Created by Scorpions13256
Last edited June 24, 2021

Padmini Chettur
Born1970
Occupationdancer, choreographer
Years active1989-present
Current group"Padmini Chettur Dance Company"
Website[1]

Padmini Chettur (born 1970) is an Indian contemporary dancer, trained by dancer-choreographer Chandralekha. She runs her own dance company based in Chennai, India, "Padmini Chettur Dance Company".[1][2][3]

Early life and education[edit | edit source]

Padmini Chettur was born in 1970 and began her training in the Indian classical dance-styles Bharata Natyam as a child. She graduated from Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS), Pilani in 1991.[citation needed]

Career[edit | edit source]

Padmini presented her first contemporary experiment in 1989.[4]

In 1991 she joined the dance company run by Chandralekha and worked with it till 2001, performing in the productions ā€˜Lilavati,’ ā€˜Prana,’ ā€˜Angika,’ ā€˜Sri,’ ā€˜Bhinna Pravaha,’ ā€˜Yantra,’ ā€˜Mahakaal’ and ā€˜Sharira.’ [5][6] Meanwhile, she presented her first solo work ā€˜Wings and Masks’ (1999). This was followed by ā€˜Brown', the duet 'Unsung’, ā€˜Fragility’ (2001) – a group production, and ā€˜Solo’ (2003) in three sections, and then came another group production ā€˜Paperdoll’. Her production, ā€˜Pushed’ premiered at Seoul Performing Arts Festival (SPAF) 2006,[7] and travelled to Brussels, Holland, Salzburg, Paris and Lisbon.[5] ā€˜Beautiful Thing 1’ and ā€˜Beautiful Thing 2’ were created as a group and a solo work respectively – exploring the politics of beauty of the body and the space. These were performed extensively in India and abroad. ā€˜Wall Dancing’[8] came next as a group production with further explorations in that line – pushing the boundaries of the notion of dependency of bodies with one another as well that with the space. This was also her first non-proscenium work that travelled within India and to Vienna and Singapore. While working with 'Wall Dancing', she created ā€˜Kolam’ in association with French choreographer David Rolland as part of his production. It is a dance piece created on a massive carpet with a Kolam designed on it. Padmini is currently working on a group piece exploring the notion of distance and longing by working with a Varnam in a contemporary way – relevant to current socio-cultural scenario.

She has been artist in residence in England, the Netherlands, Germany and elsewhere. She is also one of the co-founders (along with dancer-choreographer Preethi Athreya, musician-composer Maarten Visser and theater-director-actor Pravin Kannanur) of an artists' collective based in Chennai, India – known as Basement 21.

Works[edit | edit source]

  • Wings and Masks (Production / Performance, 1999)
  • Fragility (Production / Performance, 2001)
  • Solo (Production / Performance, 2003)
  • Paperdoll (Production / Performance, 2005)
  • Pushed (Production / Performance, 2006)[9]
  • Beautiful Thing 1 (Production / Performance, 2009)
  • Beautiful Thing 2 (Production / Performance, 2011)
  • Wall Dancing (Production / Performance, 2012)
  • Kolam (In association with David Rolland) (Production / Performance, 2014)
  • Varnam (Production / Performance, 2016)

References[edit | edit source]

  1. ↑ Swaminathan, Chitra (22 November 2008). "Beyond boundaries". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 7 November 2012. Retrieved 13 February 2010.
  2. ↑ Venkatraman, Leela (22 January 2010). "Is collaboration the new age mantra?". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 31 January 2010. Retrieved 13 February 2010.
  3. ↑ "Celebrating the creative spirit". The Hindu. 26 November 2001. Archived from the original on 19 October 2003. Retrieved 13 February 2010.
  4. ↑ O'Shea, Janet (2007). At Home in the world: Bharata natyam on the Global stage. Wesleyan University Press. p. 17. ISBN 0-8195-6837-6.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Beyond boundaries". The Hindu. 22 November 2008. Archived from the original on 8 November 2012. Retrieved 24 November 2010.
  6. ↑ Rajaram, Poorva (27 November 2010). "You in the third row, wake up!". Tehelka. Archived from the original on 29 October 2012. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
  7. ↑ "Dance Review: Pushed – A unique Indo-Korean dance venture". Nartaki. 27 December 2006.
  8. ↑ Swaminathan, Chitra (30 November 2012). "Writing on the wall". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 10 November 2016.
  9. ↑ Pushed

External links[edit | edit source]