Shiva Rao, senior guru of Karnataka, who used to teach Bharatanatyam, expired on April 29, 2008 of heart attack. He is survived by his son, London based mridangam player Bhavani Shankar, and dancer daughter in the US.                                                                                                                                 Dr. Maya Rao, the director of Natya Institute of Kathak and Choreography, Bangalore, celebrates her 80th birthday on May 2, 2008.                                                                                                                                                   On May 30, 2008 Sudarshan Chakravorty of Sapphire Creations, is being conferred SHRI SHYAMAL SEN SMRITI PURASHKAR 2008 at Sujata Sadan, Kolkata, by the renowned Swapnasandhani theatre group led by its able director Koushik Sen. This award is given in the memory of his father and founder of the theatre group to deserving artists in the field of arts.                                                                                                                                          Kathak dancer Souvik Chakraborty received the GURU KELUCHARAN MOHAPATRA YUVA PRATIVA SAMMAN 2008 on April 24, 2008 at the annual festival Deesha organized in Kolkata by Srjan's Kolkata Chapter.                                                                                                                                        The AWARD OF EXCELLENCE was given to Bharatanatyam dancer Ragasudha Vinjamuri by Telugu Association of London, for her cultural contribution in the  last couple of years. It was conferred on April 12, 2008 at Ilford Town Hall in the presence of Mike Gapes, MP and State Revenue Minister Prasada Rao.                                                                                                                                               Bharatanatyam guru MK Saroja, who recently celebrated her 78th birthday, is to receive the LEGENDS OF INDIA AWARD in Delhi at India International Centre on May 22, 2008.                                                                                                                                        Ananda Shankar Jayant, director of Shankarananda Kalakshetra in Hyderabad, received the prestigious Andhra Pradesh State award KALARATNA for dance on April 7, 2008. The award was presented at a glittering ceremony on the day of Ugadi by Dr. Y S Rajasekhar Reddy, Hon'ble Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh.  Gurus Shoba Naidu, Vedhanatam Satyanarayana Sarma, Alekya and Nataraja Ramakrishna are some of the earlier recipients.                                                                                                                                 M L Koser (1928-2008) passed away in Chandigarh on March 27, 2008 at the age of 80. Koser studied under Uday Shankar and Guru Namudri Pad at Almora, Bharatanatyam in Thanjavur, Kathak at Lucknow and Manipuri dance under Guru Amubi Singh in Manipur. Koser was also a journalist.   He established the Pracheen Kala Kendra in 1956. It is highly creditable that this institution is now the oldest and the most firmly established body of its kind in the country having over 3500 affiliated centers in India and abroad with more than 2 lakh students studying and preparing themselves for various grade of professional courses conducted by it every year. Koser received the Uday Shankar Award, the Gopi Krishan Award, Nritya Shiromani, Nritya Samrat and the President's Awards twice. He is survived by his wife Kathak dancer Shoba Koser, son Sujal and daughter Purva.                                                                                                                                    Accomplished shadow puppeteer, Ramachandra Puluvar, from Palakkad district in Kerala, received the VIRUDHU AWARD (given by the Madras Craft Foundation and the Friends of Dakshina Chitra.) on March 29, 2008 at Dakshina Chitra, Chennai. Pulavar and his troupe performed `Tolpavakoothu,’ a leather puppet shadow play, on the occasion.