Meenu Thakur

Meenu Thakur (born July 1, 1972) is a well known Kuchipudi dance exponent and choreographer. She runs an institution ‘SURAMYA’ for teaching Kuchipudi to young learners in New Delhi. Meenu Thakur is also the Dance columnist for the weekly newspaper FRIDAY GURGAON.

Family

Born in 1972 at Saharanpur, UP to an advocate Harswroop Thakur and home-maker Shakuntla, the third of five siblings.

About

Apart from being qualified in Kuchipudi, Meenu learnt Kathak from The Kathak Kendra, Delhi. Meenu has choreographed numerous Kuchipudi programmes and has been actively performing for the last 22 years as a Kuchipudi Artiste.

Meenu is the Founder Director of 'Suramya', an institution of performing arts. She has been enrolled as an established artist of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) and has performed outside India through cultural exchanges. She is also an ‘A’ Graded artist of Doordarshan (India's National television network) and a member of SPIC MACAY (Society for promotion of Indian classical music and culture among youth).

Performances in Indian Festivals

Khajuraho Festival, Kal Ki Kalakar Festival, Natyanjali Festival, Konark Festival, Horizon (ICCR) Delhi & Lucknow, Sidhender Jyanti Samaroh (Hyderabad), Pt. Bhatt Smriti Samaroh (Jaipur), Kalakshetra, Chennai (Tamil Nadu), Mahabalipuram Festival (Tamil Nadu), Sur Singar Samsad (Mumbai), Nimaad Festival (M.P), Tyagaraja Festival, Delhi International Arts Festival (Delhi), Classical dance and music festival (Goa), Hampi Mahotsava (Hampi)

Performances outside India

Bahrain, U.K, Brazil, Serbia, Croatia, South Africa, Re-Union, Zambia, El-Salvador, Panama, Mauritius, Nepal, China, Japan, Canada, Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines, Malaysia, Bhutan, Austria and Hungary.

Awards and achievements

Awarded the title of "SHINGAR MANI" by Sur Shringar Samsad
Awarded The Gold Medal for propagation of Kuchipudi by Aryabhatta Society
Scholarship in Kuchipudi from Department of Culture, Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India
Junior Fellowship from Department of Culture, Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India
Performed at Rashtrapathi Bhavan in 2007 in the presence of Hon’ble President of India, Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam.
Choreographed the Kuchipudi performance at the India-ASEAN Commemorative Summit hosted by President of India, Pranab Mukherjee
First danseuse to perform at Tihar Central Jail, the biggest jail complex in South Asia