Padma Awards 2012 have been announced. In total 109 Padma Awards would be conferred this year - 5 Padma Vibhushan, 27 Padma Bhushan and 77 Padma Shri awards at a formal function in March/April 2012.
Padma Vibhushan: Late (Dr.) Bhupen Hazarika
Padma Bhushan: Dr. TV Gopalakrishnan, MS Gopalakrishnan, Prof. Vidya Dehejia
Padma Shri: Ramachandra Subraya Hegde Chittani - Yakshagana, Dr. Minati Mishra - Odissi, Na Muthuswamy - Koothu-P-Pattarai, R Nagarathnamma - Theatre, Kalamandalam Sivan Namboodiri - Koodiyattam, Pandit Gopal Prasad Dubey - Chhau

Headed by Guru Gajendra Panda, Tridhara awarded the 5TH GURU DEBAPRASAD AWARD to Odissi exponent Dr. Minati Mishra on January 23, 2012 at Bhubaneswar.

At the D Appukuttan Nair Memorial Award ceremony conducted by Nepathya on January 26, 2012 at Nepathya’s koothambalam in Aluva, Sooraj Nambiar was honored with the D APPUKUTTAN NAIR MEMORIAL AWARD by Guru Kidangoor Ramachakyar. The award recognizes upcoming talent in Koodiyattam and Kathakali. Koodiyattam and Kathakali scholar D Appukuttan Nair is the founder of Margi and architect of the koothambalam at Kerala Kalamandalam.

Dancer Uma Namboodiripad Sathyanarayanan lost her husband in a car crash on Jan 14, 2012.
Contact: umaasn@gmail.com

Zhang Jun (1933 - 2012), the first Chinese dancer to study classical dance in India, brought Bharatanatyam and Kathak to Mao’s China in the 1950s and inspired many to follow her passion for classical Indian art over a five decade long teaching career. She passed away in January 2012 following a long battle with cancer. She was 79. Her cremation took place on Jan 8, 2012. She had asked to be cremated with an anklet wrapped around her leg.
http://www.thehindu.com/arts/dance/article2790539.ece

The KERALA SANGEETHA NATAKA AKADEMI AWARDS for 2011 have been announced.
Inchakkattu Ramachandran Pillai (Kathakali); Sunanda Nair (Mohiniattam), Girija Regatta (Bharatanatyam) for dance; Margi Madhu (Koothu, Koodiyattom) and Kelathu Aravindaksha Marar (chenda) from the traditional arts; Thampi Payyappalli (Chavittu Natakam) and Sreedharan Asan (Kakkarissi Natakam) for folk arts.
Pandit Ramesh Narayanan (vocal), Kavalam Sreekumar (vocal), Guruvayoor Gopi (Nadaswaram) and Sreenarayanapuram Appu Marar (chenda) for classical music; Selma George for light music.
From the drama section, K G Ramu (costume), Meenampalam Santhosh and Deepan Sivaraman (direction); In the Popular Arts category, magician R K Malayath; Poochakkal Shahul for drama lyrics.
Akademi chairman Soorya Krishnamoorthy, secretary P V Krishnan Nair and vice-chairman T M Abreha said the awards carry a cash prize of Rs. 25,000 each, citation and a memento.

The Global Indian Association (GIA) awarded the GIA INTERNATIONAL EXCELLENCE AWARD 2012 on Mohiniattam dancer Sunanda Nair at Pravasi Bharatiya Divas 2012 held at New Delhi YMCA, on January 10, 2012 in the presence of national and international dignitaries.


Lasyakala presented AEKALAVYA SAMMAN 2012 to Kuchipudi dancer Luise Tschabuschnig (USA) and Odissi dancer Adrien Meszaros (Hungary) on January 7, 2012 at Rabindra Mandap, Bhubaneswar.


Bharatanatyam guru K J Sarasa passed away on January 2, 2012 at Chennai. She was 78.

TAPAS Cultural Foundation presented NRITYA SRESHTA on Bharatanatyam dancer P T Narendran on January 14, 2012 at T N Rajarathinam Pillai Muthamizh Peravai Hall, Chennai.

The General Council of Sangeet Natak Akademi, the National Academy of Music, Dance and Drama, New Delhi, held its meeting on 13-14 December 2011. Following is the list of awardees:
AKADEMI RATNA 2011:
Mukund Lath, Hariprasad Chaurasia, Shivkumar Sharma, Amjad Ali Khan, Umayalapuram Sivaraman, M Chandrasekharan, R K Singhajit Singh, Kalamandalam Gopi, Padma Subrahmanyam, Chandrasekhar Kambar, and Heisnam Kanhailal
AKADEMI PURASKAR 2011:
Narthaki Natraj (Bharatanatyam), Manjushree Chatterjee (Kathak), Thonnakkal Peethambaram (Kathakali), Priti Patel (Manipuri), Alekhya Punjala (Kuchipudi), Ramli Ibrahim (Odissi), V K Hymavathy (Mohiniattam), Tanusree Shankar (Creative & Experimental Dance) and Karaikudi Krishnamurthi (Music for Dance)
USTAD BISMILLAH KHAN YUVA PURASKAR 2010:
Praveen Kumar (Bharatanatyam), Pallabi De (Kathak), M Amaljith (Kathakali), Yeleswarapu Srinivasulu (Kuchipudi), Arushi Mudgal (Odissi), Naren Barua (Sattriya), Madhu Natraj (Creative Dance) and Yogesh Gangani (Music for Dance -Tabla for Kathak), Srikanth Natarajan (Theatre)
TAGORE AKADEMI RATNA:
M Nagabhushana Sarma, Ram Narayan, M.S. Gopalakrishnan, Vyjayanthimala Bali, Kalanidhi Narayanan, M K Saroja, Kumudini Lakhia, Mankompu Sivasankara Pillai, Mayadhar Raut, Pasumarthy Venugopala Krishna Sarma, Maya Rao, Amala Shankar
TAGORE AKADEMI PURASKAR (for dance):
Pandanallur Swaminathan Pillai – Bharatanatyam, N.S. Jayalakshmi – Bharatanatyam,Rajee Narayan – Bharatanatyam, Chemencerri Kuniraman Nair – Kathakali, Nattuvan Paramasiva Menon – Kathakali, Devjani Chaliha – Manipuri, Bhagavatula Yagna Narayan Sarma – Kuchipudi, Rita Devi – Odissi, Haricharan Saikia – Sattriya, Patrayani Sangeetha Rao - Music for Dance, Bhagavatula Seetarama Sarma - Music for Dance


Bharatanatyam Guru Radha Sridhar, Founder Director of Venkatesha Natya Mandir that was established in 1969 in Bangalore, is to receive the SHANTALA NATYA PRASHASTI, the highest award in Karnataka given for established dance gurus and dancers. The award contains Rs 3 lakh in cash and a citation.

Mridangam maestro Trichy Sankaran received the SANGITA KALANIDHI title from the Music Academy on January 1, 2012. The newly instituted NATYA KALA ACHARYA award for dance was conferred on Bharatanrityam exponent Padma Subrahmanyam on January 3, 2012.