November 2025
ANITA SAYS.....
Dancing is like dreaming with your feet.
- Unknown
Success is not final
Failure is not fatal
It is the courage to continue that counts.
- Winston Churchill
As I stared at the blank page of my Ipad, beginning to process my
thoughts for this edition, I heard the rain pouring outside, lashing
through the garden and creating a cacophony of sounds on my roof and
terrace. October is monsoon for Tamilnadu and every event becomes a hit
or miss, with one eye on the sky and the other on the pothole filled
roads. This year, I was pensive. Dussera and Deepavali had passed by,
firecrackers and celebrations were muted and every second person was
bedridden with the newest mutation of the Corona virus. Nothing,
however, was stopping dance and music events from unfolding across the
city. Rehearsals and shows continued unabated with gusto and enthusiasm.
For me, this is the time to drive to the ocean front and gaze at the
stormy waves. Ever since the Tsunami of December 2004, the fragile
nature of human life when pitted against the giant waters has never left
my mind screen. The irony of the most powerful human being on earth
appearing ant-sized and vulnerable against a single wave has never been
lost on me. No matter how powerful, how famous, how influential - one
wave, physical or metaphorical, can wash it all away.
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Aalaap, a Chennai-based boutique arts consulting and management
company, founded by Akhila Krishnamurthy, celebrated its 13th year in
October. To mark this milestone, Aalaap presented STHIRA - a 13-day-long
festival of performances and conversations from October 6 to 18, 2025
across various venues in Chennai.
Sowmya Laxmi Narayanan, disciple of Guru Geeta Chandran, presented a
solo Bharatanatyam recital on October 10, 2025 at Triveni Kala Sangam,
New Delhi.
Photos: Sarabjit Singh Dhillon
TAKITATOM
Nadroop celebrated 75 years of Kathak Guru SHAMA BHATE in Pune with a
show put up by 108 of her students to showcase her life and her
choreographic works in a collage of her works, pedagogy, and stage
craft.
After recently receiving the Lucy Bowen award for Inclusive Choreography, HRISHIKESH PAWAR,
Artistic Director of Centre of Contemporary Dance, Pune, receives the
Berlin Fellowship from the Akademie der Künste (AdK), Berlin.
The book 'UNLOCKING COSMIC POWER THROUGH BHARATANĀṬYAM' authored by dancer DR. SHASHIKALA RAVI,
reveals how classical dance postures, ancient temples and sculptures
embody the energy of the cosmos and the divine dance of Lord Shiva as
Nataraja. The book release took place on October 5, 2025 at Pune during
the Amritanjali Festival. |
ANNOUNCEMENTS
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AWARDS
 Sri Shanmukhananda Fine Arts and Sangeetha Sabha conferred the Sabha's highest award SANGEETHA KALA VIBHUSHAN on Kalamandalam Gopi, the living legend of Kathakali, on 7th September 2025 at Sri Shanmukhananda Chandrasekarendra Saraswathi Auditorium, Mumbai.
GURU SAHADEV PADHI MEMORIAL AWARD was presented to Odissi Guru Pagala Swain by Utkal Dance and Research Academy on October 5, 2025 at Rabindra Mandap, Bhubaneswar.
Odissi dancer Guru Ratikant Mohapatra received the NRUTYA GAURAV SAMMAN from Dance Image Academy on October 7, 2025 at Rabindra Mandap, Bhubaneswar.
On October 16, 2025, UK based artiste Arunima Kumar became the
first Kuchipudi dancer to be conferred King Charles III's Honorary
BRITISH EMPIRE MEDAL (BEM), for services to Indian classical dance and
community, marking a historic milestone.
The Lasya presented 22 VRINDRANI AWARDS & 5 PARTHA AWARDS on October 19, 2025 at the Museum Theater, Chennai.
VRINDRANI AWARDS (Season 5)
Akshaya Radhakrishnan, Bangalore - BN, Esha Mukherjee, Siliguri, West Bengal - Odissi, Kakali Bezbaruah, Guwahati - Sattriya, Dr. Sandhiya Soundararajan, Ambur - BN, Oishanee Bhattacharjee, Kolkata - Odissi, Udayasri Manoj, Mahabubabad, Telangana - Kuchipudi, Dweepjyoti Hajong, Guwahati - Sattriya, Savitha Karthik, Bengaluru - BN, Anagha Ajay, Chengannur, Kerala - Kuchipudi, Anangakili J Pattambi, Kerala - BN, Adeena Ann Alex, Muvattupuzha, Kerala - Mohiniattam / multi-style, Anishritha Reddy Kunduru, Warangal, Telangana - Kuchipudi, Nithyashree M, Bengaluru - BN, Sundara Ramakoundinya Sreebhashtam, Srikakulam, Andhra Pradesh - Kuchipudi, Rithismita Deka, Assam - Sattriya, Jahnobi Gogoi, Assam - Sattriya, Kalakshetra Reshma Rajiv, Ernakulam, Kerala - BN, Hasini Panjala, Warangal, Telangana - Kuchipudi, Pandiyan Shanmugam, Kanchipuram - BN, Malavika M Nair, Ernakulam, Kerala - Mohiniattam, Sai Vanshika Ethalapaka, Hyderabad - Kuchipudi, Abhirami R, Trivandrum, Kerala - Kuchipudi
PARTHA AWARD (Season 2)
Guru Anitha Guha, Chennai - Bharatanatyam, Himansee Katragadda - Kuchipudi, Harinie Jeevitha - BN, Prateeksha Kashi - Kuchipudi, Utthara Unni - BN
On November 2, 2025 Guru Gopal Panda Odishi Academy presents GURU
SINGHARI SAMMAN to Bankim Sethi (Odissi vocalist & composer),
BHAGAWATI SMRUTI SAMMAN to Aruna Mohanty (Odissi dancer/guru), GURU
GOPAL PANDA YUVA PRATIVA SAMMAN to Rahul Acharya (Odissi dancer and
scholar), at Utkal Rangamanch, Bhubaneswar.
The RR Sabha, Chennai, awarded the NRITHYA KALA RATHNA to Sailaja
(Kuchipudi & BN dancer) and the NRITHYA YUVA KALA RATHNA to Harinie
Jeevitha (BN) on October 23, 2025.
At the 19th Guru Debaprasad Award Festival organized by Tridhara, the
following awards were presented at Rabindra Mandap, Bhubaneswar on
October 24 & 25, 2025.
GURU DEBAPRASAD LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD 2025: Guru Laxmidhar Raula
(Rama Leela), Pt Laxmikant Palit (Odissi music), Guru Dhaneswar Swain
(Odissi mardala), and V. V. Ramani (Art Critic).
GURU DEBAPRASAD AWARD 2025: Guru Niranjan Rout (Odissi dance), Sivarajah
Natarajan (Visual Arts & Light Design), and Guru Yudhistir Nahak
(Radha Prema Leela).
GURU DEBAPRASAD YUVA PRATIVA AWARD 2025: Jayant Acharya, D. Priyanka, Sudipta Panda, and Aarya Nande (Odissi dance)
GURU DEBAPRASAD SISHU PRATIVA AWARD 2025: Yuuri Iijima (Odissi dance).
Ananda Shankar Jayant received the first NATYA SHIROMANI award from the
South Indian Cultural Association (SICA) in Hyderabad on October 28,
2025.
During the Indradhanush Festival by Sunaina held at Delhi, the GURU
SAMMAN will be given to Rama Vaidyanathan on Nov 5 and to Rani Khanam on
Nov 6, 2025.
Aatmalaya Academy, Bangalore, with the support of Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi presents
its annual memorial awards at the 10th edition of Samarpanam on Nov 8,
2025 at Black Box Theatre, Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi, Thrissur,
Kerala.
DEVIKA AND CHAKYAR RAJAN AWARD for Pothiyil Narayana Chakyar
KOKILAM AND SHANKARI AWARD for Kunjaru
AATMALAYA VAGGEYAKARA AWARD for PS Krishnamoorthy
On the occasion of the centenary year celebrations of Bhagwan Sri Sathya
Sai Baba, Bharathanjali Trust's Anitha Guha and trustees present the
following awards on November 23, 2025 at RR Sabha hall, Chennai.
SATHYA KALA SEVA RATNA SUNDARAM: Shobana Ramesh, SATHYA KALPANA PRAVEENA
NARTHAKA SUNDARAM: Sathyanarayana Raju, SATHYA NATANA RATNA SUNDARAM:
Shankar Kandasamy, SATHYA KALA RATNA SUNDARAM: Sailaja, SATHYA KALA
NIPUNA SUNDARAM: Dr. Veena Murthy Vijay, SATHYA KALA POSHAKA RATNA
SUNDARAM: DS Rajagopalan, SATHYA VIDWATH RATNA SUNDARAM: Dr. K
Sivaloganathan, SATHYA SISHYA SUNDARAM: Sukanya Ravindhar, SATHYA NRITYA
PROTHSAHANA SUNDARAM: Mahalakshmi Ashwin, SATHYA KALA PRAVEENA
SUNDARAM: Sai Kripa Prasanna, SATHYA NRITYA LASYA SUNDARAM: Aishwarya
Balasubramanian, SATHYA NARTHAKI VIMARSHAKA SUNDARAM: Lalitha Venkat,
SATHYA KALA SADHAKA RATNA SUNDARAM: VV Ramani, SATHYA MELATTUR
BHAGAVATHA MRIDANGA SIMHA SUNDARAM: Nagai P Sriram, SATHYA LAYA JALA
SUNDARAM: Dr. GV Guru Bharadwaj, SATHYA GANA SUNADHA SUNDARAM: Vishwesh
Swaminadhan, SATHYA UDHYAMI SUNDARAM: RS Kumar, SATHYA KALA PROTHSAHAKA
SUNDARAM: KR Ramakrishnan
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ATMA SHANTI
Eminent Bharatanatyam dancer, guru, researcher, author and social reformer, DR. PADMINI CHAKRABORTY
from the North Eastern Indian state of Tripura, passed away on October
13, 2025, aged 79. Dr. Padmini was the first person from Tripura to
complete her Master's degree and PhD in Bharatanatyam. Her institution
'Nrityangan' was one of the first institutes where students of Tripura
got the opportunity to learn Bharatanatyam.
Dr. Padmini Chakraborty
- Anusha Chakraborty
A multidisciplinary artiste, curator, and director who created work that
resonated with audiences locally and beyond, Sydney based JIVA
JEHANATHAN PARTHIPAN passed away on 1st October 2025 in Australia. He
was suffering from Parkinson's for the last few years.
Born in Sri Lanka, Parthipan trained in classical Indian dance in the
UK and earned a Masters in Performance (Distinction) from Goldsmiths,
University of London. He was the first male dancer to perform with
Shobana Jeyasingh Dance, a leading British Indian contemporary dance
company, that brought him into the public eye. He toured extensively
around UK and received recognition for his work by numerous regional and
dance agencies and funders.
Working locally and internationally, Jiva's multidisciplinary
performance works have been presented at Tate Modern; ICA London;
International Network for Contemporary Performing Arts (IETM),
Paris/Dublin; National Review of Live Arts, Glasgow; Performance Space,
Sydney; Bone Festival Switzerland, and JOMBA! Contemporary Dance
Experience (South Africa), to name a few. As a Creative Producer in
Australia, his projects include Handfed (Museum of Contemporary Art),
Little Baghdad (Powerhouse Youth Theatre, Australian Museum), and Dance
Africa Dance (Riverside Theatres). At STARTTS in Western Sydney, he
supported artistes from emerging and refugee communities.
Jiva was one of the small group of pioneering dance artistes who went
beyond the traditional narrative to explore issues around sexuality and
cultural diversity. He brought people and communities together through
the power of art.
Jiva Parthipan - Circling the Outsider
- Donald Hutera
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FROM THE ARCHIVES
 Gender study through Nayika Bheda as applied in Indian dance tradition
- Srabani Basu
A nuanced and vast discussion on gender can be found first in the Natya
Shastra and further elaborated in several Sanskrit works on dramaturgy
and poetics later till 15th -18th century, in which the female
protagonist is termed as 'Nayika' and the male protagonist is termed as
'Nayaka'.
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