Sucheta Bhide Chapekar (born 6 December 1948) is an Indian classical dancer and

choreographer Choreography is the art or practice of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which motion or form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design itself. A choreographer is one who cr ...

. She is an exponent of

Bharatnatyam Bharatanatyam () is a major form of Indian classical dance that originated in Tamil Nadu. It is one of the eight widely recognized Indian classical dance forms, and expresses South Indian religious themes and spiritual ideas, particularly of ...

. She is the founder of "Kalavardhini", a trust supporting the teaching and propagation activities in classical dance, where she also teaches Bharatnatyam. She has been a recipient of the

Sangeet Natak Akademi Award Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (IPA: Saṅgīta Nāṭaka Akādamī Puraskāra), also known as the Akademi Puraskar, is an award given by the Sangeet Natak Akademi Sangeet Natak Akademi (The National Academy of Music, Dance and Drama in Englis ...

(2007). Born in 1948, Chapekar had her arangetram in 1963. She was trained under Acharya Parvati Kumar and

K. P. Kittappa Pillai K. P. Kittappa Pillai (5 May 1913 – 1999) was the son of Sangita Kalanidhi K. Ponniah Pillai (1888-1945), a scion of the famous Tanjore Quartet, codifiers of the Bharatanatyam format. Personal life Kittappa Pillai and his brothers were born ...

. In the subsequent years, she performed at many local concerts, including one at the Madras Music Academy in 1974. Post marriage, she moved to Pune. Encouraged by

JRD Tata Jehangir Ratanji Dadabhoy Tata (29 July 1904 – 29 November 1993) was a French-Indian aviator, industrialist, entrepreneur and chairman of Tata Group. Born into the Tata family of India, he was the son of noted businessman Ratanji Dadabhoy ...

, who called her "blue-eyed beauty", she performed outside India for the first time in 1982. During the tour, she performed in London, Paris, and Rotterdam. During the 1980s, she performed various concerts in her home state of Maharashtra. It was at this time, she realised that Bharatanatyam did not have a great following in the state. She then came up with the idea of mixing Marathi and Hindi songs in her concerts. This eventually led to the formation of "''Nritya Ganga''", a Bharatanatyam concert which has about 80 compositions, all based on Hindustani classical music. Chapekar is the founder of "''Kalavardhini''", a charitable trust that supports the teaching and propagation activities in classical dance. In the year 2008, filmmaker ''Amrita Mahadik'' directed ''Vyomagami'', a documentary on the life and work of Chapekar. As a part of Chapekar's 60th birthday celebration, ''Vyomagami'' was produced by "Kalavardhini" and shown at Ganesh Kala Krida Manch,

Pune Pune (; ; also known as Poona, (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million ...

Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...

. ''Nrityatmika'', a Marathi book penned by Chapekar was also released at the event graced by

Padma Vibhushan The Padma Vibhushan ("Lotus Decoration") is the second-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "exceptional and distinguished service" ...

Sonal Mansingh Sonal Mansingh (born 30 April 1944) is an Indian classical dancer and Guru Bharatanatyam and Odissi dancing style. She has been nominated by the President of India to become a Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha. She is the youngest recipient of ...

and other dignitaries. Publishing-Nrityatmika-Eng-06-Dec-2018-br

In the year 2018, to mark Chapekar's 70th birthday celebration, She was felicitated by

Padma Shri Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, ...

Pandit

Hridaynath Mangeshkar Hridaynath Mangeshkar (Marathi pronunciation: �ɾud̪əjnaːt̪ʰ məŋɡeːʃkəɾ is an Indian music director. He is the only son of musician Deenanath Mangeshkar and younger brother of Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhosle. He is popularly know ...

in the ''Parikrama''TN
"Puneites were treated to Indian classical dance recitals"
''Times of India'', 24 December 2018 event that was graced by many dignitaries and Bharatanatyam stalwarts. During this event, Pandit Mangeshkar also released the English translation of
Nrityatmika
', translated by Bharatanatyam artiste ''Priti Gosar-Patil''. Chapekar is married and has a daughter named Arundhati Patwardhan, who is a trained dancer. In 2007, Chapekar was awarded with the

for her contributions to classical dance.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chapekar, Sucheta Bhide 1948 births Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award Bharatanatyam exponents Teachers of Indian classical dance Marathi people Living people Performers of Indian classical dance Indian classical choreographers Artists from Pune Indian female classical dancers Indian women choreographers Indian choreographers Women educators from Maharashtra Educators from Maharashtra Indian dance teachers 20th-century Indian dancers Dancers from Maharashtra Women artists from Maharashtra 20th-century Indian women artists