Shubha Dhananjay to receive National Achievement Award from Srishti Institute of Performing Arts

Classical dancer Shubha Dhananjay, is this year’s recipient of the National Achievement Award, instituted by the Srishti Institute of Performing Arts

Among the few artistes in the State to master both Bharatnatyam and Kathak, Shubha Dhananjay is a pioneer when it comes to using special Kannada compositions in her performances.

Shubha, who is currently president of the Karnataka Sangeeta Nrithya Academy, has also mastered several forms of folk art and is passionately involved in training her students in the same, at her dance institute Natyantharanga, which was established in 1987.

Over the past four decades, Shubha has amassed awards and accolades at state, national and international levels. Apart from judging dance competitions, Shubha produces ballets for Natyantharanga and grooms students at Karana, which she began in 2006, to impart vocal, instrumental, dance and yoga training. 

On May 5, the Srishti Institute of Performing Arts in association with the Rotary Bugle Rock organisation in Bengaluru, will bestow the National Achievement Award on Shubha. The award ceremony will be followed by her Bharatanatyam performance.

“I feel honoured and thank Srishti for extending this award to me. It is gratifying to be in a line-up of awardees that has included names such as Vyjayanthimala, Birju Maharaj, vocalist RK Srikantan and flautist Hariprasad Chaurasia among others,” says Shubha. 

Born in Thirthahalli in Shimoga district to N Narasimhaiah, an engineer, and Lolakshamma, a dance and music enthusiast, destiny played a part in Shubha’s future when her father was transferred to Bengaluru when she was seven. “Eager to find a dance guru for me, my parents were thrilled when guru SV Srinivas, a simple man in a dhoti and kurta, arrived at our doorstep after hearing my sister and I were eager to learn dance,” says Shubha.

“We were undergoing fundamental lessons in the Mysore and Pandanallur styles when Guru Srinivas, who originally hailed from Madurai, had moved to Bengaluru and was looking to train students in the Tanjore style. We did not hesitate to join him as he belonged to a lineage of gurus who were instrumental in the establishment of Kalakshetra in Chennai.”