List of Indian women in dance
Encyclopedia
This list of Indian women in dance includes women from India
or of Indian parentage who are notable for their involvement with modern or traditional Indian dance
, as dancers or choreographers
. This list is not for women whose involvement with dance is not central to their careers, as is the case with many Bollywood
actresses.
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
or of Indian parentage who are notable for their involvement with modern or traditional Indian dance
Indian dance
Dance in India covers a wide range of dance and dance theatre forms, from the ancient classical or temple dance to folk and modern styles.Three best-known Hindu deities, Shiva, Kali and Krishna, are typically represented dancing. There are hundreds of Indian folk dances such as Bhangra, Bihu,...
, as dancers or choreographers
Choreography
Choreography is the art of designing sequences of movements in which motion, form, or both are specified. Choreography may also refer to the design itself, which is sometimes expressed by means of dance notation. The word choreography literally means "dance-writing" from the Greek words "χορεία" ...
. This list is not for women whose involvement with dance is not central to their careers, as is the case with many Bollywood
Bollywood
Bollywood is the informal term popularly used for the Hindi-language film industry based in Mumbai , Maharashtra, India. The term is often incorrectly used to refer to the whole of Indian cinema; it is only a part of the total Indian film industry, which includes other production centers producing...
actresses.
Choreographers
- Saroj KhanSaroj KhanNirmala Kishanchand Sadhu Singh Nagpal popularly known as Saroj Khan is one of the most prominent Indian dance choreographers in Hindi cinema...
, award-winning choreographer - Vaibhavi MerchantVaibhavi MerchantVaibhavi Merchant is a well-known Bollywood dance choreographer, the granddaughter of pioneering choreographer Shri B. Hiralal, her maternal grandfather. She is the younger sister of Shruti Merchant.-Career:...
, award-winning choreographer - Geeta KapoorGeeta KapoorGeeta Kapoor is an Indian choreographer, in Hindi films , and is presently one of the three judges for the Indian reality dance talent show, Dance India Dance - Season 2, where she is one of the three judges, who are also mentors to the shows 18 dancers, called 'Masters'.-Early life and...
, Judge on Dance India DanceDance India DanceLUX Dance India Dance is a reality dance show that airs on the Indian satellite television channel Zee TV. The show has been produced by UTV Software Communications and has become India's largest dance-based reality show. The show is choreographed by some of the most popular Indian choreographers,...
Dancers
- Yamini ReddyYamini Reddy-Early life:Yamini Reddy was born in New Delhi to noted kuchipudi dancers and Padma Bhushan award winners, Daughter of Drs. Raja Reddy & Radha Reddy.She received her training from her parents and gave her first performance in New Delhi when she was only three...
- Radha Reddy
- Gauhar JaanGauhar JaanGauhar Jaan was an Indian singer and dancer or a tawaif from Calcutta. She was one of the first performers to record music on 78 rpm records in India, and released by Gramophone Company of India. -Early life:...
- Neha Pendse
- VyjayanthimalaVyjayanthimalaVyjayanthimala Bali is an Indian film actress, Bharathanatyam dancer, carnatic singer, dance choreographer, golfer and a Parliamentarian....
- Alarmel ValliAlarmel ValliAlarmel Valli is an Indian classical dancer and choreographer, and the foremost exponent of the Pandanallur style Indian classical dance form of Bharatnatyam and also her own distinctive style...
- Geeta Chandran
- Kalamandalam Kalyanikutty AmmaKalamandalam Kalyanikutty AmmaKalamandalam Kalyanikutty Amma was an epoch-making Mohiniyattam danseuse from Kerala in southern India. She is considered as the "Mother of Mohiniyattam"...
- Kanak ReleKanak ReleKanak Rele is an Indian dancer and academic who is most famous as an exponent of Mohiniyattom. She is the founder of the Nalanda Dance Research Centre in Mumbai....
- Kasturi Pattanaik
- Madhumita Patnaik
- Sujata MohapatraSujata MohapatraSujata Mohapatra is an eminent Indian classical dancer and teacher of Odissi dancing style.-Early life and background:Sujata Mohapatra was born in Balasore in 1968....
- Shobhana ChandrakumarShobhana ChandrakumarShobana Chandrakumar , mononymously known as Shobana , is an Indian film actress and Bharatanatyam dancer. She was among the popular lead actress in Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, and Kannada films during the 1980s and 1990s...
- Manisha Gulyani
- Meenakshi Srinivasan
- Mythili KumarMythili KumarMythili Kumar is a dancer, teacher, and choreographer. She performs the Bharatanatyam, Kuchipudi, and Odissi styles of Indian classical dance. As founder and Director of Abhinaya Dance Company of San Jose, she has trained and presented over fifty dancers in their solo debuts and has collaborated...
- Mythili Prakash
- Viji PrakashViji PrakashViji Prakash is an Indian Bharata Natyam dancer, founder of Shakti Dance Company and Shakti School of Bharata Natyam. Viji Prakash has been a pioneer in popularizing the performance and presentation of Bharata Natyam in the USA since 1976...
- Medha YodhMedha YodhMedha Yodh was an Indian and Indian American Bharatanatyam dancer and teacher of classical Indian dance at UCLA. She was a disciple of Tanjore Balasaraswati and created a documentary on Garba.-Early life:...
- Mrinalini SarabhaiMrinalini SarabhaiMrinalini Sarabhai is a celebrated Indian classical dancer, choreographer and instructor. She is the founder director of the Darpana Academy of Performing Arts, an institute for imparting training in dance, drama, music and puppetry, in the city of Ahmedabad...
- Padma SubramanyamPadma SubramanyamDr. Padma Subrahmanyam , is an Indian classical Bharatanatyam dancer. She is also a research scholar, choreographer, music composer, musician, teacher and author. She is famous in India as well as abroad: several films and documentaries have been made in her honor by countries like Japan, Australia...
- Protima BediProtima BediProtima Gauri Bedi was an Indian model turned Odissi exponent. In 1990, she established 'Nrityagram', a dance village near Bangalore.-Early life:...
, aka Protima Gauri. - Prerana DeshpandePrerana DeshpandePrerana Deshpande is one of the leading exponents of Kathak dance in India. She studied Kathak under Guru-Shishya Parampara from legendary Dr. Rohini Bhate, the doyen of Lucknow and Jaipur gharanas for over twenty years. Prerana Deshpande is known for equal mastery over various aspects of Kathak...
- Priyadarshini Govind
- Rukmini Devi ArundaleRukmini Devi ArundaleRukmini Devi Arundale was an Indian theosophist, dancer and choreographer of the Indian classical dance form of Bharatnatyam, and also an activist for animal rights and welfare....
- Rama Vaidyanathan
- Saroja Vaidyanathan
- Sonal MansinghSonal MansinghDr. Sonal Mansingh is an eminent Indian classical dancer and choreographer of Odissi dancing style; who is also proficient in other Indian classical dancing styles including Bharatnatyam, Kuchipudi, and Chhau.-Early life and background:...
- Shobha NaiduShobha NaiduShobha Naidu is among the foremost Kuchipudi dancers of India and an outstanding disciple of the renowned master Vempati Chinna Satyam. She mastered the technique of Kuchipudi and began dancing lead roles in dance-dramas while still very young. She has performed with her guru's troupe all over the...
- Sunanda NairSunanda NairSunanda Nair is a leading exponent of Mohiniyattam or Mohini Attam and one of the few performers of this style of dance form...
- Sharada SrinivasanSharada SrinivasanSharada Srinivasan, Associate Professor, National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bangalore, India, works in the field of inter-disciplinary scientific studies in art, archaeology, archaeometallurgy and culture and is also an acclaimed exponent of classical Bharata Natyam dance. She has a PhD...
- Shovana NarayanShovana NarayanShovana Narayan is best known as one of the best Kathak danseuses in the world. She performs in India and around the world, and has been awarded the Padma Shri. Her guru is Birju Maharaj....
- Sanjukta PanigrahiSanjukta PanigrahiSanjukta Panigrahi was a dancer of India, who was the foremost exponent of Indian classical dance Odissi...
- Smitha RajanSmitha RajanSmitha Rajan is a Mohiniyattam performer from Kerala and granddaughter of the legendary Indian classical dancer couple of Padma Shri Kalamandalam Krishnan Nair and Kalamandalam Kalyanikutty Amma. Her mother Sreedevi Rajan is a noted Mohiniyattam Guru and Smitha's teacher...
- Subashini Santhanam
- Sudha ChandranSudha ChandranSudha Chandran is an accomplished Bharatanatyam dancer, Indian film and television actress, who turned to acting following the loss of a leg in an accident in May 1981 near Trichy, Tamil Nadu.-Early life and education:...
- Urmila Sathyanarayanan
- Manju BhargaviManju BhargaviManju Bhargavi is an actress and dancer, best known for her performance in the Telugu blockbuster film Shankarabharanam .-Early life:Manju Bhargavi parents originally hail from Andhra Pradesh but settled in Madras...
- Mungara Yamini Krishnamurthy
- Mallika SarabhaiMallika SarabhaiMallika Sarabhai is an activist and Indian Classical Dancer from Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. Daughter of Classical Dancer Mrinalini Sarabhai and renowned Space Scientist Vikram Sarabhai, Mallika is an accomplished Kuchipudi and Bharatanatyam dancer.-Early life:Mallika Sarabhai was born in...
- Mamata ShankarMamata ShankarMamata Shankar is an actress in the Bengali language film industry of India. She has acted in films by renowned film directors including, Satyajit Ray, Mrinal Sen, Rituparno Ghosh, Buddhadev Dasgupta and Gautam Ghosh...
- Tanusree ShankarTanusree ShankarTanusree Shankar is one of the leading dancers and choreographers of contemporary dance in India and is based in Kolkata, India. She earned her fame as a danseuse as the leading dancer of the Ananda Shankar Centre for Performing Arts in the 1970s and 1980s.Tanusree Shankar was born in Calcutta...
- Shashi SankhlaShashi SankhlaShashi Sankhla is a Kathak dancer from Jaipur, Rajasthan. She has been awarded by Sangeet Natak Akademi Awards 2008 in Kathak dance. She is principal of Jaipur Kathak Kendra.-See also:*Indian women in dance...
- Saswati SenSaswati SenSaswati Sen is a leading Indian exponent of Kathak, an Indian classical dance form. She is a senior disciple of Pandit Birju Maharaj. She achieved early fame by dancing in Satyajit Ray's film, The Chess Players , his invocation of Lucknow society at its "Paris of India" zenith. She also teaches...