Guru Gopinath Natya Puraskar for Kanak Rele

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kanak Rele, the mohiniyattam exponent who has contributed significantly to the growth and popularisation of the dance form in India and abroad, has been selected for the maiden Guru Gopinath National Natya Puraskar.

The award, declared by Cultural Affairs Minister A K Balan here on Wednesday, carries a purse of Rs 3 lakh, a statuette designed by the sculptor Kanayi Kunhiraman and citation.

Instituted by the Natanagramam on behalf of the Cultural Affairs Department, the national award honours the lifetime achievements of eminent exponents of Indian dance forms. A celebrated name in Indian dance who was honoured with the Padma Bhushan in 2013, Rele is founder-director of the Nalanda Dance Research Centre and founder-principal of the Nalanda Nritya Kala Mahavidyalaya in Mumbai.A five-member panel headed by danseuse Mallika Sarabhai chose Rele, now 81, from a list of ten short-listed names, Balan said.

‘’For the past 45 years, Kanak Rele has performed the unique and herculean task of researching, reviving and popularising mohiniyattam. She has based her work on the systematic and in-depth study of the ancient Indian Natyashastric tradition. Rele has created a ‘shastra’ specifically for mohiniyattam and now this beautiful lyrical dance has taken its legitimate position with other well-known dance traditions,’’ the Guru Gopinath Natanagramam said in a statement.

The golden moment

• Kanak Rele is founder-director of the Nalanda Dance Research Centre and founder-principal of the Nalanda Nritya Kala Mahavidyalaya in Mumbai.
• Rele has created a ‘shastra’ specifically for mohiniyattam who has popularised the dance form in India and abroad
• The award is instituted by the Guru Gopinath Natanagramam, an institution under the Cultural Affairs Department.