckingham Palace on Feb 13, 2019 for services to dance.




Chitra Arvind received BEST PERFORMER AWARD in Bharat Nritya Utsav on March 10, 2019 from Dr. Nalli Kuppuswamy Chetty, President of Sri Parthasarathy Swami Sabha, at Chennai.




At the sixth edition of Nayika symposium and dance festival hosted by Shambhavi School of Dance, the NATYASASTRA AWARD was given to Guru Radha Sridhar for her continued contributions to Bharatanatyam, on March 10, 2019 at Bangalore.




Kathak dancer Seema Mehta, disciple of Pt Chitresh Das, was awarded NARI SHAKTI PURASKAR by the President of India on 8th March 2019, in recognition of her work to empower women through Kathak.




Usha Raghavan, Bharatanatyam artist, Director, Kalasagara UK was honored in London on March 7, 2019 with SHE INSPIRES AWARD 2019 for Bright Artist - Promoting Art and Culture - by IIW (Inspiring Indian Women) Global, supported by Indo British All Party Parliamentary Group. The event was hosted by the honorable MP Bob Blackman



Over 7,000 Bharatanatyam dancers set a world record for the maximum number of people performing the classical dance form at the Natyanjali festival in Nataraja Temple in Chidambaram on March 3, 2019.
More info




Dr. Vasundhara Doraswamy was conferred the SINGARA KALA RATHNA by Singapore Kannada Sanga for her yeomen Service to Bharatanatyam on 3rd March 2019.


February 2019


The SANGEET NATAK AKADEMI AWARD for 2017 were given on Feb 6, 2019.
Sujata Mohapatra (Odissi), Rama Vaidyanathan (Bharatanatyam), Shobha Koser (Kathak), Madambi Subramaniam (Kathakali), LN Oinam Ongbi Dhoni Devi (Manipuri), Deepika Reddy (Kuchipudi), Ramkrishna Talukdar (Sattriya), Janmejoy Saibabu (Chhau), Ashit Desai (music for dance), Sandhya Purecha (Overall Contribution), Tadepalli Satyanarayana Sarma (Other Major Traditions of Theatre - Yakshagana)
The honour of Akademi Award carries Rs one lakh purse money, besides a Tamrapatra and Angavastram.




Chennai based Bharatanatyam dancer and guru Chinnamanur J. Krishna Kumar received SWARNA KAMAL NATIONAL AWARD from Alphons Joseph Kannanthanam (Rajyasabha M.P.), Union Minister of State for Culture and Tourism, at A.P.Shinde Auditorium, New Delhi on 2nd February 2019 organised by the World Divine Conclave 2019



Nrutya Shabda Essay Writing Competition's winners:
- Senior category:
1st - Bhagyashree Prabhdesai (Topic: Natya Shastra: an overview)
2nd - Charanya Gurusathya (Topic: Guru Shishya Parampara and today's pedagogy of dance)
Judged by a renowned Bharatanatyam dancer and Guru Dr. Swati Datar.
- Junior category:
1st - Archis Kulkarni (Topic: Social Media and Dance)
2nd - Pallavi Shidhaye (Topic: Aaharya Abhinaya)
Judged by Abhijit Thite - journalist, Editor of Maharashtra Times newspaper, Indologist, writer & poet.


January 2019



Kathak dancer Nandini K Mehta received the KARNATAKA KALASHRI AWARD on January 29, 2019 at Ravindra Kalakshetra, Bangalore.




Kathak dancer Dr. Malini Ranganathan, living in Nantes, France, was conferred the PRAVASI BHARATIYA SAMMAN AWARD on 23rd January 2019 in Varanasi by the President of India Shri Ram Nath Kovind for creating awareness about Indian culture and heritage among the French people particularly in Nantes where she lives.




The Dhananjayans received the NALANDA BHARATA MUNI SAMMAN from Dr. Kanak Rele's Nalanda Dance Research Centre, Mumbai, for 2018 on January 13, 2019 during NDRC'S Annual Natya Festival at Kalaangan, Ravindra Natya Mandir, Mumbai. The award carries a cash prize of Rs. 50,000 each.




The Music Academy Madras honored Bharatanatyam Guru Shanta Dhananjayan with the NRITYA KALANIDHI AWARD for dance on January 3, 2019 at the inauguration of the dance festival. Guru VP Dhananjayan received the equivalent award 'Sangeeta Kala Acharya' from the Academy on 4th January 2005.





Rama Vaidyanathan is the next convenor of Chennai's Sri Krishna Gana Sabha's Natya Kala Conference in 2019 and 2020.






Highlights - Yearwise listing