India is the land of legendary classical dancers. So it is known for its art in the field of dances. and the one of art by which India is known is classical dance. India has a total of 8 classical dances.
There have been so many legendary dancers in the field of classical dance. Those who have dedicated their life in promoting their classical dance forms all around the world. They have contributed in exploring and teaching these dance forms all around India
List of the most famous classical dancers of India.
Today through this article we will learn about these legendary dancers and their dance forms. As an aspirant preparing for the government exams, from the section of art and cultures the names of the dancer and their dance form is asked.
- Sonal Mansingh-Bharatnatyam & Odissi
- Guru Bipin Singh – Manipuri
- Kelucharan Mohapatra – Odissi
- Pandit Birju Maharaj- Kathak
- Guru Vempati Chinna Satyam- Kuchipudi
- Shovana Narayan – Kathak
- Padma Subrahmanyam – Bharatanatyam
- Rukmini Devi Arundale – Bharatanatyam
- Srimanta Sankardev – Sattriya
- Mrinalini Sarabhai – Bharatanatyam & Kathakali
- Kalamandalam Kalyanikutty Amma – Mohiniyattam
- Yamini Krishnamurthy – Kuchipudi & Bharatnatyam
- V.Satyanarayana Sarma- Kuchipudi
- Tanjore Balasaraswati- Bharatanatyam
- Kumari Kamala- Kathak
- Alarmel Velli -Bharatnatyam
- Mallika Sarabhai Kuchipudi and Bharatanatyam dancer
Some of the Top Classical dancers
Here are the top classical dancers, who have dedicated their life in the development and promoting their dance all around the world.
Pandit Birju Maharaj- Kathak
Pandit Birju Maharaj was an Indian Kathak dancer, who recently passed away. His original name is Brijmohan Nath Mishra. He belongs to Lucknow Gharana of Kathak.
Birju Mahgaraj was honoured with Padma Vibhusan in 1986.
Mrinalini Vikram Sarabhai – Kuchipudi and Bharatanatyam
Mrinalini Sarabhai was an Indian classical dancer of Kathakali and Bharatanatyam who had mastered both of these classical dances.
Mrinalini married the Indian physicist Vikram Sarabhai who is considered to be the Father of the Indian Space Program in 1942
She received ‘Padma Shri’ in the year 1965 and ‘Padma Bhushan’ in the year 1992. She also was awarded the ‘Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship’ in the year 1994.
Shovana Narayan – Kathak
Shovana Narayan is the Kathak dancer, she was the student of Pandit Birju Maharaj. She started learning Kathak at the early age of 4.
At the beginning she began her career as an officer in the Indian Audit and Accounts service department as a bureaucrat.. After that got passionate about the Indian classical dance form and she started her career as the Kathak dance performer.
She performs in India and internationally, and made Kathak Dance famous all around the globe.As a great dancer she had been honoured with various awards National and International, and has been awarded the Padma Shri in 1992.
Guru Bipin Singh – Manipuri
Guru Bipin Singh was a director, choreographer and teacher of Manipuri dance.
He spent his life teaching and reviving the Manipuri dance form. Many of his students have earned fame and promoted this Dance form.
He was a great guru who popularised Manipuri dance a lot. He worked for the enrichment of Manipuri dance till his death.
Famous Manipuri dancer Darshana Jhaveri and her sisters received training from Guru Bipin singh.
Rukmini Devi Arundale – Bharatanatyam
Rukmini Devi Arundale was the renowned Bharatanatyam dancer, who is credited for the renaissance of Bharatnatyam dance form and more significantly making the dance which was primarily a forte of Devadasis, mainstream and respectable in the society. She was also a choreographer and follower of theosophy, of the Indian classical dance form of Bharatantyam.
She was the first woman in Indian history to be nominated as a member of the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Parliament of India.
She was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 1956 and the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship in 1967. And honoured with various awards in the field of art and culture.
All the classical dance and their dancers from India
| Classical Dance | Dancers Associated |
|---|---|
| Kathak | Birju Maharaj, Nahid Siddiqui, Lacchu Maharaj, Gopi Krishna, Saswati Sen, Shambu Maharaj, Sitara Devi, Prerna Shrimali, Ms. Sunayana Hazarilal, Kumudini Lakhia |
| Kuchipudi | Mallika Sarabhai, V. Satyanarayana Sarma, Deepa Shashindran, Raja Reddy, Radha Reddy, Vyjayanti Kashi, Vempati Chinna Satyam |
| Bharatanatyam | Rukmini Devi, Padma Subrahmanyam, Vyjayanthimala, Sheema Kermani, T. Balasaraswati, Yamini Krishnamurti, M.K. Saroja, Shanta and VP Dhananjayan |
| Kathakali | PK Kunju Kurup, Kalamandalam Rajan, Madavur Vasudevan Nair, Kalamandalam Gopi, Kalamandalam Ramankutty Nair |
| Odissi | Kelucharan Mahapatra, Sonal Mansingh, Geeta Mahalik, Dr. Minati Mishra, Sujata Mohapatra, Madhavi Mudgal, Kelucharan Mohapatra, Surendra Nath Jena, Shobana Sahajananan |
| Mohiniyattam | Kalamandalam Kalyanikutty Amma, Sunanda Nair, Kalamandalam Radhika, Thankamani, Kalamandalam Hymavathy, Dr. Kanak Rele, Pt Gopal Prasad Dubey |
| Manipuri | Guru Bipin Singh, Darshana Jhaveri, Jhaveri Sisters, Devjani Chaliha, Amala Shankar Amubi Singh, Bino Devi, Rajkumar Singhajit Singh |
| Sattriya | Ghanakanta Bora Borbayan |
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