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   SNEHA MUKHERJEE, a 21-year-old MBA student, has secured the 1st Position at the 39th AIU Inter-University National Youth Festival (Kalai Saaral), hosted by Sathyabama IST Chennai from March 10–14, 2026. A former Darpana Academy of Performing Arts scholar, Sneha competed against the top talent from eight zones of India to claim the national title. The achievement recalls a historic moment in the early 1960s when students of Mrinalini Sarabhai won the Bharatanatyam category five consecutive years, creating a nationwide sensation.  Madras Music Academy announced its dance awardees for 2026. NRITYA KALANIDHI: G Narendra NRITYA KALA ACHARYA: A Janardhanan DANCE MUSICIAN AWARD: S Rajeswari and TK Padmanabhan Dance awardees will receive the awards at the inauguration of The Music Academy’s 20th Annual Dance Festival on January 3, 2027.  SOHINI RAY is the first woman recipient of TAGORE SCHOLARSHIP in all of Manipuri arts (including literature, cinema, theatre, music, dance and visual arts) and only the third recipient.  UK Leeds-based, artistic director BALBIR SINGH, a disciple of Kathak Guru Pratap Pawar, received his MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) at Windsor Castle on 10 March 2026 from Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal for services to dance, marking a significant moment for the Indian classical tradition in the United Kingdom.  Guru S. P. SRINIVASAN, a revered Bharatanatyam Guru whose life was a shining example of simplicity, discipline, and boundless knowledge, passed away on March 12, 2026 at Mumbai. He was 71. Through his dedication, he nurtured not only dancers but also thoughtful and humble individuals who carry his teachings in their hearts. He believed in the purity of the art and its aesthetics. His guidance instilled values of humility, perseverance, devotion, and respect for tradition. He was not just a Bharatanatyam Guru, but a guiding light whose wisdom shaped lives both on and off the stage. He has worked with well-known artistes like Lata Surendra, Deepak Mazumdar and Sucheta Chapekar and has accompanied artistes from abroad too. Some of his illustrious disciples include Mausam Mahendra, Revathi Srinivasaraghavan, Devika Venkat, Shamal Pawar, Samidha Shinde, Vidya Sriram, Revati K, Manjula Manoj, and many others.  The Kerala Government’s top national cultural award with a cash prize of Rs.3 lakhs in the name of legendary Guru Gopinath, will be given to the Bharatanatyam couple V.P. DHANANJAYAN and SHANTA DHANANJAYAN and Kerala Natanam artiste AMBIKA MOHAN. This Puraskar is organized by Guru Gopinath Natana Gramam on behalf of the cultural department. The awards will be given shortly by the Chief Minister of the State.  Mohiniattam artiste and scholar Guru NIRMALA PANICKER was conferred the SHATKALA GOVINDA MARAR PURASKARAM by Kalasamithy on March 8, 2026 at Natanakairali, Irinjalakuda, in recognition of her outstanding contribution and extensive research in the field of classical performing arts. The award honours her dedicated efforts in enriching and revitalizing three significant traditional art forms of Kerala - Mohiniattam, Nangiar Koothu and Thiruvathirakali.  On March 14, 2026 the GURU DURGA CHARAN RANBIR LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD will be conferred upon veteran Odissi exponent ALOKA KANUNGO, while the GURU DURGA CHARAN RANBIR YUVA PURASKAR will be presented to Kuchipudi dancer AVIJIT DAS at Rabindra Mandap, Bhubaneswar  Rajalakshmi Engineering College, Chennai, presented the RAJALAKSHMI LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD to Bharatanatyam Guru SHANTA DHANANJAYAN on March 4, 2026.  ARAVINTH KUMARASAMY, Artistic Director of Apsaras Dance Company, was honoured with the ARTS EXCELLENCE AWARD 2026 by Pravasi Express on 1 March 2026. The award was presented by Dinesh Vasu Dash, Minister of State for Culture, Community and Youth & Manpower, Singapore. The following artistes received NALANDA NRITYA NIPUNA AWARD for 2026 from Nalanda Nrityakala Mahavidyalaya in the second week of January in Mumbai - Ayana Mukherjee and Vempati Lakshmi Kameswari (Kuchipudi), Disha Desai, Maitreyee Ingle, Tejashree Vaidya Rane and Gauri Jathe (Kathak), Dipjoy Sarkar (Odissi), Preshit Meher (Bharatanatyam), Ratri Manik (Manipuri).  On the eve of Shivaratri, February 15, 2026, Shrishti Centre of Performing Arts presented SHRISHTI THANDAVAPRIYA NATIONAL AWARD for male dancers to DR SANJAY SHANTARAM in Bangalore. SHYAMALA SUNDARAM passed away on February 22, 2026. She was a violinist and accompanied her daughters Padmini Dorairaj and Maya Sundaram and many Bharatanatyam artistes especially in New Delhi circle.  KAPILA VENU received the DEVI AWARD from The New Indian Express group on February 21, 2026 at Kochi, for taking Kutiyattam all over the world and keeping alive one of the oldest living theatre traditions across nations. 11 exceptional women achievers from Kerala from diverse fields who have broken barriers and redefined possibilities in their domains and are icons of inspiration for the coming generations were honored on the occasion of celebrating ‘Naari Shakti’ at the 38th edition of the Devi Awards.  Guru G. VENU has been awarded the KERALA SANGEETHA NATAKA AKADEMI FELLOWSHIP for 2025 in recognition of his lifelong contribution to the world of Koodiyattam, Navarasa Sadhana, and The World Theatre. The fellowship carries a cash award of ₹50,000, citation, plaque and sculpture. GURUPUJA PURASKARAM goes to KALANILAYAM GOPI (Kathakali), KALAMANDALAM SREEKUMAR (Kathakali) and THRISSUR JANARDHANAN (music and dance).  NISHAGANDHI PURASKARAM for Manipuri dancer DARSHANA JHAVERI was conferred on February 13, 2026 at the inaugural ceremony of the week-long Nishagandhi Dance Festival organised by Kerala Tourism at Kanakakunnu Palace grounds, Thiruvananthapuram.  VARSHA VISHWANATH received the NEILA SATHYALINGAM MEMORIAL ENDOWMENT AWARD 2026 at the Remembering Neila Sathyalingam Festival on February 7, 2026 at Singapore.  Chennai Bharata Kalanjali alumni SEETHA SASHIDHARAN and SHAFEEKUDEEN BK (Bharatanatyam) are being honoured with KERALA SANGEETHA NATAKA AKADEMI STATE AWARD for 2025. Other awardees include Chithra Sukumaran (Mohiniattam) and Joy Krishnan (Kerala Natanam).  Sarasalaya presented KJ SARASA MEMORIAL AWARD to Yogam Santhanam (vocalist) and Bharatanatyam dancer Urmila Sathyanarayanan on February 21, 2026 at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Chennai.  Banaras Hindu University conferred KAUSTUBH KALAA RATNA AWARD on Parwati Dutta on February 4, 2026 for her outstanding contribution in the field of Indian arts, especially traditional dance forms. Parwati Dutta is known for research-oriented dance compositions and reconstruction of ancient dance traditions through deep research on Shastras.  The following artistes have been selected for TAGORE NATIONAL FELLOWSHIP and SCHOLARSHIP FOR CULTURAL RESEARCH given by the Ministry of Culture, Government of India, for 2025-2026. The duration of the Fellowship/Scholarship will be 2 years. FELLOWSHIPS TAPATI CHOWDHURIE (A Research on the contribution of Thankamani Amma, the first student of Mohiniyattam in Kerala Kalamandalam) DR. P. RAMA DEVI (Performance Narratives: The Transition from Vesakathas to Kalapam and Yakshagana alongside classical theatre forms) BHARAT SHARMA (Developing a School of Choreography) SCHOLARSHIPS VV RAMANI (Abhinaya re-imagined) LAXMINARAYAN JENA (Deconstructing Ekaharya Lasyanga: A critical analysis of its components in Kathak as per Shastra, Sampradaya and Shaili) KEERTHY UNNIKRISHNAN (Study of rare temple dance compositions found in Palm Leaf Manuscript preserved at TMSSM Library (1650 -1787))  Vidhya Subramanian receives the NATYA VIDHA NIDHI (Lifetime Achievement Award) from IFAASD, San Diego on March 28, 2026.  The Padma awards have been announced on Jan 25, 2026. PADMA BHUSHAN: Dr. Shatavadhani R Ganesh (Karnataka) PADMA SHRI: Deepika Reddy (Telangana), Kalamandalam Vimala Menon (Kerala)  Aditi Mangaldas and Drishtikon Dance Foundation announce the winners of DR SUNIL KOTHARI AWARD FOR EMERGING ARTISTS 2025. First: NILAVA SEN (Uday Shankar Style and Bharatanatyam) // The Traffic Second: NAVYASHREE K.N. (Bharatanatyam) // Antarvirodha Second: P.V. ADITHYA (Bharatanatyam) // Who Am I Nilava Sen gets the award citation along with the cash prize of Rs. 75,000. Both Navyashree K.N and P.V Adithya stood a joint second and will share the second prize and receive Rs. 12,500 each. The jury members give a special mention to the works submitted by: SUSANTA GHOSH (Kathak) // Dwandha SUMEET SAGOLSEM (Contemporary) // Dual Currents  Urmila Sathyanarayanan is the convenor of the Natya Kala Conference in 2026 and 2027.  This year's KERALA KALAMANDALAM KATHAKALI MUSIC AWARD will be awarded to KALAMANDALAM MOHANAKRISHNAN, a distinguished musician and torchbearer of the Kathakali music tradition. Over the years, Kalamandalam Mohanakrishnan has performed alongside some of the greatest Kathakali maestros, earning recognition as one of the rare artistes who has upheld and enriched the musical tradition of Kathakali on national and international stages.  Bharatanatyam Guru Padmini Ravi to receive the SHANTALA NATYA PRASHASTI by the Govt of Karnataka.  Sonal Mansingh to receive SRIMANTA SANKARDEVA AWARD, the highest honor given by govt of Assam once in 3 years.  The KALIDAS SAMMAN of Govt of Madhya Pradesh goes to Dr. Sandhya Purecha and Pandit Uday Bhawalkar. The other awardees include: Sudha Raghuraman (RASHTRIYA KUMAR GANDHARVA SAMMAN), Kalpana Zokarkar and Pt Akhilesh Gundecha (SHIKHAR SAMMAN). Highlights ; Obituaries |
