Awardee has not been performing for the past 28 years and experts in the field feel that more deserving candidates from the state should have been considered instead
Awardee has not been performing for the past 28 years and experts in the field feel that more deserving candidates from the state should have been considered instead
A 65-year-old professor of the performing Arts was conferred with the prestigious Gourava Prashashthi (honorary award), for the year 2011 by Karnataka State Sangeetha, Nritya Nataka academy. This however has raised the hackles of several experts in the field who claim that Dr Choodamani Nandagopal could barely make the right moves and has been out of touch with dance for the past 28 years. Requesting anonymity, they stated that the academy should not have even considered her as a nominee for the award. 
In controversy: Choodamani Nandagopal will be given the honorary
award for Bharatnatyam by Karnataka State Sangeetha, Nritya, Nataka
Academy for the year 2011, today
They also added that there were several more deserving candidates in the state who should have been considered. Seeking to justify their argument, they also suggested that she should be given an award more appropriate for her current field, that being sculpture. Nandgopal is the first person to secure a PhD in South India on the subject of Dance and Music in Temple Architecture from Mysore University and is currently working as dean of school of humanities and social science at Jain University.
She admitted that though she has not practiced and performed Bharatnatyam, she had contributed to the field through research in temple art and architecture. "I was a leading dancer during the 80s and have performed several times. But since the past 28 years I have not performed due to research and academic work.
I also give lectures on dance and temple art in India as well as internationally," she told this reporter. Sources said that the panel selected Nandagopal in a hurry and asked her to give a short performance at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan as a screen test.
She barely performed for 15 minutes and was unable to deliver the right postures and expression, which is the essence in Bharatnatyam, another scholar who is doing research in this field alleged. Meanwhile, both minister for the Department of Kannada and Culture, Govind Karjol and principal secretary Ramesh Jhalki were unavailable for comments with regard to this issue.
Achievements
Nandgopal is the first person to secure a PhD in South India on the subject of Dance & Music in Temple Architecture from Mysore University. Her research traced over 1000 years of heritage from early Chalukyan to Vijayanagar times. Her first international publication on Dance and Music in Temple Architecture has placed Kannada art and culture on the international map. This book is in the great libraries of the world including Harvard and London.
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