Chitra Vishweswaran
One of the best-known exponents of Bharatnatyam, Chitra Visweswaran has been
trained, right from her early years, in this traditional dance form. She has
travelled across India and also given performances abroad. She runs a dance
school - Chidambaram, in Chennai, where students are given a holistic
formation in classical dance and music.
Her husband R. Visweswaran is a Carnatic vocalist-composer. He is the
disciple of Santoor (Classical Musical Instrument) expert Pandit Shiv Kumar
Sharma. Both have dedicated their lives to teaching Indian Dance and Music.
Chitra has bagged many laurels for her contribution towards Bharatnatyam. She
is the first dancer to be invited to occupy the Rabindranath Tagore Chair of
Fine Arts in the University of Madras. She was awarded the Kalaimamani award by
the Government of Tamilnadu and the Central Sangeet Natak Akademi award. The
President of India conferred the Padmashri award on her in 1992.
